I really don't have much to say, except that I got to ride around on my bike on the 3M course yesterday with Wiley, Shorey, Tim S. and Triscuit, and it was a blast, even though it got a little cold riding back in. I also got to see a ton of people I know and that, in some cases, I hadn't seen in months (yay, Maggie!). And I got to eat breakfast with friends and horrify patrons with empty beer cans on the breakfast table well before noon on a Sunday. Good times...
I'm officially, for the fifth or sixth time in three months, re-kicking off my training. No, really, I am. Really. I swear, cross my heart, hope to die. I've got goals for this duathlon season. I'm not sure what they are, but I have some, and any day now I'm going to write them down. I sound like a smart ass, but I'm actually quite serious.
I'm also going to record my mileage on my blog, because everyone else seems to do it and I find it kind of motivating. So, here are my stats, beginning the week of January 28, 2008:
Gym: 0 times
Run distance: 0 miles
Bike bike distance: 0 miles
Swim distance: 0 yards
Off to a slow start. It'll get better...
Monday, January 28, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
R.I.P. Rowdy, I'm So Sorry
I'm not in a good place right now. I'm a wreck, in fact.
I stepped out to go to the store, and on the way home, a cat ran in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes and missed the cat, but didn't see--couldn't see until it was too late--that there was another animal chasing the cat, and I ran over it. I heard--and felt--the sickening thud of my car going over it. And then I heard it whimpering right after I hit it. I had my windows up and I still heard it whimpering. I turned around to go back and see if there was anything I could do, you know, put it in the car, take it to the vet, something. Anything. It wasn't moving and it had stopped whimpering in the time it took to make a U-turn. And there was already a lady in a red shirt running out to the street. She picked up what turned out to be a little brown and white chihuahua. Her little brown and white chihuahua. He wasn't moving. We got in my car and drove very fast to the vet. She was sobbing, and I was crying too and she kept saying "I think he's gone, I think he's gone."
We got to the vet and ran in with the dog and then I could see that the poor little thing's eyes were open, but he obviously wasn't seeing anything. They took him to the back and I went into an examination room with this woman and I did what I could to comfort her, she was so upset. Then the vet came in and said Rowdy (the dog) had died, but that she didn't think he'd suffered because there was so much trauma to the head, he would have passed quickly. Then a nurse came in who knew the woman (the woman's name is Carol) and I left them alone, and they brought Rowdy's body in and the nurse stayed with her, and I went to the front desk to give them my information so that the vet could bill me or do whatever. And I sat there for a while and I could hear the nurse and Carol in there with poor Rowdy, and Carol was just inconsolable. I went back to the front desk to ask them for a phone book so I could call her husband, because he was presumably on the way home from work and I didn't want him to worry about where his wife was. The nurse said she had the number on file and would see if the doctor wanted to call him, so I went back and sat down. Finally, after a while, Carol opened the door to the exam room and I went back in and I told her how sorry I was for about the fiftieth time and I put my arm around her again and she said she wanted Rowdy back and he just got away from her, just ran between her legs and right out the front door and after the cat. And we stood there with Rowdy on the table, wrapped in this purple blanket with penguins on it, and his little eyes were closed and we petted him and he was still warm. She had just adopted Rowdy from the animal shelter in Cedar Park a week earlier, he was nine months old. She had waited three years to get him because she was so devastated after her last dog had to be put down (she'd had him for 15 years), and now Rowdy was gone, too. God, talk about heart-wrenching.
She said her husband was coming, but I told her I wanted to wait if that was okay because I wanted to make sure she had a ride home and I also wanted to apologize to her husband for running over their dog. Carol picked up Rowdy and held him like a baby and when she put him back down on the table, she had turned him on his other side and you could see the blood still running from his left ear, and so Carol tried to clean it up with a tissue, but he just kept slowly bleeding.
After a while Randy, Carol's husband, showed up and I introduced myself and shook his hand, because I didn't know what else to do. I explained that I had run over their dog and I was very sorry, and that the vet had my name and contact information if there were any charges or they needed anything. He was very nice, but maybe a little shaken up by a dead dog and two crying women--one his wife, one a total stranger--standing there. I told them I would leave them alone, and so I left the exam room and checked with the front desk again and made sure they had my information and to call me and let me know if they needed me to pay for anything or, really, anything at all. And then I got in my car and I drove home and I sobbed the whole way. It's the worst hour I've had in a very, very, very long time.
I stepped out to go to the store, and on the way home, a cat ran in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes and missed the cat, but didn't see--couldn't see until it was too late--that there was another animal chasing the cat, and I ran over it. I heard--and felt--the sickening thud of my car going over it. And then I heard it whimpering right after I hit it. I had my windows up and I still heard it whimpering. I turned around to go back and see if there was anything I could do, you know, put it in the car, take it to the vet, something. Anything. It wasn't moving and it had stopped whimpering in the time it took to make a U-turn. And there was already a lady in a red shirt running out to the street. She picked up what turned out to be a little brown and white chihuahua. Her little brown and white chihuahua. He wasn't moving. We got in my car and drove very fast to the vet. She was sobbing, and I was crying too and she kept saying "I think he's gone, I think he's gone."
We got to the vet and ran in with the dog and then I could see that the poor little thing's eyes were open, but he obviously wasn't seeing anything. They took him to the back and I went into an examination room with this woman and I did what I could to comfort her, she was so upset. Then the vet came in and said Rowdy (the dog) had died, but that she didn't think he'd suffered because there was so much trauma to the head, he would have passed quickly. Then a nurse came in who knew the woman (the woman's name is Carol) and I left them alone, and they brought Rowdy's body in and the nurse stayed with her, and I went to the front desk to give them my information so that the vet could bill me or do whatever. And I sat there for a while and I could hear the nurse and Carol in there with poor Rowdy, and Carol was just inconsolable. I went back to the front desk to ask them for a phone book so I could call her husband, because he was presumably on the way home from work and I didn't want him to worry about where his wife was. The nurse said she had the number on file and would see if the doctor wanted to call him, so I went back and sat down. Finally, after a while, Carol opened the door to the exam room and I went back in and I told her how sorry I was for about the fiftieth time and I put my arm around her again and she said she wanted Rowdy back and he just got away from her, just ran between her legs and right out the front door and after the cat. And we stood there with Rowdy on the table, wrapped in this purple blanket with penguins on it, and his little eyes were closed and we petted him and he was still warm. She had just adopted Rowdy from the animal shelter in Cedar Park a week earlier, he was nine months old. She had waited three years to get him because she was so devastated after her last dog had to be put down (she'd had him for 15 years), and now Rowdy was gone, too. God, talk about heart-wrenching.
She said her husband was coming, but I told her I wanted to wait if that was okay because I wanted to make sure she had a ride home and I also wanted to apologize to her husband for running over their dog. Carol picked up Rowdy and held him like a baby and when she put him back down on the table, she had turned him on his other side and you could see the blood still running from his left ear, and so Carol tried to clean it up with a tissue, but he just kept slowly bleeding.
After a while Randy, Carol's husband, showed up and I introduced myself and shook his hand, because I didn't know what else to do. I explained that I had run over their dog and I was very sorry, and that the vet had my name and contact information if there were any charges or they needed anything. He was very nice, but maybe a little shaken up by a dead dog and two crying women--one his wife, one a total stranger--standing there. I told them I would leave them alone, and so I left the exam room and checked with the front desk again and made sure they had my information and to call me and let me know if they needed me to pay for anything or, really, anything at all. And then I got in my car and I drove home and I sobbed the whole way. It's the worst hour I've had in a very, very, very long time.
Monday, January 7, 2008
A Promise to Myself
New year, new start, right? So far so good, in a lot of respects, in others, not so much. For example, I'm having a hard time NOT procrastinating. I guess after what was effectively two weeks off (part of it happy, the last couple of days not so much--funerals suck save for the fact that at the very, very least (and it's cold comfort) you get to see family you haven't seen in a while), it's pretty hard to get serious about work on the first full day back. Oh well. I should be getting my second wind any time now.
While I'm waiting around on that, however, I figured I'd blog a little, since it's been a while. I was going to post my New Year's resolutions, and I probably still will, but I'll save that for later. The only resolution relevant at the moment is the one that states that this year, I will keep my promises to myself. With that in mind, I figured I'd talk about my workout this morning. I haven't done much of anything since Worlds (8 months of long course duathlon training took it out of me), you know, jogged a little, lifted weights once or twice. I finally got my front tire fixed weekend before last and put my Bianchi pedals back on the Bianchi and got new ones for Bike, but I still haven't ridden. However, with Striders (long course) coming up in less than four months, I decided it was time to get serious. Besides which, I miss the discipline of working hard for something.
So I set the alarm for 3:40 a.m. (which allowed me to hit the snooze button twice) and was up just before 4 a.m. I put on the clothes I'd laid out last night (my gym bag was already in the trunk of the car) and headed over to Lifetime to lift weights and then do a 5:30 a.m. spin class.
Weights...I suck. I am such a pantywaist. I have zero upper body strength (didn't do legs today, saving that for tomorrow). I could only do 10 lbs. on the incline press machine. Ten. That's it. I suppose the good news is, I have plenty of room for improvement.
Spin class...I have no idea what my maximum heart rate is. I know the formula is something minus your age, but I've always thought the resulting number was too low for me. So I just settled on something that felt about right and went with it. Man, have I lost a lot of fitness since October. I had a hard time coming out of the saddle for any length of time. I guess I have some work to do. Still, the class went fine. One thing I learned from training this past summer is that I'm capable of pushing myself much harder and for much longer than I ever thought I could. It sounds silly, but that's what I focused on during spin class, and I think it made the workout difficult and painful, but in a really good way.
I'm working from Jeff's office today off 360 and Bee Caves, and I brought my running stuff. I'm wide awake and feeling pretty perky right now, so I think once 6 p.m. rolls around, I might head over to Pecos or something and squeeze in three miles. I'm committing to myself right now that I'll get up in the morning and go lift (legs this time) and if I don't run in the morning, I'll get my run in while everyone's doing their quality workout tomorrow night. I haven't done the H&B in a long time, and that's sounding really good about now.
So there you go, a promise made to myself, and a promise kept. Here's to a repeat performance tomorrow (and the next day and the next day and the next day...).
While I'm waiting around on that, however, I figured I'd blog a little, since it's been a while. I was going to post my New Year's resolutions, and I probably still will, but I'll save that for later. The only resolution relevant at the moment is the one that states that this year, I will keep my promises to myself. With that in mind, I figured I'd talk about my workout this morning. I haven't done much of anything since Worlds (8 months of long course duathlon training took it out of me), you know, jogged a little, lifted weights once or twice. I finally got my front tire fixed weekend before last and put my Bianchi pedals back on the Bianchi and got new ones for Bike, but I still haven't ridden. However, with Striders (long course) coming up in less than four months, I decided it was time to get serious. Besides which, I miss the discipline of working hard for something.
So I set the alarm for 3:40 a.m. (which allowed me to hit the snooze button twice) and was up just before 4 a.m. I put on the clothes I'd laid out last night (my gym bag was already in the trunk of the car) and headed over to Lifetime to lift weights and then do a 5:30 a.m. spin class.
Weights...I suck. I am such a pantywaist. I have zero upper body strength (didn't do legs today, saving that for tomorrow). I could only do 10 lbs. on the incline press machine. Ten. That's it. I suppose the good news is, I have plenty of room for improvement.
Spin class...I have no idea what my maximum heart rate is. I know the formula is something minus your age, but I've always thought the resulting number was too low for me. So I just settled on something that felt about right and went with it. Man, have I lost a lot of fitness since October. I had a hard time coming out of the saddle for any length of time. I guess I have some work to do. Still, the class went fine. One thing I learned from training this past summer is that I'm capable of pushing myself much harder and for much longer than I ever thought I could. It sounds silly, but that's what I focused on during spin class, and I think it made the workout difficult and painful, but in a really good way.
I'm working from Jeff's office today off 360 and Bee Caves, and I brought my running stuff. I'm wide awake and feeling pretty perky right now, so I think once 6 p.m. rolls around, I might head over to Pecos or something and squeeze in three miles. I'm committing to myself right now that I'll get up in the morning and go lift (legs this time) and if I don't run in the morning, I'll get my run in while everyone's doing their quality workout tomorrow night. I haven't done the H&B in a long time, and that's sounding really good about now.
So there you go, a promise made to myself, and a promise kept. Here's to a repeat performance tomorrow (and the next day and the next day and the next day...).
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
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