Week 5: 1/29/2018 - 2/4/2018

Monday:  (1 Walk) Not a great day.  Jax humored me and we went for a mile walk, mostly with the purpose of depositing some Gus poop into the First National Poop and Trust.   We were successful and Jax enjoyed stopping to smell everything and make his own deposit.  It was snowing and really rather nice with the headlamp making the snow look more like glitter.  Jax is not big on leash walks; he’d rather hike in the woods or chase the mountain bike.  I think it’s the control thing; he really doesn’t like it when someone else is in control or tells him what to do.  Gus pretty much goes along with whatever; Diesel was like that too, everything was a fun adventure for him.  The others, not so much, skeptical about what that command REALLY meant and they would unwillingly follow direction.

Runners Love Their Beer @ Mt Washington 2017

Tuesday:  (15 Spin + Core) A little better of a day.  Dinner out with the in-laws was on the schedule for the evening.  We met them at the casino so it was smokey and I coughed the whole time.  There is something going on, probably a cold or asthma and the smoke wasn’t helping.  Even my rescue inhaler wasn’t subduing the coughs.  It happens. 

My Mom grows some beautiful Bougainvillea, this was early in the season.

Wednesday: (15 Spin) My cough is close to nonexistent but I didn’t want to tempt fate and run in the cold so I took the spin class.  If I’m going to use a piece of exercise equipment the bike is my preference.  As I told Eric while he was on the bike nursing his not quite healed yet foot, “Bikers have better legs.”  He said, “For sure they have better calves.”

I think I can say this worked!  Or my lack of running is contributing to my lack of knee pain.

 Thursday:  (15 Spin + Core)  I contemplated running.  Next week I can get back at that, let my lungs get back to some semblance of normal. 

That's a big rock! - Gus

Friday: (0) Really not feeling much of anything.  At this point, I can't quite remember why.  #1 Smart Guy announced he is retiring on 3/31.  That was kind of depressing, but he's got 35+ years and is 58 this year and his wife is a breast cancer survivor and he has a pup with one eye.  I think the guys been put through is paces and deserves to be on his own schedule!  This leaves me with Jackass, Dr. Done, Garbear, and Howie...  I will truly miss his level-headedness.  He was a fair boss for the short while I worked for him and someone I truly enjoyed working with. 

Play with me! - Jax

Saturday: (8 Mountain bike) Dave was off with the guys to go to Big River and that meant I needed to sneak out to avoid the patient getting agitated.  I was not successful...  I had a good ride along icy carriage roads in Barn Island.  I wasn't up for much, a little concerned with whatever is going on in my lungs.  I'm chalking it up to a Lupus thing and moving forward.  The ride didn't result in hours of coughing so I'll call it good.  Seems like the coughing sessions happen when I don't exercise - Friday was a bad one. 

Pretty much

Sunday: (4 Run) I could take a deep breath with no pain or coughing.  Off I went on a run.  I wasn't sure how far, but 4 was probably the limit.  So nice to start running on the downhill versus uphill.  I saw quite a few other runners, walkers, and a couple bikers.  All in all a good run and I felt good, and no pain. 

Snoozing in the sun!

Mileage:

Another not so great week if I were a real athlete, for a rank amateur trying to hold it together with bubble gum and binder twine I'm winning!

Feet: 5 Week /  47 YTD  
Saddle: 53 Week / 157 YTD

Gus:  I'll give him his own section, so you can skip it or read it!

Gus has a slipped disc or discs.  With his heart condition putting him under to get a complete diagnosis is not possible.  He is on 24x7 crate rest for 4 - 6 weeks, and it is showing results!  He was walking much better and has an occasional whappa whappa (head shake)! He certainly is ticked off being in the crate all. the. time.   I would be too at his age. I don’t think dogs get consequences, that the fact he feels better is because he is in the crate so he can work his way to forgiving us.  Instead, we get the stink eye.  At least he is not destructive and tearing apart his new fancy orthopedic bed!  This will continue minimally for 3 more weeks, likely 5 more weeks.  We can re-assess at 3 weeks and see how he is moving.  Maybe give him some non-crate snuggle time.  Far cry from Monday where we were considering we may need to put him down.

Pets are an emotional roller coaster.  They try their best to communicate with us and we with them.  For now, he seems content enough, not at all happy about being confined.  However, we are lucky he trusts us.  

Knitting:

Finished the Lilac sweater, started a brown and will trim it with a deep rose to break up the montony of brown, plus I have a few more Beatrix Potter buttons!

I was having a stress fest over my closet of yarn, it was actually stressing me out.  I collected so much pretty yarn and did not identify a project for it and finally, it got the best of me.  I took an undisclosable amount of yarn to a local yarn shop.  The owner has a relocation plan for this yarn and it will be made into scarves, hats, and mittens for SE CT homeless population.  

Books:

"Coraline" by Neil Gaiman

A cute short juvenile story, perfect for escaping the realities of being an adult.

"Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine" by Gail Honeyman
Started

This one is slowly unfolding with Eleanor's past and how it impacts her present.  Seems like she has had some very horrible experiences in her short life and does her best to compartmentalize them.

Summary:

It was a week, a week in the normal life of a work a day dog mom trying to hold it together and not stress out a geriatric injured pup or her ill parents with too much drama.

Sincerely, 
Beth, honestly wondering why people take and post pictures of food.  It always looks so unappetizing to me...  maybe it is just me, but it keeps me from snacking!

Week 4: 1/22/2018 - 1/28/2018

"Start as you mean to go on."  Was how I originally heard this quote.  I'm not sure of the actual quote.  

“Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began, and let the Lord be all in all to you.” - Charles Haddon Spurgeon, All of Grace

Or perhaps:

"Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop." - Lewis Carroll

I've had a slow start to the year mile wise.  Gus, Gizmo, Sage, Diesel, and even Jax are/were motivation for evening walks and weekend hikes!  Clearly, the credit goes to the pups for 10 or so extra miles a week.  I thought about going out today, it's not so much fun alone, especially on a rainy dreary day...  I knew I enjoyed experiencing things through their eyes, I just didn't realize how much.

Since I have nothing but pictures of beer, I dug through my running photo archive...  I've had some great races over the years.  Nice memories!

Monday:  (4 running) I did it!  4 miles!  It felt so nice, kind of freeing.  My knees were a bit achy the next morning but not for long.  I ended up using my core work time chatting with Mikey about his new pup and the trials and tribulations of two dog household.  A two female dog household is going to be interesting for them, for sure. 

Run Around the Block 15K, Block Island RI 2012
Probably one of my favorite blog posts too!
Not such a nice face.  That would be a fun race to run again.

Tuesday:  (15 spin bike) Other than my knees giving me a little grief in the morning all was well.  I had a core routine all worked up, but no time to get to it before spin class.  Stupid work.  Spin class was a lot of interval work, I needed some of that for sure.  

My last marathon - AZ R&R 2013
Erwin, Andrea, Gabe, MaryAnn, me

Wednesday: (4 running) Challenged myself a bit turning right out of the gate and going down to Jupiter Point and back to campus.  Two things I'm not a huge fan of going up Shennie (it is more "elevation" than Eastern Point) and then running out of the hole of Jupiter Point.  It is kind of a mental game and kind of a well crap I'm tired, running a slight long never ending incline into the wind.  Can't I just die now?  I did it, nothing spectacular pace-wise.  I am very happy being able to run and not have to THINK about how I'm going to get up and down stairs and not yelp.   There is a lot I forgot about not being in constant pain, slowly I am remembering what it feels like to not wince or think about getting up and moving. :)

Newport 1/2 Marathon 2012 - my PR!

Thursday:  New York for the day, I was on an interview panel...  questioning the expected outcomes of future lawyers about Fellowships grants they are applying for.  The projects presented were thought provoking,  innovative, and impactful.  It was hard to pick one.

The last running of the Camier Firecracker 4-Miler 2013
That was a horrible race -  Racing in July is miserable no matter what the distance.
Nicole, me, Jackie

Friday:  Between NYC exhaustion and my hands and feet not wanting to warm up I had a pretty crappy day.  Even my massage wasn't so wonderful as I didn't want to be touched.  Guess this is how it goes sometimes.

Belleville Pond 10K 2014, always a favorite!
Monica, me, Crutch

Saturday:  The first race in the WTAC Clamshell Series, Charlestown Early Learning Center Chili 5K.  It is a 5K PR course for sure, flat and fast and challenging with the wind as it is always blowing.  Did I PR?  Ha!  No!  I didn't fall or die and that is pretty much all I'm hoping for.  I did have to stop and tie my shoe as I entered mile 3 and that kind of sucked.  I haven't had that happen in a long time.  Huh...  I've been using a 'reef knot' and that is NOT supposed to happen.   Probably time to go back to double knotting.

It was a nice race, I didn't hang around after.

Sunday:  The ongoing rain put a damper on my mountain biking plans, don't really need to rut up the trails but being muddy and wet would have been super fun.  This is going to be a low mileage week and that's about it.   I caught up with a lot of things I've been remiss in attending to.

One of my favorite 5K pictures.
George Ross Photography
A month before my one and only 50K.  Everything was easy for me then.
RI State Police Foot Pursuit April 2014

Gus:  Resting comfortably, he wants to be up and around but it wears him out.  Rest is really important for recovery. Thursday is the appointment with the Neurologist, we will know more then.  

Reading:

"Anansi Boys" by Neil Gaiman 
Finished (1/28)
The whole time I listened to this all I could think was I know this story, wait do I?  Turns out I remembered very little of it from the first time through in 2011.

2011 review: Wonderful story, made me smile the whole time! Our parents teach us valuable lessons and give us valuable gifts; sometimes it takes us a lifetime to understand them.

Still holds true!  

"Coraline" by Neil Gaiman
Started  (1/28)

Knitting:

Still plugging away on the Lilac sweater.  

Mileage:

Feet:  12 / 42 YTD
Saddle:  15 / 104 YTD

Summary:
Thrilled I had two runs for longer than 4 miles and no pain!  Not disappointed I didn't get in more miles either on my feet or in the saddle, I wasn't feeling it on Friday for sure.  Anxious about what Thursday will hold, is Gus treatable or not?  

Sincerely,
Beth,  remembering memories stay with us for a lifetime.

Week 3: 1/15/2018 - 1/21/2018

Monday: (6-mile mountain bike ride) Day off from work for MLK.  Thanks!  I was considering starting a petition to have Presidents Day off instead.  NYC has MLK and Presidents Day, as we have 12/25 - 1/1 off...  It would be nice to have a day off mid-February. This was met with a combination of, we don't need any of these days off I'd rather have floater days to Beth are you fing crazy?  I'm thinking this is one of those to file in my bad ideas file.

I took Barney out to Barn Island, I didn't have much of a plan, who needs a plan?  I get so turned around out there a plan would frustrate me!   This time I managed to not go in a big circle AND I managed to find the entrance off Greenhaven!  Whoop!   The chances I find this again are slim, but who knows.  I really really really appreciate marked trails, at least then I have some frame of reference other than, go left by the Beech tree next to the rock with a little, not a lot of green moss.  My saving grace is this is a preserve bordered by private property, I'm somewhat contained and won't end up lost starving and having to fend for myself hunting and cooking squirrels...  

Maybe, just maybe I can cobble together a route based on all my other routes and the routes of people who actually know the trails.  I'm sure I can get far more than 6 miles in there, the trails are lovely and calm, I spent the majority of time in the saddle, versus, falling off the bike or walking the bike.  Or I can keep riding randomly and see what I see...

Gus is up and down, the painkillers are wearing off too soon, and the miracle of Doxy clearing up tick-borne illness isn't kicking in.

Jax is concerned by all of this, and really jealous Gus gets to eat in the living room and go outside in the front yard.  

Tuesday:  (15 on the spin bike) Not a running day, which is kind of good, I've been really remiss in attending a Tuesday lunchtime meeting.  It was somewhat useful.  Spin class ended the day and that was good.  The guy next to me questioned why I don't stand in the pedals.  I replied, "Arthritis, I'd rather stand on a real bike."  He nodded and shared his laundry list of injuries.  Athlete bonding?  Dunno...

Talked with the vet, upped Gus' meds.  It seems to be giving him some relief.  Maybe real rest will make a difference.  I want to remain optimistic, but I can't let him not have a fun life.  

This was a year ago.

He really hates selfie

   
Wednesday: (5K + core) The vet called, the tick titer came back with Anaplasmosis, what we were hoping for, mostly because it helps eliminate some of the more horrible thoughts we have been having.  Dave reported to the vet Gus does not appear to be responding to the Doxycycline and is still in pain.  The vet assured Dave a slower response in a geriatric boxer was to be expected.  GERIATRIC!!!  Gus would be so pissed if someone told him he was geriatric. And prescribed another painkiller.  He didn't look much better in the evening but still ate like it was going out of style.  That really is a good thing. 

My run was good, peppy, for me for now, 11:13 overall pace including a 1/4 mile walk warm up.  New shoes with actual tread probably helped.  I am really really rough on shoes, I get about 300 miles before the tread seems paper thin. I'm experimenting with Brooks Transcend as a friend who runs in the same type of shoe I run in said she loved hers.  They felt fine for the run and no residual knee or hip pain.  

Core: two-legged glute bridges x 10 one legged glute bridge 10 each side, 30 crunches and I think that's it, nothing major.

The Britt Brat enjoying her too large sweater.

Thursday:  (15 miles on the spin bike + core)  Gus looked, dare we say it, better in the morning.  By 10 a.m. he had had enough of the dog bed and got himself up on the couch!  Dave texted a picture of Gus looking a bit more like himself.  I guess something is starting to work!  Or maybe he wasn't going take being called geriatric lying down? 

Not much to write about in spin class, I'm looking forward to the warmer weather and riding into work versus the spin class.  At least I'm keeping some base level of pedaling fitness?  Sitting through the whole class does suck, I can move enough forward and backward in the seat to work different leg muscles.  Another classmate asked me what the deal was with sitting.  I said, not a lot of cartilage left in my knee. She launched into her injury of the week, I never want to be that person.  Guess now I'm both the weird girl with braids (under my funky sparkly winter hats) who runs in the rain and the snow AND the weird girl who doesn't stand in spin class (but not the injury of the week?).  Lovely.  

Core:  one legged glute bridges 15 each side, spider plank 20, 20 reverse snow angels, and this funky thing called a Dive Bomber Pushup, I managed 5 collapsed and 5 more, reminds me of a yoga move.  I called it good at that point, plus it was time for spin class to start. 

And we have moments of nearly normal Gus behavior

Friday:  (5K + core) not as peppy as Wednesday, but peppy for me of late.  It didn't feel as exhausting and nothing hurt after the run, it's time to add a mile and see what happens!  

Core: front and side planks 3:00, one-legged bridges 20 each side, minimal.

The first quarter of the year I have to do this crazy analysis thing at work, it usually gives me nightmares once I start.  The data arrived early and I finished it up on Friday, no nightmares.  People are actually doing what they are supposed to be doing and I only have to knock on a few doors this year!  After a laundry list of things I could whine about (I don't want to be one of those people), it was nice to have a check mark in the oh hell yes success column!

The tree grew between the rocks or did the tree split the rock?

Saturday:  (7 miles on the mountain bike) My turn for morning Gus duty! He was eager to go out for his morning duties and once back inside a little exhausted however took his laundry list of pills with no problem.  Took a half an hour for everything to kick in and he was ready for breakfast.  Pretty good morning for him!  

Took Barney out to Barn Island with a course loaded in my GPS.  It mostly worked!  I was on the bike for 100 minutes longest yet solo!  Plus I remembered a chamois so, yeah, my arse didn't hurt!

Red is my plan, Blue is what happened.

Sunday:  (7 miles on Barney)  Gus wasn't as perky in the morning, I'm sure you are getting as sick of these daily updates as my mother is and now she has to read them twice!  Well, not as much detail as my mom gets.  All in all, he had a good day, he is progressing, in the healthy direction, from where he was a week ago, he has a hell of a fight going on inside him with the Anaplasmosis infection.

I mapped out another route on Barn Island, 10 miles, up the ante a bit with miles and mostly single track.  The GPS does a good job of letting me know turns and I felt more confident with most of this route as I'd run this way in the past and biked parts of it and hiked some of it with Gus.  Nothing EVER looks the same though.  Where the hell is that green rock at the start of the Jonny Smith loop??

Again I did a comparison of my intended route against my actual route.  

The blue ink yellow circle (top right of the map) I marked this because the trail is all screwed up with the neighbors to Barn Island.  I remember running into another biker and him telling me about this ongoing battle with the abutters.  The trail was blocked with branches in place.  I did manage to get around that and follow the trail back to what was "familiar".  

There were a couple places where I had to turn around and get back on my intended route. 

The new trail was Fugitive Camp this is the red circle with the yellow highlight on the left of the map.  I got as far down this as I could see a trail and it was so overgrown with thorns (I'll spare you the bloody calf pictures).  I happened upon 8 white-tailed does (I'm assuming as I saw no antlers) there is a big water source and they were not anxious to leave it.  They were not too scared of me, we all stared at each other for a while and I moved forward, very much unclear of where the trail could possibly be.  They wandered off, I felt a little guilty for pushing them away from where they wanted to be.  I backtracked and then decided to bag it once I got on the fire road.  I'd been out for about 2 hours and a good portion of that was riding and my butt was getting tender from the rough terrain.  

I can approach this from the other side and see where I may have lost the trail.  If they aren't used much they grow over.

All in all, it was a fun outing, I took the time to ride along the hard top to spray off some of the mud and crud from my tires.  

The thought of a road bike ride crossed my mind, I still haven't put on the new tire and new tube and really didn't want the frustration of having a flat.  Moreover, I REALLY wanted to be in the woods.

Mileage:

Feet:  6.2  (30/1,500 55 miles behind pace)  
Saddle: 50 (89/3,000 83 miles behind pace)


Books:

"Big Little Lies" by Liane Moriarty
Finished
Review: Oh wow a murder mystery you don't find out who is murdered till the very end and you know what?That made it even better.   I'd be a little hesitant to recommend this to anyone who was in an abusive relationship, but then again maybe it would be ok, that is my only hesitation.  The issue of domestic violence is handled with kid gloves, however, I am decidedly uneducated in such matters.  The writing is delicious the story is hard to get out of your mind (in a good way).  The last couple chapters seemed a little unnecessary at the time, upon reflection, they were spot on.

"Anansi Boys" by Neil Gaiman 
Started
I feel like I know this story of the spider gods.  It is captivating!

Knitting:

Finished the purple sweater and started a new purple sweater, a lighter purple.  Lilac?

Not the lilac sweater

Summary: 

Better than last week, yes Gus' health plays a major factor in this.  Aging pets are tough.  Seeing progress is helpful.  It is like when he came to us (2011) when he was 3 1/2, he lived 18 months in a kennel, the adjustment period to live on the 'outside' as well as living with 2 other dogs.  We had our great days and we had our not so great days.  Athletically, I am very happy with my improving bike handling skills as well as ability to navigate obstacles!

Sincerely, 
Beth, thinking its about time to start knitting socks, oh yeah and running 4 miles 3x per week!