Weekly Recap: 11/20/2017 - 11/26/2017

Monday - There was a short dog walk so Gus would let me sleep through the night. Otherwise, I don't want to talk about it.

These are the things that go on in our house.  We have a circle, perfect for 5-year-olds to ride bikes around, or 51-year-olds... not really much of a difference?

Tuesday - Spin class!  It is a bit boring not being able to stand on the pedals, however, a good time to work on my climbing muscles.  Gus and I had a nice walk after I got home.

I want the chair, make Jax get out of the chair.

Wednesday - The sun was supposed to be out at 3, so I was going to run then.  It didn't come out but it was nice for a dog walks, they each had their own walk.

Dave, the Imaginary Husband, volunteered to help out with Thanksgiving dinner at his parents, house.  And when he volunteers, he does, he isn't voluntolding me, he is volunteering himself.  We had a small crisis with a roasting pan after I got back from a short Jax walk and a long Gus walk.  Tom the Turkey wouldn't fit into the pan and how the hell was he supposed to fold his wings behind his back?  Were they supposed to go back like he was arresting the turkey or like the turkey was sitting in an office chair with his hands behind his head?  Nothing was really working.  Then there was the dilemma of no turkey baster or string....  I offered several times to make a trip to, ugh, Wal-Mart, TJMaxx or Home Goods MAY have what we are looking for but at 9:40 p.m. we had a limited amount of time.  Wally World was most likely to have what we needed.  They did!  We only need a few inches bigger pan, and I found it!  The baster and string were procured at Stop and Shop and I was on my way home.  Leaving Stop and Shop at 9:59 p.m. just as they were closing!  Pshew.

Tom was all situated and bound in his vessel, the wings go behind like he's in a desk chair, not the back of a police car (in case you were wondering), he was nestled quietly in the fridge with the sides ready for a 6 a.m. wake up call!  Well done, Dave, the Imaginary Husband!  He asked if I'd dry if he washed the 1/2 a gajillion pots, pans, bowls, and other things he used.  Sure, anything to get the kitchen put back together.

Thursday - Up and at 'em at 6 a.m. to get Tom layered in some cheesecloth and in the spa for his day of tanning.  Dave asked me to hold off until after the 10 a.m. basting to leave the house.  He was going on a Turkey Burner Ride.  Oh goodie, I didn't have to leave till a civilized hour!  Tom looked all tanned and crispy with a little cheesecloth all browned from the butter and wine basting sauce.  Very cute!  I was able to use the time to futz around with the tubeless back tire on Barney.  After several inflations and rapid spinnings FINALLY the tire held air!  I was pretty lucky and it was 45 minutes of riding before the tire started going flat and I had to re-inflate to get back to the car.  I could see where the 'stuff' was leaking from the tire during the multiple inflations and spins.  I'll call that a win and Dave said he'd put in a new application that probably the last application leaked out over the summer and with the re-inflation and spinning.  Or there was a problem with the binding.

I had such a lovely ride.  I was so happy to be in the woods, and have warm feet, and be on the bike, and be muddy, and have clear skies, and sun, and the best of many worlds for me.  I could feel that smile I get when I bike emerging on my face.  One of my co-workers sees me out on the road from time to time and says I look very happy on my bike.  He also thinks this is very weird, and wonders if there is vodka in my water bottle.  HA HA!!

Ahhhh

Jax came with to MA and Gus stayed home.  Gus isn't good in the car, he hates it.  He was very happy to have us home and when I went to bed he curled up next to me and put his head on my shoulder.  Not something he normally does.  I would have preferred to leave both of them home so they could keep each other company.  Somethings aren't worth fighting over, it's pointless.

Friday - Faith and I were able to run, and we went to Champlin Glacier Park.  You can get a surprising amount of elevation in the teeny nature preserve.  I managed 3 miles before I really needed to throw in the towel.  It had been nearly two weeks since I ran, and of course, Thanksgiving dinner was sitting heavy in my gut.    It was a fun run, nothing to be disappointed in, then we went to a packy and got a mix-a-six of beers I thought she and her husband would enjoy.  I picked up a few things too...

Saturday - The weather was supposed to be perfect for a road ride, low 50's, sunny, barely any wind.  I was so excited to be able and get out for at least an hour of riding.  I stretched it into nearly 2 and then topped it off with a spectacular blow out less than a mile from home.  I seriously have something wrong with my back tire.  Either I'm putting in the tube wrong or there is something wrong with the tire.  Taking the whole thing apart and carefully going through it with a bright light and glasses could unearth any defects in the tire or the rim.  Or I'm just a buffon who can't put in a tube without it getting caught in the bead on the tire.



Gus and I went out for a hike.  This was the day I was going to let him take the inner trails of Riverwood Preserve, they are hilly and after learning a friend's parents lost their boxer boy to a heart attack on Thanksgiving Day I wasn't going to deny Gus to do something he loves, while it terrifies the hell out of me when he recklessly scrambles up the ledge and then wanders to the edge, he clearly enjoys it based on the look in his eye and his nub wiggles.  We heard gunshots pretty quick into our hike and Gus wasn't having any of that and took the quickest exit out of the preserve.  Fortunately, he had a really good scramble up a ledge, and one where he was sort of stuck (which happens when you take the steepest route) and I had to give him a little push to get him to the top.  A reminder we should embrace each day and do something that makes us happy.

Sunday -  The Imaginary Husband had a 30-mile mountain bike ride between the Woody Hill Preserve and Burlingame on his schedule.  I planned on going to Barn Island and exploring more.  My back tire on Barney wasn't holding air well and he was going to take a look at it, probably needs more of the 'stuff' as it is tubeless.  I did grab a tube and put that in my pack, just in case....  what I forgot, and found out a mile away from the car, when the tire wouldn't hold air, were tire irons.   Whoops.  I walked the bike back to the car.  All good experiences!

I'm nearly capable enough to ride right through these old stone walls.

Mileage:

Feet: 17
Saddle: 49

Nothing too impressive.  I think I'm ready to get back to more running miles.  It has been nice having knees that don't feel like hell, however, it hasn't been nice not having that freeing feeling I get from running. 

Books:

"The Girl From The Train" by Irma Joubert, it is an interesting story about a young girl, 6, who jumped from a train heading to Auschwitz.  Her Oma and Aunt were on the train, they did not make it off, only she and her older sister, who became very ill and died.  She was adopted by a family in South Africa when she was 12.  I'm not sure it is or isn't a great book or if I just haven't had enough time to think about it, it's not really grabbing me.

Knitting:

Found homes for all but two of the sweaters, and I'm not too keen on giving either of them away due to size issues with one and a small defect in the other.   Finished another sweater and started one.  From the count, in my knitting notebook, I am starting sweater #39 since I started keeping track a couple years ago.  

I'm not quite ready to sort (determine what to keep with a specific project and what to give away) the yarn stash I've amassed over the years, there is more yarn than I can knit, and getting slapped in the face finding a HUGE bag of yarn hiding behind a chair in the guest room was a little overwhelming.  Even if I lived to 100, I would never get through all this yarn.  

I am ignoring the bags and bags of fabric, at the moment.  That may just get shipped to my Aunt in IL, she will put it to good use.  Quilting is her obsession.  

Sincerely,
Beth, remember, enjoy every single day.  

Weekly Recap: 11/13/2017 - 11/19/2017

Happy news!  I found homes for all but two of the sweaters. One I think is more a preemie size, or an American Girl Doll size (anyone Buller?) I'll pass on the preemie because it isn't a very soft sweater.  The other sweater I am holding on to for a girlfriend who is expecting in March, she is just 40 and married a year.  It's a girl sweater, so her baby is a girl, whoop!  If not then it goes in the pile with the rest of them to find homes.  I don't sell them, I give them away.  Maybe it is a weird Midwestern thing?  or a knitter thing?  I seriously have collected more yarn than I will ever knit and need to make some progress on my stash to a point before I donate it to a retirement home.   My husband suggested I make socks and give them away.  Um NO.  Socks are a whole different game than my basic baby sweater pattern.  If you get a pair of socks from me, that is a HUGE commitment you need to make to me for the rest of your life and the life of the socks. 

Monday -  Running today would be a two day in a row run for me.  I didn't bring my spin shoes and  had stupid meetings at the spin class time (I think) so I went out for a run in the neighborhood south of campus, it has wee tiny hills and close enough that I'm not more than 1/2 mile away in case I was so miserable I was done done done.    I got in 3 miles and was happy with that. 

Gus got out for a short walk where clearly we did not go where he wanted to go and then I dropped a glove and we had to backtrack.  His expressions and demeanor represented his disappointment in the entire walk. I do love curmudgeons, so it's hard not find his grouching completely adorable.

This was a different day, but he was very happy to dig through the recycling and he found something to nosh.

Tuesday - Not a running day, it was a meeting day, I never got to the gym.  I was in distress when I got home.  Gus was in a better mood, or I let him lead (surprisingly a guy I danced with said to me "Beth this would be so much easier if you let me lead."  Huh...)  We wandered here and there and down roads, I am not a fan of.  He was happy and that is really the purpose of our outings. 

Jax - he looks so sweet and innocent?
Don't let the asymmetrical face and tongue too big for his mouth fool you.

Wednesday - Run with Faith on the schedule.  After an issue with parking, we ended up starting from the Eastern Point Beach parking lot.  I got in just over 4 miles and that was good.  I am so not prepared for Li'l Rhody.  There will be a lot of walking and a LOT of pain after... but oh well.  I spend the day after Li'l Rhody under anesthesia, so I have that going for me pain management wise!! 

Took both the boys out for a walk, this is a miserable exercise, why do I do this?

Watchaug Pond at Burlingame

Thursday - Not a running day a cross-training day, Chris' HEAT class was its usual torture.  Cardio and Super Set intervals.  The jumping with the cardio makes my knees ache when I can modify to keep up my heart rate I do, and for the other times, I hope he shows the LOW IMPACT way to do the exercise.  Weights aren't a problem, well squats, I can go down 30%, so it is really a focus on engaging the right muscles and not being lazy.  Even though I feel like people watching are all like 'WTF that girl isn't doing it right'  but seriously any further and I am experiencing a level of pain you may never comprehend in my knees.  Pain isn't a good thing.

He's too freaking cute.

Friday - I felt like crap, I took a nap, I felt better, end of story.

Saturday - Helped mark the Li'l Rhody Runaround course.  My first time!  Very fun, and I enjoyed talking to John Hammet very much.  Went out with super cool runners for drinks and dinner!  All in all a great day!

Some of Runners Love Their Beer

When we run the same race, Leslie is the first woman I am the last!

Sunday - As I worked registration and realized I'd be running 8 miles on an empty stomach I was able to make the smart decision and not run.  Gus couldn't even get me out for a walk.  I'm really not pleasant when I can't eat.  End of story.

Add your own caption
Photo by Paul Gray

Mileage:

Feet:  21.8  (totally NOT meeting 2,016-mile goal this year, I'm 66 miles behind, no way to make THAT up - oh well)
Saddle:  0  (off week a the gym, no spin, and well otherwise it is dark or I was crabby)

Knitting:

Success in finding homes for sweaters!

Nearly finished a rose-colored sweater.  Happy to make some progress, it is TV and Knitting season for the evenings. 

Reading:

I finished "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman  I love, love, loved this book. Ove is a curmudgeon, but is he really? He has a huge heart it just takes a while to find it and a clear understanding of what it means to be Ove's friend. I listened to this and the narrator did such a great job, possibly making me love this book and Ove even more.  

I started "The Girl From The Train" by Irma Joubert, a book about a child escaping a train (which was blown up) headed for Auschwitz. 

All in all, not a bad or great week, it was a week.

Sincerely, 
Beth, happy to eat again, that was a long freaking 36 hours.

Weekly Recap: 11/6/2017 - 11/12/2017

Monday - Happy Monday I got to run again!  I ran 2 miles, I wanted to run more.  Ro reminded me to not overdo it.  2 was good, then we walked for a bit and ran another 1/2 mile.  I felt it in my quads on Tuesday morning!  I kinda missed that sore feeling from a good run.  Guess that was a good run?  I didn't want to walk any dogs and definitely didn't want to go twice, I took both of them.  The three of us were miserable.   Gus wants to walk, Jax wants to sniff, and I wanted to work on my to-do list (I never want to do that).

Thought this was really pretty.
Riverwood Preserve, Westerly, RI

Tuesday - Sore quads, were eased a bit in Addy's Circuit Class, or really "death spiral".  I can't even think up a good phrase.  Batan Death March comes to mind, but that may be a BIT over dramatic....  Then I went to Spin.  The second helping of torture was my call.  But I need to get back on that spin bike because the real bike is heading into the not so much season.  I was exhausted when I got home and it was raining and told Gus he needed a rest day.  He was not convinced.  He went to bed early and I am sure will have me up at 4 a.m. which he thinks is 5 a.m.  Maybe I'll walk him in the a.m. if I'm feeling up to it.  Bwahaaaaaaaa  I love to laze around in bed in the morning even if it is from 5 - 6 a.m.  it stills feels decadent. 

The Art Project - paw prints.  I have to get more clay and try over.
The treacherous trios look much better.

Wednesday - Awesome opportunity to tour the Dana Farber Cancer Insitute (DCFI) Lung Cancer research center.  This is where the money I raise (from a lot of you, thank you!) goes for research in detecting and treating lung cancer.

It was great to catch up with Diane and Kim and meet Lily, and David Sach's widow, Julie (it was their wedding anniversary) and Adam Klein (Survivor Fiji winner) his mother passed away from lung cancer two days after taping ended, she was diagnosed while he was on the show.

Diane looks great!  I was relieved, but I also know that anything to do with Lung Cancer advocacy energizes her and she gets such a lift from these events, it is good for her overall health.  Her cancer has made a reoccurrence and she is undergoing experimental treatments at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

Kim's mother (7 years post diagnosis) had some reoccurring metastasis in the brain and had brain surgery earlier in the month, she is busy picking apart what information her parents share and trying to put together a story.  I am lucky, my parents tell me what they know, not what they think I should know.

Lily's father is newly diagnosed, March of 2016, and he rode his first Pan-Mass Challenge this year, and Lily will be riding next year.  Lily is young, just out of college, too young to be dealing with a father having Stage IV lung cancer.  Her father is involved with a clinical trial out of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Dallas TX, he and Lily's mom fly down as necessary for treatment and examinations.

Bottom line: THIS is what the donations to LUNGStrong (or Stand UP 2 Cancer) provide, research and hope to a cure, and if not a cure, a way to control the progress of lung cancer.

It was emotional and draining.  I was glad to meet Julie, she wasn't so much into meeting new people, David passed away in August, it is very soon for her.  She did mention that they met while running a marathon, that is a cool story! I remember him from my year 2 and 3 PMC rides.  Such energy and passion.  Encouraging me to latch on to a pace line and zip along!  Not much older than I, 55, with kids in high school.  Far far far too young to die from Lung Cancer, his was due to a genetic mutation.

I can't see you.
You can't see me.

Thursday - my real activity was walking a very energetic Gus on the long route.  He was happy to get out, I worry about him, possibly too much, but I don't want him to have a heart attack while we are out, but then again, he'd die during something he loved.  It is a tough call.  I think I'll take him on the ledge in Riverwood, he loves that.  If it's the last hike, I'll know he was happy scrambling up the ledge.  Being a dog guardian isn't exactly easy, as a few of you know.   Bottom line, them being happy and fulfilled is of the utmost importance.

Dave did remind me that we let Diesel do as he pleased when he was going through chemo and on on the Sotolo.  He got to be almost as crazy boxer boy as he wanted to be until he couldn't anymore.

The trauma of a 10-year-old having to color inside the lines per her aunt and grandfather.

Friday - My second run post shot series.  It took a little shove by a co-worker to get me out there.  I was having a major confidence crisis.  She assured me we ALL feel like that and it passes.  She was right.  It was a good run and it felt good.  It was chilly with some wicked heavy gusts of wind.  So bad I couldn't face the Eastern Point Beach loop, I turned into the wind and was at a standstill.  That swiped about 1/4 mile from my run. I really wasn't in the mood for wind and sea spray, not yet.

I found these sheer curtains, they have really impressed me SmartSheer keeps out the cold in the winter and the heat/UV in the summer.  I was skeptical, a sheer curtain.  Well, it does work there is a marked difference of the temperature on the other side of them!  We have old windows, as old as the house. This should help a little with the drafts.  We both figure the drafts keep the air fresh.

Treat time!

Saturday - One of those bitter cold I don't want to move days. Assembled the baby sweaters I have been knitting through the summer and washed them and found most of them homes!

Gus and I got out in the afternoon for an in town walk.  In the park, he skedaddled when a little two-legged creature came running towards 'pretty puppy'.  Gus was all 'let's get the hell outta here'.  The mother had to chase the kid, even Gus, when smelling something very interesting has better recall than that toddler focused on 'pretty puppy'.  Sorry to the parents out there, but you have to ASK if a dog wants to be petted by a child, I have no remorse for making that mother run across the park after her kid.  I'd put a yellow ribbon on his leash, however who of you knows what that means? 

Baby sweaters summer 2017

Sunday - Setting the Pace for Conservation 5K at Avondale Preserve - Rachel said she might go, I never followed up to see if she'd be there or not. I brought her beer, and a singlet just in case she was there.  Nope.  Nice catching up with folks in person versus online (FB, Strava, Instagram, eMail).  The race is super flat, so even crossing the road, you know that less than wee tiny hump in the middle, felt like a hill!  HA!  I started out in the back and actually had to reposition myself to move towards the back of the middle.  Interesting.  I had no idea how this was going to go and only had the goal of not falling at the start.  I managed that, so the rest of the race was a gimme, right?  It was interesting to see how much I slowed down around corners, wonder if that took some of the wind out of my sails or I was plain tired because I haven't been running!  I had perfectly executed positive splits for the 3 miles of the race and was passed in the last 1/10th of a mile, and couldn't even work harder, clearly, I 'left it all out on the course'.  YES even someone who runs a 31:29 5K can say that!  I have no idea what my official time or place are, frankly, I finished, but if you are curious the results are here.  Some great showing by the WTAC crew, for sure! 

I was surprised I found this!
My parents' Conservation efforts recognized by their alma mater Bradley University

Gus and I had a nice hike.  He scared up a flock of turkeys and I can't tell you who was more rattled the turkeys or Gus!  We also saw and talked to a mountain biker.  Hmm... I really need to get back on Barney.

We are bored.
Do something for us.

Mileage:

Feet: 23.5
Saddle:  15

Books:

Finished "The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett" by ...   cute book about teen angst and finally realizing how you are perceived by other people doesn't really matter as long as you are true to yourself.

Started "A Man Called Ove" by ...  OMG, he is a cranky old bastard, very set in his ways, and a few chapters in I can understand why. 

Knitting:

Sewed up the collection of baby sweaters, put buttons on them, threw them in the washer and the dryer and found homes for most of them!  One did have a small tragedy and has a hole in the back.  I don't remember having to change yarn or weaving anything in, I'm not sure what happened there.  I'll hold that one for a bit and wash it again and see if my repair is OK.  I couldn't tell you how many of these I have made, I enjoy it and it keeps my hands busy and I can pay attention to conversations or books or television or movies, plus it slows down the amount of beer I can consume.  All good things.  Oh yeah and the maintaining what little sanity I do have to a fairly constant level.

All in all a pretty good week.  I pushed it a bit with Monday's run, I kinda knew I was going to do that and I also knew I wouldn't have the opportunity to run again until Friday, it all worked out.