Choice: Focus on feeling shitty or Focus on what doesn't feel shitty

I should probably change this to Beth Rides in RI, ha!  Clearly running is not what I'm doing much of, and I am so happy to not be in constant pain.

Monday (2) I could feel something odd happening inside me so I bagged a lunch run, besides I’d done something physical for the last 3 days so maybe it was time for a small break.  Dave and I took Jax on a hike along the Yellow Dot to the Outenback for a grand total of 2 miles.  Jax seemed less sullen than on Sunday.  

Cool Luna Moth from the campground
I didn't have a lot of pictures other than camping.

Tuesday (20)  The Tour de Testosterone was riding out of New London Tuesday night and it was supposed to rain, Ro and I were going to ride in Groton, the question was when.  We decided on a lunch ride to be sure we missed the predicted afternoon rain.  Mark found a great path leading from the neighborhood before Bluff Point through Haley Farm and along Mumford Cove.  This eliminates the hairy experience up Fort Hill.  The hill itself isn’t the issue, it’s a short 7% grade climb, the concern is the traffic or riding on the crappy sidewalk and being alert for cars backing out of driveways.  All around it’s a bad place to bike.  This is a great alternative to get out to Groton Long Point, plus it is an all-around pleasant biking experience.




We did a lap around Groton Long point and back to Campus.  I was tired, more tired than I should have been.  But I didn’t sleep well on Monday night, nor did I sleep well on Sunday night.  I had a couple really good and energetic weeks, guess that’s all my body is going to allow me, now to put some effort into not to pissing off my body more.  Back to faking being well for a while.  Lovely.

Advil: 2
Tylenol: 4

Wednesday (5.7 +  1)  After a slower than usual power walk, can I even call it that?  It’s my blog I can mostly say what I want, right?   Good and a handful of Advil helped me limp through the rest of the work day.  Crap I hate this so very very much.  

It was pretty clear I was heading for a big crash but had to honor some commitments.  I vaguely remember going through the motions sorry if you have to repeat yourself next time we talk.  Dave had to laugh when I farted and said "Good night" while nothing about any of this is funny taking it to seriously makes it worse.

This was from Charlemont, I didn't have many interesting pictures not from there.
Jax gets very concerned when he is separated from his peeps and that big silver thing.  This is his concerned stance.

Jax got gypped on his walk so we ended up playing "The Dumb Game" I felt bad he didn't get a good adventure.

As always, I went to bed thinking: TOMORROW I’ll wake up feeling normal!  

Advil: 6
Tylenol: 0

I haven't figured out which works better for what but Advil was what I had on my desk, so there you go.  I think Tylenol actually works better at the fever part...

Thursday (2.5)  I slept through the night, probably mostly out of pure exhaustion.  Spent the day telling my watch to shut the fuck up about "It's time to move."  

I'm taking over some responsibilities from a retiring colleague.  They've been doing this job over 20 years and she is at a loss on how to train me or what to tell me, so she said, I can't figure out how to do this, maybe we can try a couple different things?  Sure.  She gave me the basics of guidance and shuffles the inquiries on to me and I tell her what I think the next steps are and sometimes I'm right sometimes I'm wrong.  So far it is going well but come July 2nd when she is officially gone I'll have a melt down.  The thought of transitioning my job responsibilities to someone else scares me too, at some point it all becomes second nature on what to do.  I think Cecilia did the best by giving me the most basic of guidance, a contact list, and a reference list.  Most of it I've been able to noodle through pretty successfully and even use my own network to find answers!

He's such a goof.

We took Jax on a hike at Riverwood, looking for snakes didn't see any but heard something like a goose being strangled by a pig.  Who knows what goes on in the area by the Pawcatuck River.  

NO Advil or Tylenol, a sure sign of better things to come.

Friday (3) Off to Mohawk State Campground in Charlemont, MA for a quick trip.  

When Jax figured out we were going adventuring he was ecstatic.  Seriously!  He had his usual Flying Wallendas routine, the random punching of things, and added to this a whole body shake, it was HILARIOUS!

The camp loop logged about 0.6 miles when Jax and I went to investigate to get our bearings.  It was a mile walk, out and back to the dumpster to deposit garbage, all asphalt, not great fun.  We did our camp loop 3 or 4 times a day.

Deerfield River, Charlemont MA

We were a quick decent to the Deerfield River, or a bit safer longer decent.  Dave picked the 'That was a bad idea' decent the first time and we picked the reasonable assent to get back to the campsite. 

Deerfield River, Charlemont MA

Dave had to sign a paper saying we were aware we were camping in black bear country and food was to be kept in the food safe on the site, not in tents, don't leave food waste around, pretty much clean up after yourself and anything that might be a tasty snack or attract a bear should be in the food locker or disposed of in the dumpster before nightfall.

He wanted to go out there, sure thing pal, how ya getting back?

This had me a little worried the first night.  But when Jax's nose whistling became so annoying we had to get up I checked all around our site and didn't see any bear tracks to that made me feel a little better.  Drama much, Beth?  Ha ha

It is hard to know what you are looking at.
Jax (you can see a tiny bit of his white chest) is staring intently at Dave who is roasting a marshmallow. He couldn't understand why Dave was playing in the fire.
Dave and Jax enjoyed their first ever 'smores!

We were without reliable cell reception, excellent.  If you stood on the picnic table you could get a bar, excellent.  I got a couple photos posted but it really wasn't worth the hassle.  

Bridge of Flowers, Shelburn Falls, MA

Saturday (3) Dave went to the Thunder Mountain Bike Park to do downhill biking and Jax and I were going to hike Indian Trail to the lookout point.  

A cliff on the Indian Trail, just after we turned around.

Dave's day was far more successful once he bought a pair of gloves (he forgot his) so his hands stopped slipping off the handlebars.  Jax and I set out with plenty of water and a drinking vessel for him in a backpack on me.  The initial part of the trail was a gentle slope and then it turned into an uphill hell.  We made it 0.3 miles up the trail to the tune of 700 feet of gain and I called it.  What if he fell and I had to get him off the trail?  This could be bad.  He was happy to have already had half his water at this point too. We went back to the campsite, and he chased flies and other bugs and I read.  

I love finding old decaying vehicles in the woods, this is along the Nature Trail (I think)

We took a much more reasonable hike later on and found some perfectly reasonable trails to explore.  He is not a mountain goat and I am working very diligently at reducing the stress points in my life.  I may need to go live in the woods permanently.

Family Photo

Sunday (40) Months ago Jess and Faith and I planned to meet up for a bike ride on June 10th.  Last week that dropped to Jess and I.  (Faith had to adjust her schedule so she could keep up her training for her Vermont 100K race.)    

Totally didn't plan on the neon green theme!!

Jess and I decided we'd go back to Mansfield CT, somewhat central to both of us, and ride the 40 mile Tour de Mansfield course.  The wrinkle was the start time because we'd be 2 hours away by car, 2.75 hours away towing a trailer.  Fortunately Jess was a little worried about the heat  and a late start of 10 to pulling it back 1/2 hour.  Instead of 9:30 Dave and I got there at 9:45 and then there was an issue with parking.  All went well we were rolling by 10:08 a.m. and the weather was perfect for biking cloudy, cool, and no direct sun.  If we would have gone with 10 we would not have rolled until 10:30 or 10:45.   

I think I need to raise my seat.
Picture by Jess, while she was riding, bad Jess, bad.

Relive the ride here.

The best part of the ride other than the constant conversation was Jess' new bike is perfect for her.  The hills on this course were tough for her last year and with a smoother just a bit lighter bike and I think a bit more core strength as a result of PT to manage her physical challenges (Scoliosis) she was zipping past me on a few hills.  It was freaking awesome to see, she looked so much more at home on the new bike.  There is something to be said for having the correct equipment for the job and for your style.

We agreed on a stop at mile 20 to just get out of the saddle and it so happened we were at the top of an incline and found a completely empty parking lot to hang out in for a few minutes and drink and eat and incessantly chat.



Overall we did more miles on the course than last year and Strava showed a marked improvement in our times.   I have to say that is the FIRST time the second time I did something I did better. 

Dave and Jax hung out in the parking lot, took a hike, did some trailer maintenance.  While I feel guilty having to have him wait he reminded me that was pretty much all I did yesterday.  Yeah, but I did it in the woods, was it really the same?

Overall for a pretty impromptu trip we managed to not forget anything!  

Definitely will be back!! I have a few road bike rides in mind for sure!!

Mileage:

Feet:  17
Saddle: 60

For feeling like something the cat barfed up most of this week I did pretty well!

Books:

Finished:

Feast:  True Love in and Out of the Kitchen

by Hannah Howard

This was disappointing. An anorexic who turns into a bulimic and makes bad choices. I kept wanting it to become more engaging, there was a lesson to learn, it was an interesting peek, a very short peek, in to the culinary world.

In Progress:

The Pillars of the Earth

by Ken Follett

Aliena is exacting revenge on her father's killer, it's getting good!  Richard is going to be Earl.

The Loom
by Sheila Gillus

A story about a light skinned slave who can fake it in the white world however doesn't want to leave her world behind.

Knitting:

Slower than usual progress on the socks...

Sincerely,
Beth glad for a fun weekend to erase the shitty parts of the week!

Weekly recap: 7/24/2017 - 7/30/2017

I ran one 50K with only a hydration pack guess this makes me a bad ass... ha ha ha once in a while I need to feel good about my minimal accomplishments amongst the masses of over achievers.

Trying to get back to a normal week, a week of travel throw me off, and one of the nephews visiting threw me even more.  I'm old and set in my ways, it's only going to get worse.

My right knee continues to be wonky, sort of collapsing like the joint doesn't exist.  I'll have to do something about this sooner rather than later.  Seems to be worse after a long bike ride.  I probably need to raise up my seat a bit to get more extension in my leg.

It rained on Monday and I do love to run in the rain and it was chilly, even better, I didn't have enough time to plod my usual route.  Got Gus out for a walk, the band and color guard were practicing at the High School.  The music caught his ear and the activity his eye so we hung out there.  I really am apprehensive of walking him too far from home.  He is going to be heavy (80 lbs) to carry back if Dave isn't home to pick us up.  I'm totally being overly dramatic, it will pass...

Gus, ogling the girls, like a dog.

A cool day on Tuesday, unfortunately not a running day, but a boot camp day.  The knee did the funky collapse thing, but I can't remember which form of torture, I think it was jump-squats.  Crap. Dave's nephew was staying for a few days, so there was some scramble to make up the guest room and after we took him to dinner I got Gus out for a later than usual stroll.  Gus didn't want to come to bed at the normal time, Nathan was far more interesting.  Both the dogs got me up at 2 a.m. to check on Nathan, of course.

OMG I can't believe how beautiful it was and this is so close to what we saw

Hills with Ro is Wednesday and it was nice to get back to the routine.  The knee didn't do anything funny, I was happy about that.  Dave and Nathan spent part of the day making a board game out of wood, Catan, it sounded similar to Risk.  Nathan was happy to have this and they did a lot designing with the CAD program and the CNC machine, making designs on the game pieces. I got to see if the pictures made sense.  Dave took Nathan out on a mountain bike ride, to get out of the house.  He came back unscathed, phew I was worried this was going to be a 'you break it you buy it' thing and we'd end up with a teenager.  The dogs were busy keeping an eye on Nathan all day so they were worn out and didn't come looking for a walk.

Bunny!!!

Between getting Nathan back to his father, and Gus having an appointment with his cardiologist early Thursday morning and me needing to go up to Amesbury MA to meet with my LUNGStrong team the day was kind of topsy turvy.  I took the day off, took a few calls, got Gus to the cardiologist.  Dave would need to wake Nathan up (teenagers sleep till the crack of noon, my parents were correct) and get him moving to then get to the appointment and then take him back to his father's.  Plus there was a ride with my riding team planned and I don't get to see them much as they are over 2 hours away.  The ride was canceled due to lack of interest, harrumph.  I took a ride locally and stopped for ice cream.  The drive up to Amesbury took an extra 90 minutes because of traffic.  At least I had an interesting book to listen to?  The knee got wonky after all that sitting, and this is what makes me think its related to riding because it had been since Tuesday that it felt wonky.  It was good to see my team.  The color on the shorts from last year was off so who ever bought them last year got a new pair in the right shade of blue.  I can't tell the difference, I'll have to line them up to see.  SO I'll be all matchy matchy for both days.  The new Jerseys are accented with a cool electric green print.

Relive the ride here.

For Aimee, my friend visiting last week.

After a long day, it made a tired start to Friday.  I went out for a walk run, I didn't want to do anything at all.  I knew I'd feel slightly better if I did something, anything.

Ahhh a blizzard, that would make me so happy.

The blizzard was such a tease, I am so disappointed, I was humored by the continued alerts from January.  I ran and walked and got in a 5K, I felt a little better.  Work would be great if it wasn't for people.

And work...

The Imaginary Husband turned 51 on Saturday, finally, he is back to being older than me and I get the benefit of his tales of experience.  Cue eye roll...

I puttered around with those "it only takes 5 minutes" chores that many people (ok maybe only me) let pile up until they are a good couple hours.  It was a pretty productive couple of hours making me feel better, funny how that works.   I knew I needed to wash my 2017 LUNGStrong jersey and the shorts.  I also needed to try out the shorts.  Last year I ended up with men shorts, the color was off so the company (Primal) gave us replacement shorts.

I took a short ride to see how it all worked together.  The men chamois was fine, actually better than all but one of the female specific chamois I've experienced, as disturbing as that sounds.  The women's was a bit wider in the ass, I'll need to make sure I have a few individual packages of chamois cream or make my ass wider?  Um, no.

I'll still bring my Voler shorts, I love them.

Sorry about that ramble....

I went out for a ride and all was ok.  The issues I anticipated with the initial try on of shorts were bang on, so I know how to manage them.  Saw one of the running club guys, running, of course.  Always nice to see someone I know.

Strava allowed for a bit of fun afterward.  Always a good time.

I can't find the other one where JHuckle said I had a bright shiny smile.
If I didn't know my purpose by now, perhaps it is to make Paul feel unworthy of being acknowledged by me
That was so horrible to type.

HA! This all goes back to a run where Paul was hiding behind Jenn and I apparently I snubbed him.  Jeff V was out in the middle of the road, plus I've seen JV towards me far more than I've ever seen Paul run towards me, so it was easy to recognize him as I was biking towards the group of three.

Of course, I also recognized Jeff H when I was out on the bike...  I can't find the convo in either of our feeds... oh well...  It was funny, trust me on this...  Poor Paul, it seems my lot in life to make him feel left out...

It was nice to have the opportunity to sleep in on Sunday, I couldn't, even with the imaginary husband feeding the dogs so they would leave us in peace and not have upset tummies for not being fed.

I got out for a ride to Napatree to talk to my old neighbor Tom Papadilla and to take a walk during high season.  Then pedaled my way home via Dusty's, nothing spectacular ice cream wise, however always interesting viewing the beach inhabitants.

Sampled Jeff H's home brew stout.  He better not let the housesitter let me raid the fridge!\

Wee bit fizzy settles quickly into a nice easy drinking stout.  Wonder if he needs a dog sitter for Shep and Maggie???

Mileage:

Feet:  23
Saddle: 79

Books:

OMG "Small Great Things" by Jodi Pioclult.  

It is hard to know what to say about this book. It is eye opening. I give this 4 because I liked it.

Why did I like it? It made me think. Really think. Picoult broke down, as best she could, for a white woman of privilege what it is like to be a black woman making her way in the white world of privilege. I had to really think about the definition of privilege during this book and after listening to the author's notes. Privilege isn't one sided and it isn't all encompassing it is made up of tiny small things that make a person life easier, make making it through a persons life easier. I am not a Cheryl Sandburg fan, I view her as starting life on third base and resent her audacity to tell me to lean in. To me, she has privilege, how dare she tells me what to do, she has not one single clue what it is like to start at bat, to start from the beginning.

People have commented on my privilege, I recall various comments made to me through my life indicating how much easier I had it than they did in one situation or another. Fair points and they always brought me back to ground level understanding that with what I have, I have a responsibility to bring people up, not put them down or use them as a stepping stone for me to rise higher.

That is the message I ultimately walked away with. We all have our perspective and we all have some form of privilege, it is our responsibilities to use these things to the advantage of all not just those like us.

Even for the main character, a light skinned black, her privilege over her dark skinned sister.

The story is disturbing and it is upsetting, it is real, real in terms of race relations, both inter and intra not changing much in 400 years.

Is it wrong a white woman wrote a book about a black woman's experience? Is it wrong gentiles write books about the Haulocost or being Jewish? Why? Something to think about.

I started "Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead.  So much for light reading....

Knitting:

Nothing.

Sincerely,
Beth, not sure what to think about privilege.

Weekly Recap: 6/12/2017 - 6/18/2017

Hopefully most of you followed the stream of consciousness of my blog last week, that happens when so much awesome stuff happens in a short period of time and I don’t make the time to do a proper reflection.

Monday the heatwave was due to start, anything over 70F is a heatwave to me so I spend most of June – August pretty miserable, less miserable if the humidity is lower, miserable none the less, sometimes a little heat rage rears its ugly head and I have to remind myself it’s not about me and move through it.  Ro and I had plans to walk before she taught spin class.  And when Ro and I walk it isn’t a casual lollygagging stroll, it’s a 14 minute pace, a power walk.  Slowing things down can be good in the long run for endurance and I can’t talk and run so well and we have a lot to talk about so we power walk.   I figured I could get my run in after and have a 10K at the end of the day.

I felt pretty warmed up (ha ha) by the time the run started.  It actually went pretty well, I was shocked.  I didn’t feel like cutting it short or walking.  Hmmmmm

Gus went to the Vet and get some dental work done.  Poor guy was born with a bad set of teeth and gums, so the last 4 may or may not have to come out.  In the pre-sedation check, the Vet discovered an irregular heartbeat, a normal thing in Boxers.  It’s not a surprise, it isn’t happy news, it is something we can manage through medication.  She will do some further testing on him to see what is going on inside that big old boxer boy chest of his.

This was our first outing to the beach, he looks so young!!

I took him on a short walk in the heat, yeah, a dog with a ‘heart condition’ he wanted to go.  This is what we do after dog dinner and people dinner; we go for a walk, so we did.

Tuesday is not a running day and it was hotter, I was glad to be in the icy gym for a circuit class, push-ups, weighted squats, burpees, shoulder press, mountain climbers, bicep curls, and triceps timed 3 minutes with a partner, 10 reps of each then your partner goes and you rest, when a minute left to go reduce to 5 reps of each.  It was fun, I got in an extra 5 reps on each, my partner seemed to think that was pretty ok.  I don’t know why it worked out that way, it just did.  Planked, and got a somewhat healthy lunch…

Dave was gone when I got home from work so I went for a bike ride down by the ocean.  That was nice and cool and there was surprisingly little traffic out.  That added more joy into my ride!



A nice icy shower with all the ceiling and box fans going made everything much better until the Imaginary Husband came home and turned off all the fans, “they make me have a sore throat”.  Um AC does that to me…. So I guess we sit and sweat.   Wahhh wahhhh wahhhh.  See, heat rage… it’s a thing.  And yeah, I'm not an easy person to be around ALL the time.

This is how it feels to me above 70....

Wednesday, while a running day was also a NY day, I got on the train with plenty of time to be in NYC before the meeting I was guiding someone through and wouldn’t you know, 90-minute delay because of a suspicious bag hanging off the 138th Street Bridge in the Bronx.  Good grief…  Of course, we need to be careful and everything has to be inspected and properly disposed of.  I was on one of the old train cars, no electrical outlets.  Thankfully I had fully charged my work and my personal phones.  Work was crazy with trying to figure out who was where and where our presenters in NYC or en-route…  I was very thankful that everyone on the train remained calm, this really impressed me.  For certain there was nothing anyone could do when the conductor announced we were stopped for an indefinite amount of time.  People busied themselves with their devices and making other arrangements for whatever needed to be done first thing in the morning.  Truly impressive, I was honestly concerned what could happen with a mass of people in a confined railroad car, I may have regained just a smidgen of hope for society.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Police-Activity-Stops-Metro-North-Traffic-at-138th-Street-428400163.html

Gus got a short walk, he is allowed those, after a discussion on what a short walk meant we decided a mile was short considering he usually does 3.  He has a mass on his heart and went on Thursday for a series of tests to see what they can discover.

I know Thursday isn't a running day, but I didn't run or do much on Wednesday, I ran at lunch, the weather was perfect, I think even my heat and humidity loving friends would agree, no?  Boy oh boy, that felt good, perfect temperature, breeze, humidity.  I should have done a long run!  Didn't have enough time, I was meeting with the current boss, the hopeful future boss, and future teammate, I needed to be timely!

Gus had quite the day, his abdominal ultrasound was 'unremarkable' this translates to if the mass on his heart is a hemangiosarcoma it has not metastasized into his abdominal cavity.  Good news.   He was fitted with a Holter monitor and I picked him up after work and he was glad to see one of his hoomans.  Not so much for the car ride home, though...  For 24 hours we note what he is up to and the techs that read the results from his 24-hour monitor can identify what is going on with his heart.

The leads disconnected and we reconnected the monitor wasn't one had to fix that.  We will see what sort of data this gives the vet....

I had put on new tires on Ruby and was eager to test them out.  We went on a quick 7-mile spin on Friday morning, and while I really wanted to get in a real ride (20 miles) there wasn't really time for that, I should have made the time, I did not.

I left for New Hampshire a little later than I wanted to, but it ended up being fine.  I made it to the hotel to meet up with everyone on time.  Got our bibs, went to dinner, and to sleep to be picked up at 6:30 a.m.  It was nice to take Friday off, and not have to mess around with work.  Nothing much has been going on lately.

Saturday was Mount Washington, I'm going to give that its own post.  It was a watershed race for me, as I'm coming to realize.

Drove home on Sunday met by two lonely dogs, got Gus out for a short stroll and called the week.

Mileage:

Feet:  23
Saddle: 27

It was a very low mileage week, between travel and the race I didn't get much time in the saddle or on my feet.  I'm good with that.

Books:

I am loving "America's First Daughter"  Martha 'Patsy' Jefferson Randolph was a force to be reckoned with!  The book is about Thomas Jefferson in parts, Martha mostly, and of course Sally Hemmings.  It is a romanticized version of history, I'm not fooled, however, I am really appreciating the writing and the narration of Patsy's life as the First Daughter.  Jefferson may have written all men are created equal, he didn't live that sentiment.  Like him or not, he was a founding father.

This is a long one so I'm not sure when I'll be done or what is up next.  I'm thinking Ulysses.  I've never been able to get through that one.  Maybe now is the right time.  I like Joyce's writing.

Knitting:

I wove in the ends on the sweater and haven't started anything or frogged anything.  I need to have a think about this and perhaps finish up some UFOs (UnFinished Objects) sew buttons on baby sweaters, block scarves, that sort of thing...

Definitely, need to find homes for a backlog of baby sweaters.

Sincerely,

Beth, a very impactful week, even with the light mileage!

Weekly Recap 5/29/2017 - 6/4/2017

Welcome to the next installment of Beth's mental dump....

This has been a week of mostly rain, but it isn't humid and hot so I'm actually pretty good with that, and not having any bone/joint related injuries I'm struggling with it so I'll call it good.

Can't really think of a rant I'd care to share....

Monday was a holiday, I was spent from the bike rides and was really looking forward to doing nothing on a crappy weather day.  I barely moved, and took the dogs for a walk and still didn't hit my minimum step goal.  Whatever.  Goals, measurements, are pretty arbitrary aren't they? Our personal benchmarks we install on other people's lives?  Or no?

Got the boyz out for a walk and they were happy with that.

Back to work on Tuesday and that is usually miserable after a three day weekend but I rested enough on Monday to actually feel ready to get back at it on Tuesday.  Considering I'm up against a few lawyers for a non-compliance situation and we had our second meeting about the issue, I was glad to not be exhausted.  The thing with lawyers is they don't like to lose, however, they do appreciate when someone has done their homework and has an indefensible position to present to them.  A small victory for me, and one less opportunity to end up on 60 Minutes for them.  When will that threat ever get old?

This was the only picture in my camera roll... my daily plank
boring

I ran, I didn't run on Monday and figured two running days in a row would be ok.  I did two of the three points and called it good.  Not excessively slow or peppy, it felt good.

Back to hills on Wednesday, since I haven't done repeats in, well, months and Mt. Washington is on the 17th and well, I should be up to 10 School St repeats by now.  I did 5 full School St repeats and 5 short sprints and ran back to the office.  Seems that the micro shower hit those running more on the coast than me running more up river?  For sure I am out there longer than the faster runners and they were clearly more rain soaked than I was... ha ha ha

Well, when you eat garbage you feel like garbage - Gus

Gus had a small run in with a bag of thrown away food, where he consumed an unknown something. This made for an uncomfortable Wednesday for him.  He wouldn't eat, even after some Tums.  I managed to prime the pump with a tasty treat or two and get him to eat a few mouthfuls before I took him out on a hike.  I know, I really wouldn't want to go on a hike after feeling crappy all day, but I do know that it would make me feel better.  He was a bit green on the car ride over to the trail and was pretty hesitant on the slippery ledge, but still, I got 1/2 mile out of him before he refused to go any further and then another nearly 1/2 mile. so we got in a mile and a half or thereabouts.  I was pleased and he was eager to eat his dinner and anything else I'd give him when we got home.  He disobeyed bedtime ritual, I let it slide, and he was ready and up and at em for breakfast on Thursday a.m.

His blood work is continually borderline pancreatitis, which is nerve-wracking, limiting the fat in his diet helps greatly and probably he got ahold of some sort of fatty fast food throw away and well that didn't agree with him.  If we can keep his diet free of excessive fat he is good. Gizmo's blood work was always borderline pancreatitis, but rarely did he have an upset tummy, even after eating things like soap or gloves or socks he was OK,  guess only the soap has any notable fat in it...  hard to believe my curmudgeon has been gone just over a year.

Reading through the cookbook, Diesel, Sage, Gizmo all died three years apart 2010, 2013, 2016, I am hoping one of the two current knuckleheads makes it through 2019 at this rate.

Still stuck on this cookbook thing?  I wasn't raised with religion, seriously, I was raised with a strict direct understanding of the golden rule and am from a family with a strong moral compass.  There isn't a family bible, there is a family cookbook.

Thursday is not a running day, I did the circuit training class and it was the beginner one because that fits better in my schedule.  We can amp up what's being done to suit ourselves and others can take it a step back.

This is a good beer....Heidi sent me her wine selfie but not for sharing.  :(

Rachel had competing priorities for the Beer'd Fun Run and had to bail, I know it isn't a running day so this isn't a heartbreak.  I ushered Dave out of the house when I got home, GET OUT OF THE HOUSE, well not quite that blunt, ok yes it was.  I caught up with a bestie in Texas, over drinks...  We were supposed to have a weekend in Asheville, but that seems to have fallen through the cracks, we even found a nice ma and pa kettle cabin up in the woods too.  Maybe in the fall. She is in the process of starting a business and her focus is all over the place.  Totally understandable.  After 17 years as the primary bread winner and putting the spouse through medical school she finally gets to do what she wants and is at a loss.  I suggested "Real Housewives of Frisco, TX" but she wasn't biting. To finally be free of this burden of sole bread and insurance provider, damn girl take the cake and eat it.  We laugh, like either of us could be taken care of, ha ha ha...

Jax had a little run in with a dog  He bashed his head against the other dogs side...
All are fine,  Jax's just had a little bloody nose, nothing serious.
The other dog slipped out a back door and was out having an adventure. 

I felt my early and over indulgence from Thursday on Friday.  My planned 8 over the Gold Star Bridge turned into a 5K power walk with Ro, FINALLY back from her and Mark's epic retirement road trip!!!  Actually a fine change in plans.  I got home to find new trail shoes, I really love my La Sportiva Helios but they aren't padded enough for my wonky right bunion bone.  I found some La Sportiva Wildcats with some decent padding in the foot bed and the stability I need in a shoe.  I took these out for a tour of Burlingame.  I initially intended on the Yellow loop but the Wildlife trails were calling me and I ran them and then at 4 miles headed back to the car.  6 was going to be enough.  The shoes felt great the best my feet have felt in trail shoes yet!!.

Screech or Barn Owl??

Dave and I were going to take the dogs to the field to run.  That turned into a hike after a freak rain storm so we hiked part of Sammy C's with two very unengaged dogs.  Sometimes feeding them first is good sometimes not so good.   We did see two owls chirping at each other.  My pictures didn't turn out.  With the plethora of acorns there are more chipmunks, squirrels, and mice (and unfortunately ticks), this also means there are more owls, they hunt mice.   Gotta take the good with the bad?

I mustered up my courage and joined a group ride on Saturday.  I met up with them at my mile 7 their mile 30.  Figured this would give me a taste of what I was in for with them.  Definitely all competitive athletes with a super fun side.  I dropped my chain a mile in and two of the guys waited up for me and I worked damn hard to catch up with the rest of the group.  They've been riding together for a while and have specific pick-up points, definitely a no drop ride!  I lagged a bit behind but not too far and nothing that made me want to tap out.  Definitely some strong riders I can learn a lot from and get better riding with.  As much as I can I'll join in their Saturday a.m. fun.  And maybe even start at the start!

I rode 30 with them and missed my turn gabbing with one of the John's who wanted 4 more miles then to turn around so he could get an even 50.  I ended up in Wakefield and thought, hmm I'm kinda hungry, ice cream would be good.  They were closed, opened in 30 minutes, no way I was going to wait for 30 minutes so I figured my options to go home and decided on the uber boring US1 heading West into a West wind for ~30 miles.  That sort of sucked but sort of didn't.  It was nice to just grind away and tuck into the drops and talk to myself or sing to myself.  Well until that other biker caught up to me and I was in mid thought gabbing away to myself.  TOTALLY MORTIFIED!!!   I knew I was running out of steam and figured Dave's Coffee shop would be at about mile 50, I damn near pegged that on the nose and got a frozen hot chocolate and a GINORMOUS blueberry muffin and took my time to devour both.  A couple birds were more than happy to help me finish my muffin too!!  My hips were aching from the repetitive motion and my quads were burning.  Exactly where they needed to be, this was a welcome reprieve and a chance to find out how the latest bike shorts were faring with my bum.  Frigging nearly as awesome as that iced hot chocolate!! Finally.  The only thing I don't like are the marks the grippers leave on my thighs... They are thick enough to not need to worry about the legs flapping in the breeze...  But as far as the important parts they were perfect and I am pleased, I have one more pair to try out....   By far my most favorite pair are the men's ones for my LUNGStrong kit...  but they are long...  I'm supposed to get women's so we will see how those work out.  Primal makes our kits...

After that fun, I had a few hours to catch up on doing nothing and getting stared at by two boxers.  I knitted, they finally fell asleep and I watched a movie "The Naked City"  frigging awesome film.

Took the boys out to the field for Sunday activity because Sunday was supposed to be shitty and Dave would be in New Hampshire for Sunday field/pizza/dog dinner/dog crazies time...

My Boyz!

Now everyone is going to think it is Monday when they wake up on Sunday!  HA!!

Crap these get long...

Sunday was up early as Dave was up and out early.  I took advantage of this and went out before 8 a.m. for a bike ride.  Wow, not a lot of people driving but wow a lot of runners and bikers!  Well, the bikers were part of the MS50 ride and after a helpful volunteer tried to wave me into a rest area I said I was just out for a Sunday Spin.  She laughed and then the guy frantically checking for bib numbers was flummoxed, I said I'm not with Y'all and he smiled and waved, looking rather relieved.

All but one of the bikers were friendly and said: "on your left"  of course it was a guy in a black kit on a black bike with a black helmet, one of those death wish people.  Jackass.

It was a nice ride and the second new set of bike shorts were fantastic!  The first sit in the saddle was a little ouch but none after that.  I'm thankful I may have found something that works for me, finally!!  My neighbor, Bob, got a nice chuckle out of the OUCH, he was out walking the dog.  Ha ha ha.  Thanks, Bob, anything to keep you entertained!

Go on inside and fetch me a treat Hooman -- Gus

As Dave was gone, I managed to be very productive.  My mom says it is because I miss him, I say it is because I don't have someone critiquing the way I do things.  Dave stands mute on all of this and was oblivious to the lawn being mowed or any other chores completed.  Best to stand mute.

Knitting:

I made some good progress on the sleeve.  Watching the movie helped a lot.  I had considered doing that for Sunday afternoon but didn't.  I'm fearful to finish because that means the weather will turn to temps about 70 and I will be miserable.

Books:

I finished 1984, seriously this is happening.  We aren't even allowed to have our own thoughts.  A quote in the newspaper from a 17-year-old female ""I can't really say what I want to say, but there's not much I can do about it..."  Pretty much sums it all up for me.  The males will ask her how she wore her hair and that will make it all better, right?

Bullshit.  Complete bullshit.  I'll stop now.  I have to or I'll be up all night seething.

I started "Crazy Rich: Power, Scandal, and Tragedy Inside the Johnson & Johnson Dynasty" by Jerry Oppenheimer.  Crazy totally crazy.  It is a reality yet it isn't my reality so I can lose myself in this nonsense of the uber rich and completely insane. 

Mileage:

Saddle  (85), Ok so I need to hit 100 for biking but the weather has been shitty and I really have to get a better saddle for my shitty weather bike.  My Sunday ride should have been 10 miles longer just to get my legs and hips in biking shape for long distance, it wasn't.  I'm not disappointed or displeased, it is what it is and I have competing priorities, something has to win.

Feet (34), better this week. More actual running miles, even a few on trails!

Sincerely,

Beth, trying to stay positive, and wears her hair in a messy bun, because that is the most important question to ask a female athlete.