Steeple Chase Bike Tour and a week lacking in pictures (dug some from the archives)

Monday (4) A little more of the walk/run business.  I have some crazy nerve pain in my hamstring.  It goes away with movement and gets worse when I lay down.  Lovely.  I walked for a mile and everything felt fine so I started the interval timer.  The weather was cooler, and cooler is relative.  Thinking I can up the run segment to 3:30.  It's not easy but it's not a struggle.  Took half an hour and the hammie was back to being ouchy.  Thinking Padre is correct, something with the Piriformis.

Little dog in a big field.
Not trespassing, Jonny.

Tuesday (0)  Jax woke up not feeling himself, this was evident by him growling when touched.  He doesn't dance around this communication thing!  Jax tested positive for Anaplasmosis, the other tests come back shortly.  He didn't have any ticks on him, so it may be a re-occurrence or it may be the Lyme vaccine.  He perked up a little after his first dose of Doxy, definitely was interested in trying to clean the dishes in the dishwasher, completely uninterested in his ball.  Damn ticks or relapse. Oh and he weighed in at 85 pounds, clearly my fault, according to Dave.  He needs to lose 5.  Not only does he have to have icky medicine for a month I have to feed him 1/2 cup less food. 

From Saturday's ride.
They also had a stuffed Kangaroo on a Kabota.

I had no motivation to do anything so I didn't.   I thought about going for a ride, but made no progress.  Foam rolled my ouchy spots.

Wednesday (5.1) Jax was sort of goofy in the morning, so he's on the mend. 

Gus!

I am not a scientist, however I know changing two variables in an experiment is not a good idea to know what makes a difference.  I did it any way and upped the run period to 3:30 and then decided I wanted to run along the shore at Avery Point.  All in all I felt fine, a little sluggish but we can chalk that up to me being a combination of a lazy and intimidated runner.   My ouchy hammie/bum didn't hurt while moving.  I rolled out the parts that make me grimace and didn't hobble more than a step or two the rest of the day.  Progress!  At least I didn't have a back slide!

Jax!

Amy of the Pointy Elbows finally got me to scream Uncle!  She went in way too deep in my shoulder.  She did say I was pretty inflamed, so that makes sense why I was so tender.  She was as shocked as I was in agony. 

Gus and Jax

Thursday (1) Jax is 95%, he snuggled up to me this morning so he's still feeling a little off.  Usually he sits on me and demands I scratch his back.   We took Jax to the Flying Field as he was starting to get a little stir crazy and needed something to do.  Bob was there with his Labradoodle Barron and the two of them are about the same age and enjoy playing with each other.  Barron was happy to not be ordered around by Bob's daughter's dog, would that make him his nephew?  HA HA...

They ran and wrestled and then I took Jax on a hike down to the pond to soak him.  He was looking for his buddy Barron but it was time for Bob to go home.

That was a fun walk.

Friday (5) More walking than running, it was humid and oppressive I'm glad to have managed to get out and do what I did.  I was told I should be reducing my walking segments to 30 seconds.  Huh.  I don't know the methodology behind the walk run method but the logic is about only giving your body a small break to begin running again and a minute is too long if I want to run races.  I'm certainly not planning to participate in any races, I want to enjoy running when I can.  I honestly can't imagine enjoying running in a race right now.

Mount Washington Auto Road Race
Almost done.

For the first time in a long long time I didn't feel like I had to have a Friday Afternoon Nap.  That was odd.  I laid down on the couch and was decidedly not exhausted.  Weird.  Am I finally getting a balance back between activity and rest?  Am I sleeping better at night?  Granted we've been camping a lot and I have been taking Friday's off, so maybe this is just a fluke, but I went to work Friday morning thinking about that Friday Afternoon Nap.  Weird.

Gus!

Saturday (50)  It was supposed to rain the morning of the Connecticut Steeple Chase Bike Tour.   Jess convinced me to sign up for the 50 mile route, something manageable for me (in her opinion) and still a stretch for her (in her opinion).  I've got 14 years and Lupus on her and she has Scoliosis on me, we are pretty evenly matched with challenges.   She got fitted for a new bike earlier in the year and that has made the world of difference in her ability to ride longer distances and attacking hills.

See the Steeples?

The ride was beautiful and very well supported.  The first rest stop was 25 miles in, at a church, I remembered it being at a church for some odd reason.  I did think that we had 4 stops on a 50 mile ride which is excessive, but the map at the rest stop didn't show the stops I thought I saw.  Ok no biggie, stops every 25 miles is standard and the clouds were staying and covering up the sun which zaps so much of my energy.

Jax thought that was pretty cool, beeping and then people treats came out.
He wondered if there would be beeping and dog treats next.

We jibber jabbered with a few people commenting how it was nice the rain was holding off.  One of the SAG Wagon drivers joined in on the conversation mentioning the next rest stop was 8 miles away.  We were baffled.  He said it was at another church.  And that there was a short climb and some excellent views on the next part of our tour.  OK.  He confirmed there were 2 other optional rest stops if we needed them.   Apparently I did read the map correctly.

It was at this point Jess said "I finally figured out why this is called Steeple Chase, we ride from church to church."  Holy crap, wait can I say that? how clever!  The ride benefits ministries providing much needed aid to the local community.

Gizmo!! 

The dichotomy of the economy of Connecticut is interesting.  While it is the richest state, the average is brought up by Fairfield County (SE corner of the state), the richest and most populated counties in the state while being brought down by Windham County (NE corner of the state where the ride was held), the least populated and poorest counties in the state, with the average per capita income being lower than the per capita income of the US.  Windham is also one of the prettiest counties in CT, so they do have that going for them, Fairfield county is an extension of the concrete heat sink of Manhattan, doubtful a bike ride there would be filled with rolling roads opening views of farms and ponds and allowing you to fill your lungs with clean fresh air.

Snowshoeing with Bill and Dace

I was happy to be part of the ride and to raise much needed funds for that community.  From a purely personal aspect it was the confidence booster I needed after the Mount Washington Century.

The rain held off until after we returned, got massages, and food, as we drove away the skies opened up.

Dave made dinner plans with some friends, I rolled with the unexpected plans.  I enjoy hanging out with Bill and Dace, it's rare to find another childless couple with so many similar interests.

Gus, Gizmo, Jax

Sunday (2) I bailed on Mikey's invitation for a bike ride, instead watched a movie on Sunday morning.   Knowing lazing around all day wasn't a good strategy, I took Jax for a walk around town (it felt like it was getting cooler and drier) then finished up the small amount of edging along the road.  The dew point dropped into the 60s and the temperatures into the 70's, to celebrate being able to be outside and not have our knees sweat while sitting we went to the Flying Field for a short walk and to let Jax run off the last bit of his energy.

The pond (and a duck) in Westerly's Wilcox Park. 
What a fantastically beautiful day Sunday turned into.

Books:

"Settle for More"
by Megyn Kelly

Status:  Finished

Very good, it is an autobiography so clearly she is the hero of the book, but she admits where she has faults and how difficult it was to deal with the attacks and bullying from candidate Trump as well as others in the media.


"Girl Waits with Gun"
by Amy Stewart

Status:  Started

Historical fiction from real life events in 1914, sisters not willing to back down after attacks from a bully who wronged them.

Knitting:

I finished the socks!!!  Just in time to maybe need them in a month or so.  I started them in April.. Krikies that was a long time on one project.

Started another baby sweater.  Give my shoulder a bit of a break from the tiny needles.  Not sure if that will help or not, but I have missed knitting them.  Unfortunately I only have brown baby sweater yarn left, but I do have some small balls of pink I'll knit in here and there to give the sweater some color.

Sincerely,
Beth, feeling accomplished and looking forward to more adventures.