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| Early, post-sunrise at Rocky Racoon |
13. On Monday I had a scheduled day off so, and spent the day FINALLY cleaning out the spare bedroom, the one I've been talking about for months that I want to turn into an exercise room.
12. Tuesday, it was bitter cold (of course) but I went into work anyway. There is a girl I work with, Daisy, who is young and perky and happy. She kept frowning at me in cute, pouty way and telling me I needed to go home because the streets were getting worse. I finally took off around noon, and grabbed an extra day of cases on the way out, just in case. I got home in time for things to get worse, and hung out with the dog.
11. Sweet Baboo dropped his Blackberry early Tuesday morning while scraping snow and ice off our cars. It fell somewhere in the thick snow in front of our house. "Well, that's that," he said, "the water will ruin it." We tried calling it, but the wind was howling and would couldn't hear anything.
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| You can tell its cold - not by the shorts, but by the gloves. Himself only wears hats, also, when it's bitter cold out. |
10. Wednesday, I called in sick. In truth, I had tweaked my calf muscle. I spent the day building a fire and hanging out with the dog, who was thankful to be inside - I know because she told me - and finished all of the cases I brought home. I also watched a lot of "Cold Case," "NCIS," and "CSI" on TV, because I'm all about the quality that way.
9. Thursday I went in, making it the only full day I worked that week. I took Friday off to travel to Huntsville, Texas, for Rocky. I had thought it would be nice to rest-up the week prior, but didn't count on a major winter storm canceling school (including night classes) all week long. Rested, I was!
8. Friday, our first flight was canceled. When we arrived the next morning to check in our baggage for the next flight, we were the only ones in line.
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| Early, still cold, out by the lake. Thankfully, no alligators. Which exist . In the Park. |
7. When we arrived in Huntsville, we found out that only the stretch between Houston and Huntsville was ice-free. All other areas east, north, and west were covered with ice. Some people just did not make it in for the race. After spinning off the road more than once, they had to turn back.
6. It WAS cold at Huntsville. There lots of frosty beards and hair, and several people using water packs had frozen tubes. The sucky thing on my bottle clogged with ice once or twice. One guy told Sweet Baboo that the tip of well, IT was frozen and hurt like hell (poor guy. Never so happy to have my bits tucked inside me, where they belong). One barefoot runner had feet so numb, he didn't realie the damage that was happening to them. Later that night, 4 people were picked up off the course and taken to the hospital for hypothermia. This is what comes of losing too much bodyfat, I will insist.
But, it was warmer than Albuquerque, and it was about as cold as most of my training has been for the past month. I was acclimated. It was perfect.
Unless I personally know who is in a competition, have met them, gotten to know them a bit, I just don't give a shit. Okay, well, I do watch track and field during the Olympics, and sometimes triathlon and swimming. Otherwise, I don't give a shit.
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| "Have you seen my blue ox?". |
5. For this race, I tried two new things, which you should never do, but they worked: a non-hydration vest, just for carrying things, and E-gels. I heart the E-gels. They 150 calories each, which means I can take them every 45-60 minutes instead of more often, and they have more electrolytes in them. Plus, they are tart which makes them more palatable. For my first loop, I drank mostly water, after that Heed until late afternoon, when I switched back to water and started eating the potato soup they offered, as well as a couple of Newtons. Also on each loop: a small Lara bar, about 100 calories.
4. Oh, and the vest worked well, too. In the back, just in case, I carried a tiny foot care first aid pack, and a wipe in case I had to go in the woods. In the front left pocket: egels. In the front right pocket: empty egels and other trash.
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| Coming in to the finish of loop 2 - I'm running out of clothes to take off . |
2. Things I've learned that are important, this week: Always have some sportslick with you, at all times. Have something warm in every drop back you can, or tied around your waist. Always have spare batteries for your headlamp with you. Don't leave your albuterol inhaler at home. AND: Always have a spare pair of shoes. My first pair of shoes were great the first 10 miles, and then they were agony. I have a small neuroma that pops up if I don't have enough padding, and I hadn't noticed this at the Ghost Town because that had lots of climbing and descending, whereas this was lots of just flat-out running. The last 3 miles of that loop were agony. THen I switched to my beloved NBs. Ahhhh.
1. This week I visited kiddos (girls) in kiddie prison. One of them never had a chance: a family so dysfunctional that she was found passed out alongside her mother, also passed out, after they played a drinking game. THis was at age 13. That's just a small sample of her life. Another girl had a cracked skull at a young age, but never received any special education or treatment for it, and nobody ever bothered to find out why she had such poor impulse control.
When I leave these visits I listen to mellow, pensive songs and realize how lucky I am.. Here's one I found recently - enjoy.
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