I smell the smelly smell of something that smells. Thursday 13.

13. Freshness, part 1.  I try to cut down on the wear and tear (via washing, drying) of my running clothes by wearing them a second day, but afterwards, I can't stand myself.  I no longer feel like a delicate flower.   I guess I need to increase my stock of comfortable running clothes. 

12. Freshness, part 2.  If you mix up a gallon of Crystal lite you'd better drink it soon, or put it in the refrigerator.  Don't ask me how I know this.  Just trust that I do.

11. Small, part 1.  A classmate who hasn't seem me since early spring is in my class this semester.  Tuesday she sidled up to me and said, you've lost weight, right?

"Um, closing in on 30 pounds," I said..

She dropped her voice lower, looked around and said, You all right?

"Pardon?"

I mean, are you okay?

OH. Yes, I told her, I'm okay! I've just been doing a lot of running and weight watchers.  She seemed relieved.  She was quick to assure me that I didn't look sick or anything, she was just concerned.

She's not the first of my classmates to have made the comment.  I talked last week about the double-take.  I guess it's more dramatic than I thought.  I guess I don't see a difference, since obviously I live with my self and it's happened gradually.  I see different numbers, on the scale, on my clothing tags, but I don't feel that much different.  Maybe it's because I feel normal.  This is the size I used to be, before laziness, age, a failing thyroid, and early change of life stuff caught up with me.  For about a decade I bounded back and forth between a 12 and a 16, and now I've dropped down below a 10, which is where I was throughout most of my 20s.
But enough about that.

10.  Hills. Baboo has me do this run at least once a week: 8 to 10 miles from home, nearly all gradual downhill, on a paved bike path.  It's supposed to strengthen my quads and improve my foot turnover.  At the end, he picks me up.  It must work, because the first time I did it, my quads were completely fatigued.  The following week, slightly less so.  What is the point, you may wonder. 
Well, in ultras, your quads are key.  Have you ever done a long downhill only to find that your quads were a quivering mass of uselessness at the end?  That's what we're trying to avoid.
The first week, my knees and ankles were aching, and my quads were useless for the next three days.  This week, no pain. And, the run was slightly faster. 
Of course, the rest of the week, I have to run up hills, too.

9.  Creepy.  I repeatedly get reports from old-school clinicians that describe teenage girls as "pretty" or "attractive". Not very clinical or objective, IMHO.


8. Minimalist Running, part 1: Barefoot running has, ironically, become a million dollar industry, as evidenced by this website I stumbled on at Zensah. 

7.  Minimalist Running, part 2: Presenting, the anti-minimalist shoe.  or the maximalist, if you will: the Hoka.  Sweet Baboo saw about four people at Leadville with what he called "Giant Sponge Shoes".

Behold:  

available at hokaoneone.com

6.  Small, part 2.  After my morning run on Wednesday, unclothed, unfed, and slightly dehydrated, the scale said 149.6.  Then, of course, I had to eat and drink.  But for a moment, there it was, and I know it's coming: no more Athena.  What will I call this blog then?  What will I be?

5.  Old friends. Unfortunately, I've discovered an old friend from my thinner days.  Why, hello low blood sugar!  Fainting spells, pull up a chair--it's been a while!

I'm not sure why.  Maybe something to do with less visceral fat?  Maybe Dr.s Cindy and David can chime in on this.  In any case, I have to watch what I 'm eating to make sure I'm getting enough carbs.  

4. Accomplishment.  During the month of August, I ran 218 miles. I actually ran nearly all of them!  Can you believe this shit?  I can't. 


3.  DNS.  Having said that, it looks like Redman is out.  I have two off days a week to cycle and swim, and I'm too tired on those rest days - I actually need them to be days when I rest, or do yoga.  I had this crazy thought that I could fit in work, grad school, 100-mile run training, and iron-distance training.  Even my crazy-assed ultra friends stared at me skeptically.  What was I thinking?

So, I had a choice to make between the two, a 100-mile run, which I've never done before and am not sure I can, that involves a short half day of driving out and back, or an iron distance triathlon, which I've done before, involves a minimum of a day's drive and carting around 2 bikes and other gear.  After thinking about it, I chose the 100-mile run. 
To be honest, I know it sounds strange, but I'm a bit burned out on triathlon.  Ironman training was getting to be quite a chore that was anti-enjoyable.  8 hours on a bike - and that was half my weekend.  I'll still do triathlon, but at shorter distances, probably 70.3 and down.  I'm done for this season, though.
I'm sorry to anyone who was planning to meet me there.  On the other hand, if you've not doing anything and want to join the party at Javalena Jundred in October, c'mon out and see the crazy ultra runners.

2.  Music.  I finally have the perfect mix on my iPod shuffle.  There's no reason why that should matter to do.  But there it is.

1.  Do-wacka-do!  That's what I'm doing instead of the Redman. It's a trail run.  (Google it).  Oh, and here's a map of the course: http://beta.mapmyrun.com/route/detail/22248944/?open_ive_done=1.

September is a busy month.  This weekend, I"m doing the "turtle marathon" down south of here.  Then I'm going to be doing Rio Del Lago in California next weekend, and then the following weekend a local half marathon (Chips n Salsa, I there better be some at the finish) and then the DoWackaDo 50K.  I'll be training through all these.  In fact, they're expensive supported training runs.  With a Tshirt and food at the end.

...

Ten years later, I've learned I can do anything. A Thursday 13.

Dear Diary,

13.  Everyone has made such nice comments on my pictures from last week.  And I would also like to add that I didn't photoshop a single one, like I usually do. 

12.  Things I said at work this week:

• I can't commit your son to a mental hospital just because you tell me to.  I have to at least meet him.
• Well, how long was the blade on the knife?
• I can't "make" the insurance company agree to pay for this. 
• Do you have a ballpark idea of how many times you've been suspended?
• You know, some children find it traumatizing to live in a homeless shelter. 

 11.  Cash has a new family.  They adore him.  He also has his very own boy.  They took him for the weekend to see if he would be a good dog for their family, and he fit in nicely.  He jumps up on their roof, and they don't care.  They think it's great that he wakes them up in the morning.  It's all about fit.

10.  Current weight: 156.

9.  I went in the  hike this past weekend with SweetFace.  We got some good mom/son time in.  Here was the route, which went to the highest peak in the area:

8.  My trek up and down Sandia via the La Luz trail has taught me that if I ever want to do the La Luz trail run, I'll need to start training early in the year, because, damn, that was hard! I was all gasping and panting at the top.  The downhill was easier, but I ran out of water a few miles from the bottom.

7.  I never know how to put stuff like that into WeightWatchers under exercise.  I don't think just "hiking" covers it when you climb nearly 4000 feet in 4 hours.  I always have to put it in as part jogging, part hiking, and part stair-climbing.  I do so love my Sunday long workouts, though: they provide me extra WW points to burn throughout the week.  Yeah, I know.  I'm a sucker for a token economy.

6.  Today is my tenth wedding anniversary.

Last year, I posted a song that pretty much sums up how I feel.
Ten years ago today, Baboo says I looked very very nervous.  I was nervous.  I was about to walk the aisle, and not for the first time, either.

What if he was only pretending to be nice?

What if he became a big giant deuchebag right after I said "I do"?

But he's not, of course.  He didn't.

And I simply adore Sweet Baboo.  I adore looking at him, his smile, and hearing the sound of his voice.  I love his hands. I love the big giant running shoes that are all over the house - they are adorable.  I'm in awe of my mountain man, who can run up and down above 10,000 feet.

I love how he grits his teeth and looks very intense when he's doing mundane things, like tying his shoes.  He makes everything in my life better just by being in my life.

I love how tiny I feel when he puts his arms around me.

 Ten years ago, I said "I do".  And I did.  And, I still do.

Three years ago, I made a post about my 7th wedding anniversary, and what I said then still holds true today:
In the past ten years, I've proven that anything's possible.  I can run up a mountain.  I can swim across a lake. I can cross 50 miles on my own two feet.  I can live happily ever after.  Me.

Happiness is within all our reaches.  All we have to do is close our eyes, take a deep breath, and jump in the water.

Or run up the trail.

Or whatever.

 And that's your dose of "Awwwwwww" for the day.   

 

5.  Baboo bought me some clothes as an anniversary present.  Size 10.  BOOYAH.
Oh wait, did I say it yet? SIZE 10.  That is just one size larger than what I wore when I graduated from high school.  I'll take it.

4.  I treated myself this week to an old friend: Nong Shim Bowl Noodle.  This stuff is like crack for me.  I can't keep it in the house.  Just knowing it's there, I must have it.  something like, 7 or 8 points for one of these.

3.  I'm enjoying having a dog in the house now.  I'm in serious danger of becoming a dog person.
Chloe's personality has changed a bit now that she's an only dog.  She's rambunctious, but less naughty.  I let her on the couch.  I shouldn't do that, but Baboo does so, what the hell.  They're his couches from before we met, kind of in rough shape.  When we get new ones, though, some day: No way I'm letting her up on the couch.

Nope, No.

Okay, maybe I will.

Yeah, I probably will.

2.  Yesterday, I went to the mental health unit of a juvenile justice center to assess a kid.  While there, I had a brief meeting with an examining psychologist, and couldn't help notice that the report he'd signed off on what authored by someone with my credentials.  So at the end of the meeting, I siad, "so, one more question: how does one get a job like this?"  Bold, I know.  But I love doing this work.  I'd like to keep doing it, and working for the juvie place would be a state job, better pay.  More on this as it develops.

1. Today, and tomorrow, I'm taking a vacation day.  I'm going for a run first thing.  Then--who knows?  I hear that sometimes on vacation, people don't even schedule things.  They just do what comes up.  Sounds like fun.  I thought I'd try it.

....