Thursday thirteen, the boring, stressed, whining edition.

1. There are only 3 weeks left to the semester.
2. There is only 2 weeks of training left.
3. There is also 2 more weeks to study for finals.  
4. One way or another, I'll know whether I'm going to finish St. George soon.
5. I'll get a month off from school before summer school starts.  I'm only taking one class, it is on doing work with couples.
6. The next 4 weekends starting the weekend after this next one will be grueling: duathlon, Ironman St. George, sprint triathlon, and then mountain marathon.  I'm not sure why I've done this to myself yet again, but so much for my month off.  
7. Meanwhile, what will I do with my empty evenings?  Why, after work, I'll....I'll...I'll go home.  And do....nothing.  Catch up on Shear Genius, or something.
8. The dogs are responding to obedience training, slowly.  Chloe is going to take some extra one-on-one, because she's aggressive to other dogs and people.  
9. The cable company isn't going to charge us for cutting through the cable, because apparently they are responsible for the part that goes form the cable box to the house, even if they did loop it through our back yard (which wasn't even necessary). 

10. We found out that the guy who was hired to fix our door, the one who told us that our insurance company was only allowing $350 for a new pre-hung door, that one: he told State Farm taht the door unit would cost $800.  I wonder what he was going to do with that other $450?  Hmm.
11. Elsewise, things are looking up for us.  There is a light at the end of the long, long tunnel we've been traveling through since I was laid off last August.  
12. Still pretty unconvinced I will be able to pull of St. George.  
13. My weight loss stalled a bit this week, mostly because I ate like a pig.  But sometimes, you just gotta eat like a pig, you know?

...

Ooops.

Wow. Well, on Thursday, I didn't have Internet at home.  So here's fourteen for Friday.

14.  We accidentally cut through our cable when putting in the fencing for cash.

13.  I'm tentatively happy to report that my weight loss seems to be increasing.  No lectures, please.  And, yes, I am eating and staying hydrated.  Today I woke up at 163.4 lbs, nearly 16 pounds down from where I started.  Although this seems like a lot, it is more like the weight loss that I used to be able to achieve when I was younger.  It may, or may not, have anything to do with all the 12-hour sudafed I've been eating because of my allergies. 

12.  Cash, the dog who channels Houdini (I'm in a good mood today so he's "cash" instead of "A$$hole dog") is contained for the moment.  Sweet Baboo discovered a hole in our defenses and filled it, and he's stayed in the yard ever since. 

11.  Chloe, the dog who channels Iditerod racing dogs, received a new gift yesterday: The Gentle Leader.  Click on that link.  Our little jog this morning was awesome. 

10.  Only 3 weeks until Ironman St. George.  Ulp.  Yesterday I did my 2 hour Satan's spin class, which I cut to 110 minutes so that I could jump in the pool.

9.  I pulled off about 1000 meters in a little under 30 minutes, which is appallingly slow (3 minutes per 100m, which translates to over 2 hours, but I wasn't hurrying.  I hadn't been in the pool but once since last fall, so I wanted to reintroduce my shoulders slowly.  My swims for the next few weeks will be using paddles and my Tempo trainer.  The Tempo trainer is legal in the swim at IMs, so I'll be taking it along to St. George. 

8. I am stressed, suffocating, and overwhelmed.  It seems like there is no portion of time in my waking hours that isn't promised to some other person or entity.  I know that I've done that to myself for the most part.  Still: stress.  Like I said a few days ago, it's the best diet ever.  But not good for training. 

7.  I am seriously looking forward the first week of may, because I will be done (or not) with IM St. George, so I can stop worrying about that either way, and I'll be done with the current semester. 

6.  I had no cable or Internet at home so I had to work on this during my lunch hour.  But then Wednesday and Thursday I got slammed at work and couldn't work on it.

5.  Thursday I had to turn in a short paper to a teacher who so far has not liked any of the short papers I've turned in.  I have a B in that class.  I've accepted this.

4. So I woke up at 163 pounds.  To put this in perspective, I was at 158 when I did Ironman Coeur D'Alene.  Do I think having lost weight will make up for a general lack of training?  I do not.  But I don't think it hurts, either.

3.  Spring is really here.  I'm very happy about that.

2.  In less than 4 weeks, I'll have my answer about whether or not I can pull off an Ironman by cramming for it.  I'll also be finished with my final exams.  Life will be glorious.  I can't even imagine a summer without being gone 3 nights a week.

1. So what was the first thing we watched when we got our cable restored?

was it a stimulating documentary?

was it an award winning movie?

was it mind food, guaranteed to fill our heads with knowledge?

no.

It was Shrek 2.

and it was great.



...

Cram for Ironman, Week 2ish.

Weight: 165.2.  I've lost 12.8 pounds so far since January.  That's 12.8 pounds of non-working tissue that I won't have to haul up and down the hills at St. George.  Two of my favorite pants don't fit any more.  I mean, they slid halfway down my hips and don't have belt loops.

Stress is like, the best diet EVAR.

What stress, you might ask?  Well, first, last week was a bit of a derailment.  The pollen count soared, and my energy level and ability to breathe plummeted. I finally settled on a cocktail of 12-hour sudafed during the day and Nyquil at night just to be able to sit at my desk at work. I couldn't do much during the week; I even had to skip my spin class.

But, by Saturday, I was able to do my hilly laps around the house, finishing up about 10 miles or so.  Now, on Sunday, I had planned to do cycling laps near my house that involved ascending and descending 1000 feet of 5 miles repeatedly.  When I started to head out, Jake came running after me.  He's the heeler mix that should have been behind the masonry wall that surrounds my house.  and yet, here he was.  I put him back in the yard, and when I turned around, he was out again.  I had no idea how he's getting out, but my ride was shelved since I was home alone.  I used the time to write papers.


Monday morning I did not get to run because I drove instead to pick up oldest son, (ex-soldier turned college student) who was wrangled into dog-sitting while we worked.  (pictured, right, looking very dapper)  Then Monday night, he and Sweet Baboo put up a barrier at the spot where Jake, whose new name is Cash, or A$$hole dog, depending on my mood, was going over the wall.  

In doing so, the cable/internet was accidentally cut. So, we don't have cable, or internet for now.   And yes, we will have to pay the cost of repairing the line if we want cable restored from this company.

Tuesday morning, I got a nice little run in, and then showered and headed to work.  Before lunch, my neighbor called me to tell me that he was out, running around the neighborhood again.  Another neighbor tried to take care of him while I was still at work, but Cash, aka A$$hole dog, jumped his wall, too.  So, thanks to Cash, aka a$$hole dog, I now know more of my neighbors, since they've been bringing him back to us all week.  But I'm afraid of wearing out my welcome.

So, I gave up my lunch hour to go across town and put him in a storage shed DON'T LOOK AT ME IN THAT TONE OF VOICE, HE HAD WATER AND IT WAS COOL OUT until Sweet Baboo got home.

Cash, aka a$$hole dog, has just earned himself a 10 x 10 x 6 foot high chain link kennel parked on cement, because between my car break-in in January, the house robber in February, the bill for the IRS, the dog adoption fees and obedience classes, we are not in any position to fence our entire yard.  In fact, he has to live in the garage during the day until the next payday in order for us to get the kennel.

We really didn't expect this glitch.  We figured our huge yard, with warm sunny spots, cool shady spots, grass, gravel, a large pond with clean running water, would be a happy doggie place.  Not so much with this one.  There are those who have tried to console me by telling me he'll "outgrow" it.  All I can imagine is him getting bigger and better at going over walls.

So with a severed cable and internet line, I'm writing this from a local bookstore and hotspot.  Did you know that there are at least six magazines dedicated to tattoos?  There are.  There is an endcap right in front of me with six different magazines dedicated to tattoos.

I do not like dogs today.

...

Excuses, excuses.

Woke up this morning at 165.2, a new low.  Weigh day is really tricky because the day before weigh day, in weight-watchers, is the last day to use up all your activity points.  I usually blow out with a pizza the day before, so that on "weigh day" I'm heavier than usual.  This time, however, I decided to have a big bowl of popcorn.  Which is not heavy at all.

My planned workout today is to leave from my house, go up a major boulevard, which climbs about 200 feet over 8 or so miles, then levels out at 6000 feet, and then descends over 5 miles to just over 5000 feet.  Then, turn around and climb back up and come back home.  The plan is to do this 3 times, which should be about 70 miles.

But for now, I'm sitting here trying to figure out why I won't get up and go on my bike ride on what is, arguably, the most  beautiful day we've had in months.  I can't use the excuse that it's too cold.
 I figure the next step is to get dressed, so I'll go do that.

Yesterday I had a handy excuse: Jake kept getting out so, by golly, I had to stay here and watch him.  Well, then Baboo fixed it so that he couldn't get out, so I'm out of excuses.  Then he fixed my flat.  There goes another excuse.  Dammit.

I have to keep reminding myself that if I do this ride, I'll lots of weight-watcher points, which use over the week to nibble, nibble, nibble.

I'll go get dressed now, I guess.  Then it's just a matter of going out the door, right?
Right.

UPDATE, an hour later: I did get dressed.  I was actually psyched, and ready to go.  I wheeled my bike down the driveway...then saw Jake running up and down the street.  I put him back in the back yard, and he was out within minute.  Little $#it.  I have no idea how he's getting out.

No ride until I figure out how to keep him safe.
...

The 10 commandants, according to Jake and Chloe.

Everything must be smelled.  There are no exceptions.

Everything is to be tasted and chewed, at least once.

Even if there is lots of room, the best place to wrestle is on mom's feet.  This is not a metaphor: Right. On. Top.  (These are 40+ pound dogs, remember.)

When the owners have guests, the best way to stay out of trouble is to pull out whatever is in the bathroom trash can and take it out into the living room.  And chew on it.

If you can find a way to get out of the yard, you should.

If your owner runs toward you, yelling and waving their arms, that means it's time to play tag.

If it is within reach, you may eat it.

Owners like to play games with you.  They'll do it by filling in your holes.  You should dig them out as soon as possible to continue the game.

The also like to put plants in the ground for you to pull out, so make sure you do that.

The best, really best chew toys are those little black hoses that go through gravel in the garden.  I think they're called "drip lines".

...

The Ironman Commeth: Friday Fourteen, the April Fools Edition.

14.  Oh, C'mon.  I'm disappointed nobody took me seriously.

13.  In the great tradition of, well let's face it, everything in my life, I'm now attempting to cram for Ironman St. George.

How does one do that, you ask.  Well, here's my first bike since last August.  Next week I'll be adding 25.  The following week, another 25.  I'm also doing Satan's spin class on Wednesday mornings.  I credit Satan with the fact that I was even able to pull of this ride, even as slow at it was.  

12.  Here's my road run training.  These are 3 loops near my house.  That way I can set up a little aid station on my front sidewalk.  Next week it will be 5 loops.  And then 7.  And then 9.  Then taper.  I also do one of these loops 3 days a week with the dogs, and I'll be trying to follow that with a second loop before heading in to work with a wet ponytail.

11.  Swimming: I'm going to be doing lat pull-downs every other day at work.  Lots of them.  For an hour.  On Mondays, I'll swim.  Then head into work with a wet ponytail.   If I can pull this off, it will be a honest-to-gawd miracle.  SRSLY.  Call the pope.  

10.  I have been attacked by pollen.  I feel like crap.  I can't run.  i can barely breathe.  Dammit.    

9.  I rearranged my living room this week.   

8.  I'm signed up for Ironman St. George on May 1, Jay Benson Sprint a week later, and then a week or so later the Jemez Mountain Trail Marathon.  I'm not sure why.  But I did.  

So.

Courtney wants me to do a triathlon on May 29, but I think not.  I think I'll take that weekend off. 

Maybe I watch old movies all week.  

Or maybe I'll just sit and stare. 

6.  My kid arrived last week on Thursday night, flown back home by the Army, and moved into his own apartment the next day. He starts college this summer.  I don't know why it is so shocking that he seems so grown-up, after all when I was his age, I had three kids.   

In many ways, I envy him.  College was hard with three kids.  He won't have those distractions.  He has a little efficiency apartment a few miles down the bike path from the college.  His G.I. bill will provide a monthly stipend and all his tuition and books will be paid for.  Plus, with the passing of the new healthcare bill, we'll be able to put him on our insurance for another 18 months.  But the one thing I can't get over is this: I am old enough to have a kid that is old enough to drink.  WOW. 

5.  Weight: 167.  I've lost 11 lbs since starting weight-watchers in January.  I'm averaging about a pound a week.  Again, it's not about size, or appearance.  It's about having less butt to haul up and down hills.  I'm hoping to finish at IM-St. George, but I'm actually hoping to actually do well at the Redman in Oklahoma, because it will be my last Iron-distance triathlon.  

4.  Why hello insane Ironman training hunger, fatigue, and sweat!  I'd almost forgotten about you.

Almost.  Meet your new friends: graduate school exhaustion and 40-hour work week.  I'm sure you'll make great roommates.

3.  Speaking of dogs: The staring at me while I eat is getting old.  It was never cute.  But now it's just annoying.  

2.  Clicker training has started for Jake and Chloe.  Very excited about this.  So far, I've learned that I can make them sit before I feed them.  And they do.  (They picked that up real fast)   Two things I know today: Jake won't go for a run without Chloe.  And clickers don't work on cats.  

1.  I had to do a developmental assessment on a fictional character, a child, for a class.  I picked Eric Cartman.  

Ahem.

I've decided that running is just silly. .I mean, think about it: all that sweating and hard work.  I think it's easiest just to take diet pills.

Cheers.