Thursday, July 29, 2010

Thursday 13: Untitled.

Dear Diary:

13 It is finally raining here.  We came home from Leadville to rain.  The next morning I got up to go to work, put the dog out, and she has two preferred places to be when it rains: huddled under a patio table that affords no protection, or sitting in the middle of the patio, in the rain, staring in at me, because sadly, she doesn't know:
I will not be manipulated.

I finally went out side with a leash and dragged her over to her shelter, a large shed that is clean, dry, and has a large doggie door in the side.  She resisted the entire time, dug in her feet, and as soon as I let go of the leash, bolted back over the sit on the wet patio, in the downpour, and stare at me. Fine.  Whatever.  I went to work. This is proof of creationism.  Dogs could not have survived for millions of years without us.  They are just too, too dumb.  Sweet, but dumb. 

12.  Now that Sweet Baboo is "tapering" (read: he's only running 50 miles this week) he's the boss of my training, and runs with me.  For some reason, this makes me run faster.  I don't know why.  It's not like I'm trying to prove anything to himself.  Maybe it's just that having a running buddy, I'm too self conscious to take my usual lazy walk breaks.  The result: faster times in training. 

11.  I have come to the conclusion that I am sadly lacking in symmetry.  How do I know this?  Behold, my evidence:
a) Whenever I wear Cw-x tights, the "supportive" seams always rotate inward on my right leg.
b) My left calf muscle has an ongoing issue, but only my left.

I have to assume that I lurch along, not unlike Quasimoto.  Next thing you know, I'll have a built-up running shoe. 

10.  This week I had a kid's case on my desk, one that I taught my last semester of teaching.  I went down to the youth detention center (kid jail) to interview him for admission.

Since I last saw him, he's used a lot of meth, heroin, alcohol, and inhalants.  He lives alternately on the streets and in hotels, when he gets enough money from stealing and reselling stuff and has some leftover after buying drugs.  The year that I taught him was the last year he finished of school.  He's not as smart as he used to be.  He's really tired. 

When I asked him if he wanted to come to the hospital where I work.  He waved his hand around the jail, and said, "I don't know.  I seem to do best when I"m in here.  Maybe I should just stay here as long as I can".

When you're 17, and resigned to a life in lockup, who can give you hope?

How do you get hope back? 

9.   I turns out that even though I had only planned to do a few long events on the last quarter of the year, the training is still sucking up a lot of time.  I had planned on doing a lot of sprint triathlons, but holy hell: I spend most of my time running.  I can't believe I signed up for a hundred miler.  I  must be crazy. 

8.  Sorry for the downer (#7).  It's just that I thought about this kid from time to time.  He was the smartest in his class.  I figured he'd be the one to make it.  You just never know. 

7.  I dropped another pound.  I went to my ticker, up at the top of this page, to enter in my new weight, and it was all, "New!  Now track your waist measurement!"  Oh, HELL no.  I am not going public with that.  My weight is one thing; my actual measurements are another. 

6.  I will share, however, that the size 10s are starting to loosen.  This is good, because I want to weigh as little as possible if I'm going to try to drag my ass over 100 miles. 

5.  My training this week:
  • Friday: 10 mile hike to the top of Hope Pass and back.
  • Saturday: 7.3 mile run around Silverthorne, Colorado, Elevation 9000 feet, rising up to around 9400 feet, dropping down to 8800 feet, and then back up to 9000.
  • Sunday: 7.8 mile trail run alongside Turquoise Lake, mostly flat, starting at 9900 feet.
  • Monday: rest
  • Tuesday: 4.2 mile trail run at home, elevation gain, 563 feet.
  • Wednesday: 8 mile road run, elevation gain, 355 feet. 
  • Thursday, 6.7 miles, road/trail, elevation gain, unknown.
  • Total mileage: 44 miles.  Not a bad start. 
 4.  It's amazing that I ran on Thursday.  I haven't stuck with a training plan and actually run a single Thursday until now.  Of course, Baboo is watching over me, so I'm too self conscious not to.  It will be an even bigger miracle of I do both of my long runs this weekend: 20 miles on Saturday, 12 on Sunday. 

3.   Wednesday's run was momentous for a very important reason: I wore a running skirt.  I have NEVER been able to wear those things.  But last night, I wore one, and only tugged the shorts down twice.  You men won't understand.  You women will. 
 
2.  I will share my favorite fast meal: steamable bagged veggies, kraft easy mac in a cup, and some tuna or salmon.  I suppose you could use chicken.  Mix it all together, and divide in half, and voila: the guilty pleasure of mac and cheese with veggies and protein.  
 
1.  Thursday is binge day.  I have decided that I will have: a donut.  More on this later.  
 
... 


1 comment:

  1. Number 10 was like a dagger to the heart. I have had, and continue to have, those kids. My first year, I cried my eyes out the first time I saw one of my charges (cheeky kid, that was an asshole with a heart of gold. He had one of those HORRIBLE life stories that we all know and no human deserves, much less a kid that did not ask for it), gacked out on meth.

    I knew what his life had in store. I instantly fast forwarded through his future in my mind and I could not handle it. My Dean of Students, came and talked me down. He told me "you can love them, but you can not let them destroy you otherwise you will have nothing left when you get one you can save."

    Over the last 11 years I have both followed and failed at that advice. I know my heart is tougher than it was then, that is both good and bad. But I still teach because I can love them even when they break my heart, and I stopped blaming myself when they do.

    And DAMN YOU and your cute running skirt and loose size 10s!! Damn you all to hell!

    I can not get below 150 (remember, I am a good half foot shorter than you) to save my goddamn life and you are tooling around in a running skirt?!

    Gah!

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