Of bunnies and blown quads. Thursday 13.

Dear Diary,

13. Saturday, I did this run. And yes, it sucked as much as you might think. However, I did not suffer as much as I might have a year ago. I seem to be getting used to altitude. The last mile was basically climbing stairs, for a mile, over about 800 feet, starting over 11,000 feet.
And then...trying not to fall down on the descent.
I was not first. And despite starting last, I did not fimish last.

12. On trail runs, I love watching the youngsters and first timers bolt when that gun goes off. Basically, the older runners step aside and let them rush past, then offer quiet encouragement later, much later, when the course has taken its toll and they are passing them.

11. It is absolutely true that you can do more than you think you can. No where is this more true than when you are mosying down a mountain a hear a loud, deep crack of thunder, practically in your ear.

10. And by the way, having blown quads is just like having a blown tire. Other than you can't call AAA or just show some leg and get a stranger to change it out for you. And you feel like you might falll down the mountain at any second. But other than that, they're just alike.

9. Sunday, I ran the Rio Grand Half Marathon. I was good for the first eight or so miles, and then the prior day's steep descent and it's effect on my quads began to speak to me.
Eventually I just couldn't lift my legs as effectively as i had. It wasn't my slowest time. It wasn't my fastest time
2:20 or 2:21, for this course.

Found this when looking for information about caring
for rabbits.  Wrong.  So wrong.

8. On sunday Chloe the Wunderdawg cornered a rabbit in the yard. This wasn't exactly a feat: it turns out this is a completely domesticated bunny. It's small, soft, allowed me to pick it up. Definitely not going to last long out there: it is dark black in the high desert and there are hawks: big, hungry hawks. And owls. And coyotes. No, I just had to cut this bunny's camping adventure short.  MIND YOU, I AM STILL A HARD ASS.
But I cannot abide a soft furry creature with an adorable twitchy nose being someone's evening meal.

7. I gave s/he a couple of nuggets of cat food, which s/he vacumed up rapidly, but then I realized that bunnies are herbivores and cats are not, and for all I know, there might even be some rabbits in that food, which is just wrong, so wrong.
So, I googled.  AND. Apparently, they'll eat just about any leafy thing. So this week I have played the game: "what else will the bunny eat?" the Hollyhock leaves where VERY well received, as were the geranium leaves. Topping the list is apples, which we have a ton of, thanks to the apple tree in the yard. Also, the little plants that grow from the millet the birds don't eat, and chocolate mint. Not liked: basil, and wisteria leaves.
S/he shits like crazy.  It's not messy, just little tiny shit balls.  The first day or so, I think she must have been starving or something.  And then about the third day after I brought her in: constant little shitballs, which I clean up daily.  It's easy enough.  Just has to be cleaned daily.  For now, she lives in the guest room bathtub.

6. I don't plan to keep s/him indefinitely, but as s/he will eat stuff from the yard (no, i do not use chemicals on the grass) it's easy enough to keep for now. For now, I call shim "The Bunster."

5. Holy crap, my legs hurt on Monday.  And, they hurt on TUESDAY.  I did not run Tuesday.  I did not run Wednesday.  I slept in, and then woke up, blinking, 30 minutes before it was time for me to leave for work.  I mosy'd into work this week.

4. Monday, I thought about relaxing with a nice glass of wine. Then "Interevention" on A&E featured a show about a raging alcoholic, and well, it just felt awkward. So I saved it for tuesday.  And Wednesday.

3.  Today I had a root canal scheduled.  I first talked about my bad teeth a couple months back, and if you're just tuning in, no, I am not on meth.  (If I was, I would be WAYYYY faster.  Don't think I haven't considered it.)
The doc went to the trouble of completely numbing my mouth with one of those enormous, large-guage needles, and then said, oh, gosh, this tooth can't be saved.  No charge, but I drooled for the rest of the afternoon.  Meanwhile, I am planning three extractions, a couple of implants, and partials.

2.  Okay, this is by far the most important and incredible thing that has happened all year: I had a maid service come clean my house today.  Oh. My. God.  I tried another maid service, and I was all, meh, but these guys from Eco Maids: Oh. My. God.  They cleaned things that I never clean Because remember, I. Am. Lazy.  I could get totally hooked on this.  I"m already planning on what I can sell to have these guys out at least once a month.

1.  Tomorrow, the Sweet Baboo and I head out to Leadville, where he is pacing a friend of ours.  I may hang out at the May Queen aid station before dawn and offer to be a pacer for anyone who needs one that doesn't run faster than 11-12 minute miles.  We'll see.

...

Hold onto your pants, Again.

I've included some sound effects today. You may need to click the play button twice if it doesn't play the first time.

Imagine, if you will, running on hot pavement in the desert in July with hearing several of these screaming in your ear:

Annoying, huh? Has your significant other screamed, "What the hell is that noise?" yet?

It's actually shriller and more annoying in person. Yay!

Today was the annual "Bottomless Triathlon" near Roswell, NM. It's a teeny weeny sprint (400m/14K/4K) that is suprisingly hard work, given that it's in the upper nineties here in the desert. Not all that surprising. Just unwelcome.

No, we weren't bottomless. And, yes, that Roswell. And, OH, it was the 60th anniversary of the alien spaceship crashlanding this weekend and BOY, there's nothin better than freaks on the weekend!

Here's an itinerary from the local UFO museum, including the times of symposiums and lectures, about alien abductions, sightings, and the like. (Lime green, by the way, is the preferred color if one is to feel at home during the annual Roswell Experience. )

ANYWAY, here's last year's race report on this triathlon... This year, several comments:

1. Despite advertising a free pasta meal , they didn't. I mean, can they do that? I give you exhibit A, a screen shot from the race website -->

Surely, someone out there in blogger land can sue on my behalf. Taking away a girl's food. It AIN'T RIGHT!

2. Luckily, just like last year, the director decided to have us go off at 8:30 (young men) and 8:45 (everyone else, including "athenas and the women") Because if you're expecting a high of 100 degrees, you want to start as late as possible.

3. The lake was as salty as I remembered, but oh, so clear. I swam my guts out, and then decided I would strip my wetsuit before T1. I had decided to go sockless, and my feet to be able to dry off during the run. Swim time: 11:13, just a bit slower than last year.

4. The bike was much bumpier than I remembered it. And kinda hilly. But it was short. at just under 9 mile in length, my time was 0:33:47, almost 3 minutes faster than last year, including my T1 time.

5. The run was just as hot as I remembered, with heat radiating off the pavement and insects screaming so loudly that I was disoriented. I'm talking the kinda hot where it feels like someone is aiming an infrared heater on your FACE. The 1.25 mile (2K) run to the turnouround point seems 8 miles long. Everyone running toward you looks kind of pained, desperate, shiny and wet. But, ooo, there was ice water at the 2 aid stations on the run. 2 aid stations. You hit aid stations a total of 3 times, and boy, cold water never felt so good...my run time was 30:59, a little over a minute faster than last year, and included my T2 time.

I was trying to stay ahead of ShyTriGirl. Ever try to stay ahead of a particular person? It's exhausting. You want to turn around but you don't dare, and your paranoia kicks in and--and--oh, is that HER? behind me? are those her footsteps? Is that her shifter i hear? I want to stop running--I need to just walk for a minute, but--crap! what if she's RIGHT BEHIND ME, waiting to MAKE HER MOVE?

I tell ya, I'm exhausted by my own thoughts some times.

Cody came out and ran the last quarter mile or so in with me, which was encouraging because, although I'm [obviously] not the littlest Outlaw I am by far the slowest one most of the time.

Many of the Outlaws got some hardware today. One of them was mine. Sweet Baboo got first Clydesdale. Everyone else is going to have do their own report! (I'm talking to SW TriGal, Cody, and Pirate, and ShyTriGirl; did I leave anyone out?) I beat my time last year by about 40 seconds. I'll know for sure when they post the splits. I did this one blind again - no watch, nothing but me. I'm starting to like that. My time was 1:15:59 total.

As for nutrition, I had a gel just as I jumped on the bike (GU Latte flavor, w/caffein) since I forgot to take it in the swim, and some GU sports drink (mango tango) during the hour before the race. I also took some GU sports drink in a bottle with me on the run.

Tune in tomorrow when, during my long run, I scream, "Will somebody please turn on the damned air conditioner?!?

...