Terrier tracks

She's gone

2011-05-18T18:22:00.005-04:00

I haven't written here in forever. I doubt anyone is reading it, but I wanted to write about the last few months. It might be better that no one is reading--I just need to get it out, to get it down.
Shannon, the terrier this blog is named for, is gone. I had to let her go in January--January 13th, to be exact. I miss her terribly and deep down, I don't think I'm coping all that well.
The end of last year I began to notice that she was losing weight. Not in a general, getting thin kind of way, but her hindquarters were starting to waste. She had been slowing down a lot, but she still had a many good days where she was alert and interested. The walks had shortened and she often didn't make it outside even to do her business. I was getting used to cleaning up after her. She was on three or four different medicines and was becoming more disinterested in eating. I decided that I needed to take her to the vet for a checkup.
That decision was made the week before Christmas. Well, on December 26, NYC got socked in by a big snowstorm. The city didn't react well and for days after streets were still not plowed. We had a number snowstorms this past winter, which made it really difficult to get Shannon out. She didn't like snow and was averse to getting her paws wet, but that Boxing Day storm was a big one and I was stuck in the house with her for days. I think that was when it really hit me how old she had gotten.
Between the snowstorms and the holidays, I wasn't able to get her to the vet until the beginning of January. The vet was shocked at her condition. We had seen the doctor in August for her regular checkup and she had lost a great deal of weight since then. He took blood and decided that we should stop all her heart medications. Her kidneys were starting to fail and he thought that we needed to try and stop the deterioration.
So, I took her home and tried to get used to not giving her any meds. She became even more disinterested in eating. I was spoonfeeding her anything she was willing to take. She would eat the goodies, so I think it was more that she was feeling queasy and could only be coaxed to eat the really good stuff.
I had put a second bowl of water in the living room, near her bed, so that she wouldn't have to go far to drink. It was important that she get liquids down. I came home one day to find water all over the floor around an empty waterbowl. I thought, maybe she fell into it, because the bowl was still upright.
A couple of nights later I was awoken by her making a loud noise next to my bed. For a few years, Shannon had been unable to get up into my bed, but she insisted on sleeping in my bed at night and refused to use any assistance to get out of it when she needed to. So, she would fling herself off of the bed to the floor. Upon being awoken, I thought maybe she had been unable to land on her feet and had fallen. I got up to pick her up and realized that she was unconscious. I held her for a bit to see if she would start seizing. She has had epilepsy since she was young, and while the meds had kept her from having a seizure in years, I thought it was possible that they weren't working any more. She came back after a short while and I put her back in bed and went back to sleep.

The next day she collapsed two more times. Meanwhile, we had had another big snowstorm, so I was home from work. I dug out the car and I called the vet's office to take her in. My regular vet was not in, but another doctor was available. I told him what was happening and he took blood again and basically told me that her kidneys were failing and I needed to get fluids into her. He advised getting some chicken boullion and gave me a syringe to get the liquid into her. I took her home and made her comfortable.
After staying home so many days with the storms, I decided to go to work the next day. About an hour after I got there, the vet called. Tests showed that in the week since we had first went in, her kidneys were even worse and she had lost even more weight. I asked him if it was possible to support her and keep her comfortable. He said that she probably wasn't in pain, but might be feeling nauseous. The kidneys would just continue to decline. I had decided previously that the collapses were due to the congestive heart failure and the lack of oxygen to her brain. I told the vet that I would call him back when I decided what I wanted to do. I called my mom and got hysterical on the phone. I told her I was going home and ran out of the office.
Shortly after getting home I called the vet's office and told them that I had decided on euthanization. They told me that I could come in in about an hour.
I let Shannon ride on the front seat for the first time in years. She just sat there and watched me. Once we got to the office, I held her while we waited. Looking back, I realize that she ready to go as she just stayed in my arms. Usually she would spend the entire time in the waiting room pacing from the me to the door and asking to get picked up and insisting on being put down. But she was very calm in my arms.
I was with her when she went. She fussed a bit on the exam table before the vet sedated her. But then she just went. After dealing with her collapses for about a week, I wasn't sure she was gone. After a while, I told her she was a good girl and left her.
I still can't get the image of her on that table out of my head. I'm having a hard time getting past that day and remembering her the way she was. I'm not sure if I'm ever going to feel like I can accept another dog in my life. I'm positive that it was the right time. I think it was hastened by stopping the heart meds, but it probably only made a difference of a few weeks.
The first thing I did when I got home was to pack up everything in the apartment of hers and move it out. I packed up all her things, her pictures. I considered ripping the carpet up in my apartment, but I haven't done that yet.
I'm tired of feeling this way. I'm tired of fielding the question 'when are you getting another dog?' I know that most people mean well, but I don't think anyone truly understands. Shannon was my best friend, my roommate, my life. The last four months is the first time I've ever lived totally alone.
I don't get any enjoyment from anything. I've put on about 15 pounds in the two years that she was sick because I just didn't care. Everything that I used to enjoy seems like a chore. Before I lost her, I thought that I would throw myself into running because I would have more time. I even considered doing the NYC marathon in her memory, but I just don't have the energy. I have been forcing myself to do things that I should do and I suppose I do feel somewhat better. I can actually get my act together for about a week but then it slowly starts to fall apart again. I then pick up the pieces and try again. I suppose that's normal. I guess if something was really wrong, I wouldn't bother trying again.

Food shopping

2009-02-27T07:46:00.002-05:00

Found this little film about TJ's, the place we all go and try and find something, anything, to buy...

First race for 2009

2009-02-21T17:19:00.003-05:00

Today was my first race for this year - the 3 x 2 mile trail relays in Bethpage. This is always more of a fun time than a competitive one as you really can't compare your time on the roads with those on trails.
I'm still the Runner's Rep for our running club, so it was my job to try and get people to come out for this thing and then handle the organization of getting teams together and everyone registered for the race. They decided to have the race on Saturday this year instead of Sunday as it's been for the last few years. Not sure if that was why the turnout was a bit lighter than usual. It might also have to do with the lack of advertising that GLIRC did for it this year. As of earlier this week, I wasn't even positive that the race was happening. That combined with the change in days (I wonder how many people are going to show up expecting the race tomorrow?) probably confused everyone.
The club managed to field 4 teams this year. I headed out to the site fairly early so that I could get the paperwork out of the way and collect all the numbers. Traffic was light so I got there half an hour before registration officially opened. Turned out they were set up already so I got all the teams squared away.
I ran with the same ladies that I've run with for the past 3 years. Because one of the ladies is only 29 years old, we always end up in the women's open category which keeps us from having any chance at a win, but it doesn't matter.
I ran the first leg. I set out at a good pace, but was still pretty far back in the pack. All I could think about was not breaking an ankle in the first race of the year. That would truly stink.
For the first time since I started doing this race, the course wasn't either icy or frozen solid. In fact, it was kind of soft and felt like a good part of it was a few inches deep in wood chips, which actually made for pretty slow going. I did manage to pass a few people, but found myself in a gap for most of my run. I finished my leg in about 17:20.
I handed off to Christina, who managed a respectable 33:30 or so, which means her leg was about 16:10. Christina then passed it to Sue, who had already run the course once as an escort for a special needs runner and is also nursing a knee injury.
The winner finished the race before Sue even started. There were a few wickedly fast teams there. We found out after, that the winning team did the first leg in under 10 minutes - less than 5:00 pace. The first team for our club was our Men's Masters team, who finished the course in 43:20, with the second team, our Mixed Masters team, right behind them in 43:35 and a win in their category. Sue brought our team home in 48:53, which means she managed sub-8:00 miles. Our fourth team, Men's Senior Masters, finished in 58:45.
I'm considering doing a 5k next weekend, but I haven't registered for it yet. It's in upper Manhattan, which will be difficult to get to, and I've heard the course is seriously hilly. The main attraction is that I haven't done that particular race, yet. I'll probably make up my mind later this week.

The play's the thing

2008-11-15T08:41:00.002-05:00

I'm so behind with this blogging thing, but I'll try and catch everyone up with what I've been doing.
Last weekend started out with an evening at the theater. When we heard that Equus was coming to Broadway with Daniel Radcliffe, Chelly and I jumped on the tickets. A big splurge for me, buying theater tickets at full price.
We met for dinner at a pleasant restaurant near Times Square. The highlight of dinner was the fireworks that we could see from our table a few blocks over on the Hudson River. I believe it was in honor of the re-opening of the Intrepid museum.
Our seats for the show were a little far back. The sightlines were fine and I would have had no trouble seeing the stage, except for the two giants that sat down in front of me. The entire show was framed by their heads.
The big media attention to this production was the fact that 'Harry Potter gets naked'. A lot of speculation was made as to whether this was a good thing or bad thing for Daniel Radcliffe and the Harry Potter world. I don't think it will have a negative effect on either. This is not a play for the young fans of the Harry Potter books. And I think those old enough to see the play are old enough to separate Daniel from his character. Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths, who played Dysart the psychiatrist, were fantastic. It's really Griffiths' show, with Daniel's character providing the psychiatrist the means to examine his own life. The nudity is not minor, in fact Daniel runs all around the stage without his cloths on, but it wasn't really a shock as it fit into what was going on in the play. I really enjoyed the show.
Sunday morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed after my late-ish night, I headed out to run a local 4 mile race. The course was the one where I had won my first trophy in another race a few years ago and the hills are intimidating. The comments back then were related to how they managed to find a course that was completely uphill. We had a big turn out from the club, however, so I was going to have fun even if I didn't manage to break any records.
I spent most of the run amid kids from the a local running club that caters to those with special needs. They had a huge turnout and you saw them everywhere. It's always a bit confusing as their club colors are the same as ours.
I tried to keep up a good pace, but I ended up walking a bit more than I wanted to and finished in an uninspiring 35:05. Not awful, but I should be able to go a little faster at this point.
The after party was a lot of fun. There was mucho food and the club managed to pick up a number of trophies. A few of us were hooting and hollering from the crowd every time they announced one of our team and the announcer started to anticipate the noise when he would call out one of our club members for an award.
I have another 4 mile race planned for tomorrow - the Race to Deliver in Central Park. I'm not expecting too much as I haven't been running as much as I should and eating more than I should.

Weekend of Hardware

2008-10-12T20:30:00.005-04:00

This is a long weekend for me (happy Thanksgiving to any Canadian readers) so I decided that I would do a race both Saturday and Sunday, allowing Monday as a day to fall apart.
Saturday's race was a small 1 mile race. Rob, one of my Alley Pond teammates, coaches the track team at his elementary school alma mater, Pope St. Clement. So there was a boatload of club members showing their support. The short course brings out some of the walkers and we had a bunch of runners. I've never raced a mile before. So I was a little nervous. I did a 1.7 mile race last weekend at about an 8:00/minute pace, so I felt pretty sure that I could manage a sub-8:00 mile, but beyond that, I wasn't sure. I started out fairly quickly and then tried to rein in my pace so that I could finish the darn thing. The legs started to feel leaden about half of the way through and I was sure that I had slowed down too much. I got a second wind about two-thirds of the way through and felt pretty good. I tried to kick it in the last 100 yards, but I didn't have too much left. I was stunned to see 7:20 as I passed through the finish line. This ended up being good enough for 1st in my age group and I took home the small trophy in the front. I really enjoyed racing the mile and pushing it to what felt like my limit.
Sunday's race was the Get to the Point 5k in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I highly recommend this race. It's a local race organized by the St. Stanislaus Athletic League and attracted a little over 300 runners. It passes through the streets of the neighborhood with obstacles only seen in NYC (there was a bus stopped in the middle of the course in the first mile which we all had to run around). There was at least one noticeable uphill. But the main reason to do this race is the post race party. The race organizers really get some serious sponsorship and are able to put on one heck of a shindig that is open to all runners and included in the $15 race fee. Tons of food and drink (including beer for those over 21) and raffles and free stuff just tossed into the crowd. After filling my plate, I sat with a few of my fellow AP people, including Gerry and Jessica, one of our newest members, and Josh, her boyfriend who we'd like to be a member (hint,hint). Josh ran the course in under 20 minutes, so it was no surprise when he collected a trophy for 3rd in his age group. But I was shocked when my 25:51 ended up being good enough for 3rd in my age group. Really nice trophy. Gerry had dropped a word to the announcer that it was Jessica's birthday, so, of course, they dragged her up on stage with two other people who shared her birthday and the whole crowd sang for them. Then they gave her a six-pack of beer. What more could you want?

Bonjour, mes amis!

2008-09-08T20:44:00.016-04:00

I've been back from vacation for over a week now and I've yet to write it up. About time, don't you think? This is a long one, so I give everyone permission to skim through and just look at the pretty pictures. You know you're gonna.
I started the drive North on Thursday the 21st. Since I was driving the whole way, by myself, I had decided to break up the trip by spending the night in Plattsburgh, NY. Why Plattsburgh? Mostly because it was at a good point in the drive and I figured that it would be fairly cheap to get a room in the town.
Plattsburgh was pretty dull. It's a college town and it probably is a lot more hopping when the students are there. But during the summer there weren't many folks around the town center. I got a room at the local Super 8 and took a drive around looking for a place to eat. The only choices appeared to be fast food, but I found an interesting little hot dog stand where they still had servers that would come out to your car. Clare and Carl's served what is called a 'Michigan'. Not having any idea what that was, I got a hamburger, which was good, but I should have tried the hot dog buried in chili sauce, onions and mustard.
Friday I checked out early and headed toward Canada. The border crossing was uneventful, but suddenly all the road signs were in French. I had been getting French language radio stations since leaving Plattsburgh. It felt so odd to be such a short distance from home and to feel completely foreign.
It took about 4 hours to get from the Plattsburgh to Quebec. When I got to the city I wasn't able to cross the Grand Allee, one of the main east-west roads, by car to get to my hotel. All traffic was being diverted. Since it was still pretty early, I decided to park the car and walk around a bit to get a feel for the area. I was hoping that I might be able to walk to the hotel and figure out an alternative way to drive there. I also needed to get some cash so that I could buy something to eat.
After using my bank card in a local ATM yielded a handful of Canadian cash I headed down the Rue St-Jean looking for someplace interesting to eat. Rue St-Jean is a fun street with little boutiques and arty stores. It had a very college town feel with young people hanging around street benches. I didn't find food, though. My hunger was making me grouchy and anxious along with the 90 minute limit there had been on my parking spot. But I did manage to figure out how I could possibly detour around whatever was going on on the Grand Allee and get to my hotel.
Once I got the the Chateau Laurier where I was staying I checked in and arranged to park my car in their parking lot. I then hit the Grand Allee which is lined with restaurants and also happened to be right outside my window.

My first meal in Quebec was at an Italian place called Casa Calzone where I had a giant Calzone and a glass of beer. I sat at a table outside on the sidewalk, surrounded by people speaking French, and watched the world go by.
Later that evening I was restless and noticed that the park right in front of the hotel was set up for a concert of some sort. As part of the celebrations for the 400th anniversary of Quebec's founding, there were military bands in town and free concerts every night. So I decided to watch for a while. I nearly cracked up when I realized that, over 500 miles away from NYC, and I was watching the NYPD Jazz Band perform.
Saturday morning I got up early to partake of the breakfast being provided to the marathon participants by the hotel. Afterwards, I wandered into the lobby and bumped into the crew from the College Point Track Club. They were headed out for a run. I didn't mention that my cell phone had stopped working when I got close to the border and I had not been able to contact anyone who was supposed to be coming up for the race. So I was pleased to see Carmen and Hector, who I knew, and Robert and Tony, who I hadn't previously met. They said they were having some problems with their phones, as well, and hadn't heard from the rest of the bunch. I wished them a good run and told them I'd see them later.
A little later I headed over to the Race Expo to get my race packet and to see if I would bump into anyone from the club. I got there when it opened at 9 and hung around until after 11. I did bump into the College Pt. group again, but didn't see any of my teammates. I decided to heck with them and headed down into the Old Town to look around.

Quebec is a wonderful little city. Most of the tourist stuff is within easy walking distance of everything else. So I just wandered around, getting an idea of how the city was laid out. I grabbed a quick soup and sandwich for lunch and just tried to enjoy myself.
When I was walking up the Rue St-Louis I noticed that quite a few people were out on the sides of the road. Many of them had folding chairs or were simply seated on the curb. I wondered what was going on as I meandered through the shops. Then I saw a band coming down the avenue and realized that there was going to be a parade! Fantastic! So I whipped out my camera and got a spot on the side of the road. There must have been about 50 military units that came down that street, all within touching distance, and quite a few in fancy dress.

Saturday evening was the marathon pasta party, which it just so happens, was being held in my hotel. This is where I finally found the whole AP Striders crew - Rob, Helen, Gerry, Gillian and Marge. We enjoyed a pretty good pasta dinner and great desserts while we caught each other up with what we'd done in town, so far.
Sunday morning I was awake and at breakfast by 5:30am. After trying to figure out what I could eat without taking the chance of upsetting my tummy, we headed out to the shuttle buses that were taking us to a ferry to get to the other side of the St. Lawrence River. More buses would meet us there to take us to the starting lines of the full and half marathons. Both races started in Levis and ran along the bank of the St. Lawrence, crossed a bridge and then ran back the other side to return into Quebec City. The day promised to be a long hot one.
At 7:30 we were sent off by cannon blasts. I had heard that the course was fairly flat, except for one hill within the first two miles and the incline of the bridge. Well, there were actually two pretty memorable hills before we hit the bridge at approximately the 3.5 mile mark. Up and over the bridge, I felt OK and was staying on pace for a 2:10 finish.
The heat and, probably, the travels before the race, caught up with me around the 6 mile mark. I just felt the sudden need to walk. So I did for a short bit and then tried to pick up a run. This worked for a while, but it got harder and harder to resume running each time. I stopped at each and every water stop to drink a cup and douse myself with the other. I sipped at the Gatorade that I had with me. I had been eating a little, but when I took a Clif Shot Block at around the 7 mile mark it started a distinctly queasy feeling in my stomach. I had no desire to nurture this feeling, so I stopped taking in anything except for a little water. Instead, I started putting a great deal of water on the outside of me. I was literally dripping as I moved. I really wanted to stop, but didn't have a good enough reason to, so I soldiered on.
I bumped into a New York Flyer at about the 10 mile mark. I chatted with her for a little bit, which distracted me from desire to stop. Her name was Marj and she had come to Quebec for vacation and thrown the race into the mix. I managed to keep mostly moving for the next couple of miles. I saw some of the non-runners with our group on the sideline with about 3k to go. Waved at them and headed toward the finish line.
There was a nice big chute for us to finish through and a red carpet to welcome us in. I was never so happy to stop running. Tony from College Point finished a minute or two behind me and saw me as I waited on a line to get my picture taken. I heard that Hector from their club had collapsed at the finish line. No one seemed to know how serious it was and they were looking for his wife, Carmen. Fortunately, it just ended up being bad leg cramps and Hector was much better later.
After getting my photo taken I headed toward the food tables and the exit. This is where it got truly ridiculous. With runners coming in from 3 separate races, many of them suffering from the heat and dehydration, the race organizers decided to make sure that no one took more than one bottle of water or a fair share of the other foodstuffs offered. They funneled all the finishers through a tent to a single gate with a few people stuffing items into a plastic bag they gave you before you entered. This left the majority of the finishers standing outside the tent in the sun and the heat without water or shade. I just knew that I was going to be sick if I had to stay there too long. I just dropped to the ground and sat for a while with my head between my knees while hundreds of runners milled around me. When I felt well enough to get up, I shoved my way out and past the crap they were giving out.
I then just lay down on the lawn under a tree for a few minutes. Eventually, Marge from AP found me and helped me put myself together and leave the park. It was a very long walk back to the hotel, nevermind that in my addled brainlessness I got us lost and added an extra uphill climb to our trek.
Marge had spoken to the rest of AP, who were staying at a different hotel than we were, and arranged for us to meet later for dinner. So I went up to my room and showered and laid down for a bit.
Later that evening, we met the rest of the gang for dinner at a wonderful restaurant called Gambrinus in the Old Town. If anyone is going to Quebec, I would highly recommend this place. The food was good, the staff was attentive and the atmosphere was comfortable. We had a fine time comparing race experiences and discussing everyone's plans for the next day's sightseeing. Everyone had had a hard time in the race, but had enjoyed it nevertheless.
Monday dawned chilly and damp - oh why couldn't we have had that weather for the race? At breakfast, we again bumped into the College Point gang. Much ado was made of the fact that a photo of Hector's dramatic collapse on the finish line had made one of the local newspapers.

After breakfast, Marge and I hit the town. I showed her all around the touristy areas. We wandered around boutiques and checked out the excavations of the original fort. We then rode the Funicular down to the Petit Champlain area at the base of the cliff that the main city sits on. The Funicular is sort of a glass elevator that rides down tracks on the side of the cliff. Marge said they have similar things in Italy to get up and down the mountains.

The Petit Champlain area is darling. Very cute without being too sweet. All these cobblestone streets that are lined with small stores. We ate a late lunch at a place called Le Cochon Dingue (the Crazy Pig) and made friends with a moose. We wandered through a lace shop and chatted with a craftswoman in a museum about her needlework, although she spoke no English and we spoke very little French.
After we returned to hotel later and freshened up, Marge and I met up again for dinner. The College Point group had invited us to dinner with them, but they were going to try Gambrinus and we didn't feel like walking that far and wanted to try a new place.
We wandered the Grand Allee looking for a likely candidate, but nothing was striking our fancy. So we finally ended up right across the street from the hotel in the Restaurant Aux Vieux Canons. This was the worst dining experience of the entire trip. I ordered something off the Pris Fixe menu and it was alright, but Marge ordered a chicken dish that she said was awful.
Tuesday we decided that today we were going to finally have crepes. This was the one thing that I wanted to eat while I was in Quebec. Poutine was on the list, as well, but it honestly doesn't sound too appetizing. So we set off for the Rue St-Jean for that was where two of the recommended creperies were located. After a morning of browsing and shopping we still hadn't hit the restaurant that I was looking for. I was certain it was on the Rue St-Jean, but Marge was doubting my memory so she tried asking some of the people in shops. Asking for a crepe shop was getting blank stares, but I managed to string most of the French name of the place together when we spoke to a guard in an office building. Au Petit Coin Breton was all the way down in the Old Town, but it was worth the trek. The restaurant is small. You can watch them make your crepes while you wait. The waitresses wear traditional garb from Brittany, the home of the crepe. These are not the tiny little crepes that you get in some places for breakfast. These crepes are large and substantial and they can be filled with either a savory filling or a sweet filling. I opted for a ham, spinach and cheese concoction. It was fantastic.
Tuesday night was our last night in town. We ate at a little restaurant with a diner-like feel, L'Omelette. The food wasn't fancy, but it doesn't present itself as a fancy restaurant, so I wasn't disappointed. We ended up chatting with the people who sat next to us who were in from England. He supplied golf clothing for an historic golf game that was going to happen on the Plains of Abraham in honor of its 100th anniversary. We compared food choices and suggested places to see in NY to his wife who was going to be coming for a weekend the following week. After dinner, Marge and I wandered a bit around the Old Town looking for a likely place that we could sit outside and have a drink. We ended up back at Gambrinus where we toasted a fantastic vacation. We parted in the hotel lobby where I promised to give Marge a call when I hit my hotel in Vermont.
Wednesday morning I arose early and started to lug my baggage down to my car. Bumped into Marge when I went to look at what the breakfast was like. We both decided to pass when it appeared that we would have been the only ones there. Marge said that she would probably grab something at the airport and I decided to grab something on the road. Goodbyes were said again and I went to get my car.
My drive to Vermont was nice. I had Mapquested the directions to Burlington and they took me through more rural sections of Quebec and Vermont until I was almost there. I got to Burlington in the early afternoon. The entire center of town is busy and all the streets are metered, so I ended up parking my car far outside the main part of town and walking in. Hit Church St. which is a closed mall and found a likely restaurant to grab some lunch. While sitting waiting for my food, my phone suddenly lit up - signal was achieved! I had voicemails waiting from everyone who had tried to contact me while I was in Canada. I called my Mom to let her know that I was OK.

After lunch, I wandered around for a few hours. Had to grab an ice cream at the Ben & Jerry's which I think is the original shop. Then headed back to my car and out to my hotel.
The drive back to New York the following day was pretty uneventful, except for a lunch stop in New Paltz where I attended college. Ate in the pizza shop I always used to go to and noted all the places that were gone and some of the new shops that were nice replacements.
The Striders are already talking about going back next year, possibly. If not, perhaps making another trip together. I think everyone was agreed that it was one of the best vacations that we had ever had.

2008 NYC Half-Marathon race report

2008-07-30T19:11:00.003-04:00

So the half is done and I'm on to the next one at the end of August in Quebec. I hope I can do nearly as well as I did Sunday.
The weekend started Saturday afternoon when I headed into the city, bag in tow, to Chelly's apartment. Since I had to go into Manhattan on Saturday to gather my bib and stuff and then go back again early Sunday morning for the race, I was going to spend the night at Chel's.
We headed uptown to Niketown to get my bib. They do a bit of an expo for the race, but it's kind of lame and is really only an excuse to have every runner in the race in the Nike store at some time that weekend.
After a bit of confusion in trying to find my name, the volunteer handed me my bib. Brown...with a number of 12757...what the heck is up with that? That put me farther back in the corrals for the start then everyone else I knew. I did last year's race in 2:15 and have been averaging sub-9:00 paces in the races I did so far this year, but they decide to put me back with the people who were probably going to be finishing between 30 minutes to 1 hour after I did. Wonderful!
So, after a quick walk back through the Nike store (and no purchases made) we headed back downtown for our pre-race pasta meal at Olive Garden. I opted for a salad and capellini pomodoro but splurged with some chocolate gelato for dessert. Yumm!
We then walked around the neighborhood a little to settle our stomachs and enjoy the night air and headed back to Chelly's with the intention of an early night.
We were in bed by 9 with the alarm set for 4am.
4am arrived and the snooze button was hit a few times, but we were up and moving around by about 4:20. I had noticed some bright flashes outside, but hadn't really thought about what might be causing them. After we were up for a little while we also heard some rumbling noises from outside. Traffic at that hour? Nope, it was thunder and as we left the apartment at about 5:30, it started to rain. Big, plump drops and I was starting to dread this day. Amazingly enough, in three years of running and racing, I haven't really run a long run in a pouring rain. I usually blow off the run or take it inside if it must be done and the thought of running in excess of two hours soaked to the skin was not terribly appealing.
We managed to grab a cab and get uptown to the baggage area. The rain seemed to be lighter as we got further north and was just a drizzle at the corral area. We arrived at the park entrance just before 6am and they weren't letting us into the park. So everyone was standing around grousing about getting wet.
As soon as they let us in about 20 minutes later, we headed toward the corral area and into a porta-john line. After taking care of business, Chelly left me to head for her corral (I did say that everyone was in front of me at the start).
The rain was easing up and I got into my corral to wait until the race started. I wasn't feeling too confident at that point. But my main goal was to do better than last year and since I had to walk almost the last three miles, I thought I should be able to manage that. I had a pace band for a 2:10 finish and was intending to follow that for at least the first 9 miles or so and then pick up the pace if I felt like I had a lot left.
As we started to inch up toward the start line, we could hear the music at the starting line over the PA system and the race announcer talking up the race. It would take me 12 minutes after the gun went off to get to the start line.
I settled into an easy pace and got the first mile in 9:46. Not bad, it felt good and that was a bit faster than the 9:54 I would need to get a 2:10 finish. This might end up being a pretty good day, after all.
At about one and a half mile I caught up with Chelly. I gave her a bit of push from behind, smiled and wished her good luck as I passed her. The second mile went by in 9:44.
I popped a Cliff Shot Block at about the 2 mile mark and took water at the water stop that was at about that point. I was feeling great. I don't remember a lot of the course as I spent a great deal of this race inside my own head. 3 miles went by in 9:38...nice! And the 5k split caught me at 30:41.
I felt fantastic through most of the park, barely noticing the hills. I stopped at most of the water stops in the park and I had Gatorade with me so I was doing well.
10k split...1:00.45. Perfect. Almost even splits. I do remember at this point starting to wonder when we were going to get out of the park. It seemed like it was taking forever.
What can you say about the turn out of the park. For the second year, I got pumped when I hit the street and started yelling. I know some of the runners were looking at me, but I didn't care. The spectators seemed a bit sparser than last year, perhaps due to the weather and I needed to hear them. So I started yelling at them and waving and basically making a silly fool of myself. Last year they got a photo of me at that point. This year, nothing.
As I was going through Time Square, they started a sing-along of Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves. What a great choice and I was singing with them.
Crossing the city at 42nd Street all I could think about is how much better than last year I felt. My Garmin was telling me that I was about 5 minutes ahead of my planned pace, so 2:10 was probably in the bag unless I stopped. Heck, I could have walked the entire last three miles.
15k was at some point around here...1:29.34. Almost perfectly even splits. Onto the West Side Highway.
All I gotta say is, I hate the West Side Highway. It's almost entirely concrete instead of asphalt and I find that the pounding on the harder surface really does a number on my knees and legs. I had to stop for the first time in the race shortly after turning onto it. I walked for about 30 seconds and picked it up again. I think I walked another 3 or 4 times down this stretch. Not for very long, but the legs were yelling at me.
Apparently, I was still running at a pretty good clip, when I was running, because the 20k split was 1:59.35. Almost exactly the same as every other split.
I didn't have enough left to really pick up the pace for the last kilometer, but I kept it going and finished in 2:05.48. A new PR!
After getting my medal, a wet towel and having my picture taken, I headed into Battery Park. As soon as the adrenaline started to drain away, my calf muscles started to cramp up. I walked around looking for the post race food, but couldn't find any. So I headed to baggage claim and got my bag. I was almost positive I had stuck some kind of bar in there. I found a large piece of cardboard to plop my butt and try to stretch. Changed my shoes and found a Powerbar...yay! Gobbled that up while trying to get my calves to calm down.
During the bodily manipulations, my phone rang. It was Ira from the Striders and he was somewhere in the park. I got the details and told him I'd find him in a few minutes. While walking around trying to locate him, I found the food bags. Picked up one and headed into the park. After spending some time comparing race experiences, I noticed the time and figured that Chelly should be finishing about then. So we headed over to the finish line area just in time to find her heading towards us. We then hobbled off the highway back into the park to try and get a food bag for her. At this point, it started to rain again. As we're wandering around looking for food and getting progressively wetter, we decided to bag the whole thing and head back to Chelly's to shower and then find food in her neighborhood. Ira headed off to find the subway and we jumped in a cab to go back home.

Good news & bad news

2008-07-04T11:31:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted all week about the diagnosis I got for Shannon. I'm not sure how I feel so I didn't know what to say. But, for those three or four people who actually read this blog, I guess I should update you.
...LIPOSARCOMA...
and, yes, for those who don't know, that is the big C--cancer.
I've been trying to stay upbeat, and there is good news with that diagnosis. Liposarcoma is a cancer of the fatty cells inside tissue. It is fairly rare in animals, but is more common in dogs than cats. Tumors form which can be invasive. The good thing about this particular cancer, if there can be a good thing about cancer, is that while it commonly re-occurs at the excision site, it rarely metastasizes. In other words, it doesn't usually spread. And since the location that Shannon has it is on her leg, it isn't likely to be a life-threatening cancer. But we will probably be repeating this week on more occasions.
Shannon has actually been great about the whole thing. Because the bandage covered her whole leg, she couldn't bend at the 'wrist' joint. So, she was limping and I was carrying her down any stairs, mostly because I was nervous that she wouldn't be able to maintain her balance. She quickly figured out how to go up the stairs, how to jump up onto her chair and how to get waited upon hand and foot.
We went back to the vet's office, yesterday, to have the bandage removed and the wound inspected. It was the first time I saw it and it looks nasty. A bunch of stitches up her leg, which I think were purple. The vet said that everything looked good and just put a light bandage over it. We go back on Sunday afternoon to get the stitches removed. And if the vet OKs it, she's getting a bath afterwards.

Running around and getting nowhere

2008-06-29T07:26:00.005-04:00

It's been a while since I've post. It isn't because there hasn't been anything going on in my life. More like the total opposite and I just didn't feel up to posting about it.
My last post I mentioned that Shannon had been feeling a little under the weather. Well, the last month has seen me at the vet's office way too often for my liking.
It started out with Shannon refusing to eat. She turned her nose up at everything. For a living garbage disposal this was worrying. I could get her take some food with a great deal of coaxing, but she wasn't enthusiastic.
After about a week of this, I decided that a visit to the vet was in order. He couldn't find anything wrong, but because of her various medical problems, he ordered a complete blood workup and also an EKG and x-rays to see if her heart had worsened.
So the next day, I took the day off of work and dropped her off in the morning. Back in the early afternoon for a report that her heart, while not better, was not worse but she had an elevated white blood cell count and slightly elevated kidney numbers. I get sent home with a week's worth of antibiotics and an appointment to come back in about ten days.
By the second day of the antibiotics, she seemed to be feeling a lot better. More interest in food and in life in general.
The following Friday, another day off from work, and we went back to the vet just for a recheck on the bloodwork to see if the infection was gone and to see if the kidney numbers stayed the same. Totally routine. The vet tells me to call back on Sunday for the results.
I'm not sure why, but Saturday night I notice a lump on her front leg. I had not noticed this before and it's about the size of a grape. Because of her age, she has a number of little masses on her body. They're more than likely fatty deposits and the vet's reaction is to just note them and make sure they don't get larger. But this mass was different. I could just tell. It was big and not roundish like the others and, it must have developed quickly if I had not previously noticed it. I spent Saturday night awake and in a bit of a panic.
Sunday morning was torture. Waiting until about 10:30 when the vet told me to call seemed to take forever. Finally, it arrived and I phoned him. He told me that the white blood cell count was still elevated and I mentioned the mass on her leg. He told me to bring her right in.
After an examination, the doctor shared my concern. He told me that he'd give me another weeks worth of antibiotics and to keep an eye on the leg. I was to come back in a week and we would decide where to go from there.
Let me just tell you, that mass seemed huge for the whole week. I can't imagine how I had missed it previously. It seemed to pull my eye to it every time I looked at her. Meanwhile, she's feeling fine. Totally normal. Eating like she hadn't seen food in weeks. Monday night I manage to get a quick run in to try and relax and work off some of the tension.
Another day off of work and back to the vet on Tuesday of the next week. (There are some perks to being a civil servant). I had been imagining the worst for the past week and my heart is in my throat and I'm exhausted when we go to the animal hospital. After a quick exam and the decision that the mass has not changed significantly (the vet was hoping that it was related to the mystery infection)they take blood again and we make plans for surgery the next day.
Wednesday is another day off of work and she gets dropped off at the animal hospital at 10:30am with instructions to call back at 3pm if I don't hear from them sooner.
I just wandered around for the next couple of hours, not knowing what to do with myself.
At 3:05 I phoned the hospital. The vet told me that she was awake and alert and the surgery had gone well. He felt that he had removed the entire tumor and it had been sent off to the lab for a biopsy. She had an IV and a bandage. He wanted to keep her overnight to make sure everything was alright and I could pick her up the next day. I was elated but a little disappointed as I wanted her home NOW. I got another run in. With everything going on, I actually managed to get in all my runs this past week for the first time in a while.
I got the best night's sleep that night since I didn't have to worry about Shannon. My original plan was to go to work and leave early when I got the OK to pick her up, but I decided after getting completely ready for work and actually beginning my commute that there was no way I could deal with work that day, so I turned around and went home. I called the animal hospital at 11 to see if I could pick her up and they told me to come over in about an hour so they would have time to bandage her leg. One hour later, exactly, I was in the waiting room looking for my puppy. We decided against the conehead collar since the bandage was similar to the cast she had last fall and she hadn't bothered that. She's back on antibiotics again and limping around. The opposite front leg was also shaved, for the IV, I assume. The biopsy on the tumor won't be back until Monday, but I'm not worrying about it. I don't think it will make much of a difference either way. I'm just glad she's home.

Farewell

2008-05-29T18:29:00.004-04:00

BUDDY
6 years of sunshine - rest in peace
My parent's dog, Buddy, was killed today by a loose dog. My father was walking him when he approached a loose husky. The husky grabbed Buddy. Dad carried Buddy home and got in the car with my Mom to head to the vet. On the way, they spotted the loose dog and followed it to a man in a car who told them that the dog was his and he had escaped from his place of business. He, of course, said that his dog was friendly and had never done anything like this before. He said he would take care of the vet bills and gave my parents his card.
Buddy was given a total going over at the vet's, who found three puncture wounds but said that everything else looked fine. He loaded him up with antibiotics and gave him a painkiller. Mom called me around lunchtime to tell me about the attack. Buddy was still bleeding some and seemed to be traumatized.
When I got home from work this evening there was a message on my answering machine to call my Mom when I got in. I called her and she told me that Buddy was dead. He just fell over and died. My Mom and Dad are in shock, the vet was shocked. The vet feels that his heart might not have been able to take the stress and gave out.
My pup has been feeling under the weather for the last week and now I'm petrified that something might happen to her, as well. It's not logical, but I almost feel like she might 'catch' Buddy's death.
We're going to miss the little 'Bud-man'.

Show me your t*ts!

2008-05-03T20:41:00.009-04:00

The title will be explained later.
Two great race weekends. Last weekend was my club's race - Alley Pond 5 Mile Challenge.
Woke up early to get to the park around 7:30am. Greeted my fellow Striders who were there setting up. Spent a few hours helping with stuff...line control, questions regarding the race. Spotted quite a few familiar faces. All the local clubs had people there--Forest Park RR, Hellgate RR, New Hyde Park, Long Island RR,

, Quantum Feet

College Point RR

and quite a few others. I spotted a familiar face in a Forest Park singlet--Alex, a fellow blogger came with his family. It was great to meet him. He did a nice write up of our race over on his blog.
I ran well. The first mile was a little slow - 8:50, probably because of the big hill in the first quarter of a mile. The second and third mile went in a speedy 8:25 and 8:13. But then I got to the 4th mile. There are some rolling hills that climb right up to the 4 mile marker. I really felt like I was slogging and the time reflects it - 9:10. Right at about the 4 mile marker, though, there is a big downhill. I used it to gain some speed and felt a second wind coming on. I managed a mile in 8:11, for a total time for the 5 miles of 42:50 - a new PR!
I hung around the finish line and cheered on some of the later finishers. We had a great turnout. 276 people finished the race. That's at least a recent high total, if not the highest ever. The prez wanted to get a big number and we really pushed the promo on the race this year. I plastered it all over the internet and applications were left at every race site. That combined with the good luck of having the NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon moved from the day before to the weekend after helped immensely.
Today was another race, the Riker's Island 5k. Riker's Island is an unusual place for a race, because Riker's Island is a prison. The New York City Department of Corrections operates this detention facility for approx. 15000 inmates. I had to do this one.
I met some fellow Striders at the Park in the morning so that we could carpool over to the race. The race starts on the 'mainland' in Queens. Spectators and our baggage had to be brought over by bus and everyone had to get their hand stamped so we would be allowed back out of the facility. I'm guessing they don't really care if you want to go over and stay there, they're just making sure that only non-prisoners can get back out.
There was a large group from the Striders at the race. The shorter distance brings out the walkers and a lot of runners who don't often race were there, as well.
The first mile of the race is over the bridge onto the island. This is the biggest hill in the course. I managed to get the first mile in 8:37. I was loosening up -- really need to warm up before these short races! The weather was cool and the wind was brisk. I probably could have managed a faster time for this race if I hadn't been fighting the wind for most of it.
By the second mile, I found a couple of Striders and settled in with them. Clipped off the second mile in a faster 8:24. The course winds through the prison. You are surrounded by fenced in yard areas bristling with barbed wire. It's surreal.
Towards the end of mile 3 you pass this large building that is about 30 feet from the course. Apparently, the inmates can see you running by at this point. I had been told that the prisoners call out to you during the race. There were a few guys running in front of me who got a lot of shouts of encouragement from inside. Well, since it was in Spanish, I'm assuming it was encouragement. As I ran into view, I started to hear some shouts directed at me. That is when I heard my title phrase. Let me tell you, I thought for a moment of stopping and lifting my shirt, but it passed really quickly and I continued by without acknowledging the supportive cheers.
My finish time was 26:20--another PR for me! They had a really nice finisher's medal, with moving parts! and a barbecue set up by the Correction Officers. I stood on line for the first hotdog I've had in some time and socialized with some of the other runners.
Once the results were posted I found my name--I had also finished 2nd in my age group! I got a trophy! When they presented the trophies, they actually had one of those step podiums like at the big races. So I got a trophy and I got to stand up with the 1st place and 3rd place ladies in my age group and get our picture taken. It was kind of cool.
Alley Pond managed to get quite a few awards, including sweeping the Men's 70+ age group. Congrats to my fellow Striders.

Running and racing

2008-04-26T16:16:00.004-04:00

So, I'm getting behind again. C'est la vie! I'll start with my race last weekend.
I ran the adidas Run for the Park 4M race in Central Park on Sunday. This was the first race that my friend, Chelly, had run in a while and I was looking forward to hanging with her at the park.
We met up at the usual spot - 72nd Street and Central Park West. The Pope was in town and he was staying at 72nd Street on the other side of the park, so that entrance was closed. It also made for some re-routing of traffic and mass transit, but I didn't have too hard a time getting into the city.
Chelly had been on the fence about running the race--she didn't think she was ready--but she decided to give it a go. I told her that I'd come back and run with her after I finished to help her keep up her pace and stick it out until the finish line.
The NYRR was instituting a corral system starting with this race. So, Chelly and I had to split up for the start. We usually try to start at a point about halfway between our two paces, but this time we weren't going to be allowed.
The corral system didn't really help the start. It still took about 3:30 for me to cross the start line. The odd part was, in the past, the pack would open up at that point as those who had placed themselves too far forward began to fall back and those who got trapped too far back began weaving through to get better placed. This time, the pack I was in stayed pretty much together. It forced me to run at a good pace as I had been placed with a 8:49 pace based on my fastest race, which was about a year ago. I haven't really been running that fast lately.
This worked out wonderfully for me. I ran all 4 miles at a pace that really made me feel like I was working for it. I decided at about the 2 mile mark to stick on the tail of a woman that had been in my area for a while. I dogged her through the rest of the course. She had more left at the end, though, and finished about 25 feet in front of me. But I managed a 33:57 for the race, which is a 8:29 pace. That was my fastest race in Central Park ever and only 25 seconds behind my PR. I was ecstatic.
After grabbing some water, getting my chip clipped and catching my breath, I turned back on the course and started walking/jogging back looking for Chelly. Beside running at a slower pace, she probably had started about 3 minutes after I did, so I didn't find her until I had got back almost to the 3 mile mark. I waved at her and jumped into the course. She had been trying out a walk/run method to keep herself going and said she actually didn't feel too bad. I told her that we weren't too far from the finish line and warned her that there was a photographer a short way up the course. I joked about actually getting some photos this time. It turns out that the only pictures they got of me were when I was running with Chelly.
I asked if she had anything left as we turned for the finish line and then pushed it a little so that Chel would finish strong.
We walked through the park heading to 5th Avenue to catch a cab downtown and get brunch. On the way, we walked by the carousel, which I mentioned that I hadn't been on since I was about 8. So, of course, we had to take a ride. It's a little more expensive than I remembered and I found out that sitting a horse post-race is a bit hard, but it was fun. I didn't remember that it was so fast.
The big event this weekend is our club race. The Alley Pond 5 Mile Challenge is a tough but fun course through Alley Pond Park in Northeast Queens. So anyone who sees this, come on out. It should be a blast. I'll be running the race this year. My best 5 mile time is on this course, for some odd reason, since I think it is the toughest 5 mile race that I've run.

A little bit of silliness

2008-04-14T11:10:00.000-04:00

I'll be in Scotland afore ye!

2008-03-31T20:07:00.003-04:00

Yesterday the city kicked off Scotland week with the NYRR Scotland Run 10k. Although it wasn't my best run, I had a great time.
The morning started out great. Because the race had a 10am start, much later than most, I was able to get up at a civilized hour and didn't have to be out the door until 7:45. It was freezing, however. It just shouldn't be 27 degrees at this time of year! But I decided to go with a single layer on top and one of my heavier pairs of tights. I was hoping that it would warm up a bit before the race started. I piled on the layers for the trek into Manhattan.
After a pretty uneventful trip into the city on the subway (you always spot the ghostly masses of runners as they gather, getting off along the park, the stop depending on whether or not they've pre-registered and whether they are planning to warm up on the way to the starting line)
The park was already set up with a few tents from the Scotland groups that came for the week. After picking up my t-shirt, they also were handing out goodie bags, unusual for NYRR races. There was a nice little bag that contained a small Scotland flag on a stick, a rain poncho with the saltire and a few other little trinkets. I'm not currently in possession of any tartan clothing, so I had opted to wear blue and white to match the flag and got a flag painted on my face before the race at a tent in the park.
While wandering around, I bumped into one a couple of my fellow Striders. I walked to the start with Tom, who actually runs a good bit faster than I do, but he lined up with me in the 9:00 mile area. I was a bit nervous about this race. I haven't run the distance in quite a while and wasn't sure how it was going to feel. I ran a pretty good 4 mile race last weekend, but when I went out for an easy 4 miler mid-week I had felt awful. The legs were leaden and I was exhausted afterward.
Once the gun went off, we did the usual stand around and wait. I believe it took us about 4 minutes to get across the start line. I ran with Tom for the first couple of miles, which meant that I was running a bit faster than I would have run by myself and Tom was running slower than he would probably have gone on his own. I think it was about the two mile mark, after an uphill that felt like Mt. Everest, that I waved him on and told him that I'd try to find him at the end.
The next two miles were tough. I knew I wasn't running exceedingly fast, and yet I was having a tough time going. I actually walked a few times.
At about the 4 mile mark, I started to loosen up and felt my stride getting easier. Mile 5 was right around 9 minutes and I pulled one sub-9 mile out for mile 6. I kicked it into the finishing chute and finished in exactly 58:00.
The festivities after the race were great. There was a stage where a band was playing called The Red Hot Chilli Pipers - what a blast! Think rock band with bagpipes. They're apparently, all the rage in Europe, but I had never heard of them.
After the band played, they had a number of raffles for Scottish goods and a free entry in the Loch Ness marathon. I didn't win any of them. But I hung around for the band after that, which played a tune for a Scottish folk dance called 'Strip the Willow'. There is a photo of me dancing on the NYRR webpage, which I copied here. I'm to the left of centerin the photo, with the white hat on.
This is a race I think I'll try and do again next year, if only just because I can't pass on a chance to see a whole lot of men in kilts!

A Movie I think I have to see...

2008-03-20T23:38:00.003-04:00

On a more serious note, quite a few of the local runners are planning on seeing the movie 'Running for Your Life', directed by Judd Erlich and premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival, this film is a documentary about the life of the major force behind the creation of the NYC Marathon, Fred Lebow.

and I'm sick again...

2008-03-04T14:30:00.002-05:00

I feel like I'm getting sick every weekend. I know it isn't quite that often and quite a few of my 'sick' times have just been feeling a little subpar, but I'm really sick this time.
This was going to be a pretty busy weekend. There was at least one local race to choose from on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday night was a special run to celebrate the leap year--a 5k at 11:59pm on Friday night on the runway at Republic Airport in Farmingdale. I really wanted to do it, but the weather forecast was awful. I still left it until about 10pm to decide, but at that time it was already snowing, so I scrapped that idea and looked at Saturday and Sunday's schedule to pick a run.
The weather forecast called for the precipitation to last into early Saturday afternoon, so I made the decision on Friday night to sleep in on Saturday morning so that I could be ready for an early start on Sunday. Sunday morning was the Coogan's Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5k Run in uptown Manhattan. I haven't done this one before. I've heard the course is a bit hilly, but it's only 5k and I figured it would be fun.
So Saturday was spent running all the errands for the weekend so that Sunday would be free for the race. I started to feel kind of tired in the early afternoon, but I was planning on hitting the sack early for a 5:30am wakeup. Got to bed around 9:30pm. Woke up a few hours later to take the pup out for a constitutional and noticed that I felt achy and shivery. Aaarghh! Made the decision that an early morning run may not be the best idea and turned off the alarm.
Well, I woke up a bit later with a headache that could fell a horse, fever chills and body aches. I spent most of the day passed out on either the bed or the sofa. The whole day just kind of blurred into one big pain.
Monday morning, felt a little bit better, but I had already decided to take a sick day - the joys of state employment - but figured I would just use the day to recover. I didn't feel much better, however. The head pain finally started to ease off around mid-afternoon and I felt capable of taking a shower (almost 72 hours...yech!). By the evening I felt pretty good, but was going to stay home another day, because I could.
Oftentimes when I'm sick it affects my head, which sucks, because staying home would be fantastic if I could read or work on my computer but, of course, I can't. This post has taken me a few days to write. My head still hurts, but not horrendously, but my balance centers are out of whack, I can't focus.
So this morning I woke up from an awful dream. I dreamed that I was at the starting line of the NYC Marathon with some of the ladies from my running club. For some reason we were inside and it had been my idea. We were standing around a hallway when the start time passed. No gun! So I yell at everyone that we must be too far away to hear it. Then we start running out of the building and I realize that I'm lost and we've missed the start of the race. How very odd. I have to admit that I've let the idea of doing the marathon this year percolate in my brain. It will depend on how my knees feel once I start getting ready for the half-marathons that I'm definitely doing this summer. If my body feels OK come May, I might just try. So I don't know what this dream is telling me about the idea.

Dashing through the snow

2008-02-24T18:14:00.009-05:00

Today was the North Fork Bank 3 x 2 Trail Relay. This race is always a blast, but this year we had a snowstorm during the week. So it added an interesting twist to the run.
I met up with a group from my club at 8am and we headed out to Bethpage State Park where the race was being held. The temp was about 23 degrees, so I had worn a few layers and brought extra clothes to change into after the race.
We got there pretty early but I had to run around and coordinate number pick up and payment for the club members who weren't pre-registered. Ah, the pleasures of being runner's rep!
After standing around for a while trying to hand out numbers to Striders as they arrived, my feet felt like little blocks of ice. I stripped out of my pants and one of my jackets and did a warm-up circuit with one of the ladies on my relay team and her father. I felt a little better, but now my feet hurt. It was like walking around on coals. I shoved the extra jacket into my bag and handed it off to one of the group that wasn't running and headed for the starting area.
The start was in a field covered with about 5 inches of snow. When the gun went off and we started running I also found out that the snow had a hard crust on top. I was pretty tired in the first 100 feet until we hit the trees.
In the tree cover the snow was a little lighter and had been packed down a bit by vehicles. But this meant the runners were mostly restricted to tracks about 4 inches wide. Passing was nearly impossible unless you wanted to plow through the unpacked snow, which I did in a few spots.

This was the first race that I've ever run where I didn't really pay attention to how I was fairing in relation to the other runners. My eyes were focused on the ground a few feet in front of me, looking for the best route through the mess. At one point a runner in a big hoodie passed by me. I wasn't sure who it was, but I decided to catch up to him. It was Gerry, our prez, who had decided to run by me to try and get me mad. It didn't work, but I did run by him decisively. Take that!
I was never so happy to finish a two mile run as I was when I saw the clearing where the hand off location was. I scanned the crowd as I came in, looking for Christina, who was running the second leg. Spotted her, grabbed her hand and wished her luck.
After a few of our club members came in for their handoff, I headed over to the food area. A big attraction of this race is the food. They always have a big spread of baked goods and a supply of hot soups and hot chocolate. I grabbed a chocolate chip cookie and headed back to find my bag so I could take some photos. I hope you enjoy them.

A Brand New Year

2008-01-20T20:10:00.000-05:00

Well, even though I promise myself I'm not going to let the blog get away from me again, it inevitably does.
I have been kind of busy, for me. Which means that I haven't spent 5 days a week sitting on my sofa watching TV. I am now on the board of my running club, have also volunteered to maintain the website and am on our race committee. This means that beside running with the club, I also attend various meetings at night. I feel positively active. To see the website go here Alley Pond Striders Our race, which is a fun and tough 5 miler that I hope anyone reading in the NYC area comes out for, is going to happen on April 27. The link for online registration is here Alley Pond 5 Mile Challenge
Shannon feels great. Her leg is almost back to normal. Someone who didn't know her would probably barely be able to tell, except when she is tired or just getting up from a nap. Then it is a little stiff. The one thing that hasn't got back to normal is her ability to jump up onto things. She can't make it up onto my bed. I bought those steps for her, but she refuses to use them. Instead, she stands next to the bed and whines for me to lift her. I did find her on her chair this week, though, which means she is jumping a little.
Oh, I got a couple of late Christmas gifts this week - one from my sister and one from Chelly. My sister sent the cool sunglasses on the right They're by Rudy Project and can accept prescription lenses. I haven't got the lenses, yet. I'm waiting because I'm considering getting vision correction surgery. Has anyone had that done? I have to find out if I'm even a candidate, but I seriously thinking about it. If I can't get it, I'll have to look into getting lenses that fit the frame.
Chelly constructed a scrapbook of our NY Half-Marathon by Nike experience last summer. It's really cool. She combined our experiences, as expressed on our blogs, with photos of various points of the course. The book also includes the experience of Adam, a friend of hers.
Well, I have to get back to the Giant game.

Getting a headstart on the New Year

2007-12-31T08:13:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I haven't posted in quite a while. It's not that I haven't been doing anything (well, actually, I do lead a pretty boring life) but I just haven't been moved to write about it.

Christmas was pleasant. I spent the day at my aunt's with the family. As my uncle was a French chef, the food is always excellent. I didn't get any really special gifts - a check from the parents (always appreciated) and some clothes. The interesting gifts are still promised. My sister is sending a wicked pair of running/biking sunglasses and my friend, Chelly, is constructing a scrapbook of our New York/Nike Half Marathon experience.

The running has been a little lax. Since Thanksgiving, I'm probably only averaging 10 miles a week, and the bulk of that is usually my weekend run. The lack of running, combined with the increased eating, has led to the gain of a pound or two. I have to decide on a running goal for the new year. I'm sure I can get myself motivated if I find something special to aim for this year. The knee is not bothering me on the shorter runs, but I'm a little nervous that going longer will make it go again and that is at the root of my reluctance to plan anything big.

In other news, I'm now officially the runner's rep and webmaster for my running club, the Alley Pond Striders The two jobs are separate. The webmaster bit is something I really wanted to do. I finally got my hands on the website this weekend and I've got something up and running. I'm a total beginner and still learning, so it isn't beautiful, but it is current which was my first priority.

Runner's rep involves gathering the racing results in a column for our monthly newsletter, trying to motivate the runners by planning/finding activities and races to participate in, contacting other local clubs and fostering good will/competition with other local runners and, finally, attending the club meetings. I'm letting this stress me out a bit. Quite a bit of those duties are social and I'm not a terribly social person. Unless I push myself, I would probably spend the majority of my time in front of this computer screen, on the couch in front of the television or curled up with a book. This is why I join clubs. Belonging to a club forces me to be social and I know that this makes me a happier person. Otherwise, I would be one of those people you hear about that lives in an apartment surrounded by their stuff until it falls on them and kills them. And no one finds them for months.

On that happy note, I hope everyone has a wonderful New Years. Here's to a fantastic 2008!

It's Off!

2007-12-08T15:14:00.001-05:00

Well, the big news around here is that Shannon got her cast off! I brought her in to the vet's on Monday for what I thought was just going to be a quick look to see how things were going. The vet looked at it and said it was coming off. Fantastic! It took quite a bit of cutting and tugging, but the thing was removed and I was sent home with what seemed like a very tiny dog with an itty-bitty leg. The vet warned me that it would probably take a day or two before she started to use it. I've never had a cast, but he said that the limb feels odd for a while after you get one off. I was just happy to not have that huge thing hanging off of her.
The first night she was confused. She had gotten used to using the cast to support her weight and now there was nothing there. So she spent most of the time lying on her cushion.
By the next day she was touching the foot to the ground, but the leg was very weak. The vet didn't give any special instructions, but I tried to force her to use it a little. By the evening she was getting around, mostly using the foot to balance herself rather than hold her weight.
I spoke to the vet on Wednesday morning. I was a little down about how little she was using it, but he didn't seem too concerned. He said to give it another 36 hours and we'd see how it goes.
I called him back on Friday morning and told him that it didn't really seem any better. I'd say she was limping about as badly as before we bandaged the leg. He wasn't too happy and said that it usually worked better, especially with the small dogs. We discussed the possibility of surgery. He's not too inclined to do it and I don't really want to put her through it either. He said that it wouldn't make much difference if we did the surgery now or later. So I decided we'd wait and see how things go.
When I got home it was like she had heard the decision and decided she didn't want surgery, either. She is using the leg about 90 percent of the time. She is still limping, but I think the limp is not as bad as it was before. I'm really hoping there will be further improvement.
We went for our first walk in about a month this morning. I think she was thrilled to get off of the front lawn. We didn't go too far since she is probably out of shape. I did carry her the last bit, but I think she was happy to get out.
Here's keeping our fingers crossed for her.

Subpar week

2007-11-14T14:04:00.000-05:00

Well, this week has sucked, big time.
It should have been great, starting with a long weekend as it did. But, except for Saturday, which was OK, it has really been a stinker.
I'll start off by saying I went for an easy 4 mile run on Saturday morning. Pretty slow for me at an 11:15 pace, but I hadn't been for a run in almost two weeks and I let a generally slower runner in the club just carry me along. I wasn't disappointed - it felt good, with no pain or difficulty.
I didn't have any particular plans for the weekend. I was probably just going to hang out, maybe do some cleaning since I was so busy last weekend and hadn't been picking up after myself.
The really bad stuff started when Shannon, who has been a bit reluctant to jump up onto things, actually started to have a definite limp in one of her hind legs. I looked and poked and didn't see a definite injury. She just didn't want to put her full weight on that leg. It seemed to get better as the day went on, but was worse when she just got up from a lie down. I thought perhaps it was a touch of arthritis. I spent most of the weekend going back and forth about seeing the vet. We were just there two weeks ago for a sonagram on her heart. It was bad news. Her heart is worse than it was six months ago. But she isn't really showing any symptoms, so the vet is not recommending anything yet. I just wasn't ready to get another serious diagnosis and was hoping it would just resolve itself.
Sunday I woke up feeling like death warmed over. My head was pounding and I had a sore throat. Just great. The same thing happened over my last three day weekend. I think I'm doomed to spend my holiday breaks with some kind of nasty bug.
I spent most of the day lying on the couch and catching up with some of the television shows I've recorded on the DVR. So after a full day of feeling awful, I took Shannon out for her evening walk. She was feeling peppy even though she was still limping. But when I wasn't paying attention, she saw one of the local feral cats that she likes to chase. She took off like she totally forgot her leg hurt. When she stopped, her left hind leg was hanging. After a minute, she started to use it again, but it was definitely worse.
I called the vet Monday morning and they had me come right over. After an exam, I was told she had probably torn or damaged her cranial cruciate ligament, which is a similar injury to the ACL injury that football players are always getting. The vet explained that they would do an x-ray to confirm, but that was what he thought was wrong. There were two roads for treatment. The more conservative one would entail wrapping her leg in a bandage splint for 4 - 6 weeks to immobilize the leg. At the end of that time, hopefully, the ligament would have repaired itself. This method would be easier on her but probably would not result in 100% use of the leg. The other choice is surgery. From what I've read, this has a better chance for full recovery of the leg, but would take months and is, obviously, much harder on the dog. The vet felt that the bandage was a better option and if it didn't work, we could always consider surgery later.

So Shannon spent the night at the hospital, since they had to sedate her to do the bandage and the vet wanted to keep her under observation to see how she reacted to the cast.
She came home yesterday morning and I've been a nervous wreck since. I've had to watch her to make sure that she doesn't hurt herself while she gets used to maneuvering the cast through the apartment. I also have to watch her to keep her from jumping onto or off of things. So I've now taken an additional two days off of work, but haven't really been enjoying my 'vacation'. I'm still sick and now I'm exhausted. She's not happy and has a tendency to stand and sway in the middle of the room while whining. She wants up on the couch and on her chair, but then I worry that she will hurt herself trying to get off. I really hope this works, because if it doesn't I don't think I can take the additional recovery time that will come with the surgery.

Marathon expo

2007-11-03T19:04:00.000-04:00

I had a ball at the expo today. I was handing out bibs - if you had a green bib in the 7000 range, you may have seen me today.
The expo itself was nice - not so many deals as I've seen in the past and I only walked out with a small bag of freebies and promo material. Some of the races advertising there were fascinating. I'm intrigued by the idea of doing 3 races in 3 days in Bermuda. And the Disney booth was cool - they give out such great medals for their races.
I managed to see the video feed for the finish of the Olympic trial while I was in the expo hall. Ryan Hall is amazing. Such an easy win in only his second marathon. He broke the Olympic trial record by 1 minute 17 seconds. He was so happy as he came through the last mile with over 2 minutes on his nearest competitor. Congratulations to Dathan Ritzenhein and Brian Sell, who also made the team.
Unfortunately, the news spread through the expo that someone had died during the race. Ryan Shay, a 28 year old runner, who is, coincidentally, a good friend of Hall, collapsed less than 6 miles into the race. He was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later. The photo to the right has Shay in the center. What a terrible tragedy.

Marathon Mania

2007-10-20T17:28:00.000-04:00

So, I got my volunteer assignments for this year's marathon. Anyone participating in this shindig can look for me at the expo on Saturday from 12 - 5. I'll be in the registration area. For the big show on Sunday I will be at the 14 mile Aid Station in Queens. Probably running herd on boyscouts again. Why do I do this to myself?

On another note, I got tagged for a meme by my friend Nicole over at Two Sicilian Chicks
You have to open the book you're currently reading on page 161 and read the fifth sentence on the page, then think of 5 bloggers to tag with.

I'm currently reading Club Dead by Charlaine Harris. The fifth sentence on p 161 is:
"You can hold on to me as long as you want."

I'm tagging Alison, Chelly, Josh, and Dawn - most who will probably kill me!

Oyster Festival 5k

2007-10-15T23:12:00.000-04:00

I decided to run a race this past weekend. I had missed a race planned for last weekend due to my car being in the shop for over a week (a long story which will just upset me if I go into it here) and I had nothing definite planned for this weekend so I looked for a race close to home. I found a 5k in Oyster Bay, Long Island. That wasn't too far and it was connected to a festival the town was having that I thought I might be able to enjoy after the race.
Saturday morning I got up early and, after taking care of the dog and eating breakfast, I headed out. I wasn't expecting to do very well. I haven't been running as much as I should due to a bum knee and some seriously lost running mojo. But I did manage to get in four short runs last week, including one nice tempo run, so I was planning on trying to do a sub 9:00 pace.
The weather was perfect - a nice chill in the air. Fall has finally arrived in New York. I got to the start site in plenty of time to sign up for the race and look around to see if anyone I knew had also decided to do this race. I saw a lot of familiar faces from the area running scene but no one that I knew personally. So I just hung around trying to stay warm. I wasn't relishing the idea of standing around the starting line in my racing clothes. I headed out to the starting line about 15 minutes before the gun.
Due to a mix up in which way we were actually heading, I ended up closer to the front of the pack then I planned. I went out much faster than I usually do because I didn't want to get run over. Once I had found a good spot and tried to settle into a good pace I knew that this wasn't going to be a good day. My legs felt uncoordinated and my breathing was labored. I kept checking with my Garmin and I was having to work hard to stay around a 9:00 pace. Oh well, so I was just going to try and keep a respectable pace and enjoy myself. The first mile passed in about 8:53 - that was the early rush mostly because I was definitely going slower than that.
The second mile went by in just around 18:00. The course was lovely - horse farms on one side and a nature preserve on the other. I was eying another runner. It might sound a little snobbish, but I often motivate myself during a race by finding someone who I think looks like I should be able to beat them and try and keep up with them. This man I saw was about 20 years my senior and was running that morning in a pair of sweatpants and a button down cotton shirt - like you might wear with a sportscoat. Plaid, even. Anyway, I decided that, while anyone can be a runner, I had to be a faster runner than this man. So I kept him in my sights and eventually passed him. I felt victorious!
Also, around the 2 mile mark the course took a definite downward trend. I mean, we hit a mean downhill. Of course, this probably meant that the beginning of the race, which I had some trouble with, was mostly uphill. Ahhh! My legs had also loosened up to where the running was starting to feel more fluid. I decided to throw caution to the wind and let myself fly down the hills. Wheeee!!!!
It leveled off eventually. Perhaps a quarter of a mile before the end. I pushed myself across the finish line for a 26:22 gun time. That is a personal best for me. By only 3 seconds, but still a PR. I checked with Garmin. I managed that finish time by doing the 3rd mile in 7:34! WTF?!? I've never even got close to that time for a mile, even at the track.
One thing this race has taught me is that I really have to start doing some warm up before a race. Even after all this time running, and even after three half-marathons, I still feel like I'm not going to be able to run the whole distance. So I worry that any distance spent in a warm up is distance that I won't be able to get in the race. Which is ridiculous.
I stuck around for the awards which lasted until the rest of the festival started. I walked around for awhile, tried some of the food, but finally decided to go home because my hips were bothering me a little and I was tired.

This has to be the best prank...

2007-09-04T23:49:00.001-04:00

Can you imagine doing this in NYC?