PHOTOS! and Trying to break through the blaaahhsss

Sunday, our new kitten. In our mourning of our old man cat Shadow we found a new baby to love. She is cute and fiesty.

Willow, the princess. She likes the cubby with wine bottles and secretly enjoys playing with the kitten.

Me at the start of Capital Hiking Club hike on Halloween. We went south along the Appalachian Trail in Maryland. It was tricky with wet leaves covering wet rocks! We still had fun and a gorgeous day.

This is Sampson. He is 10.5 years old. Very old for a Great Dane. He likes to sleep in the sun.

As my friend Jeanne at Not Born to Run suggested on my facebook page - FORCE yourself to go out for a run, you will feel better. So yes, this morning, after I took my dear doggy friend, Sampson, out for his stroll, I went for a run. It was only 2 miles, but it was a run! It felt good. It was a slight down hill for the first mile and then I turned around and had the slight up hill for the second mile back home. I didn't wear my heart rate monitor nor my garmin, but I had mapped the run thus knowing the distance. I didn't care about the time since it was just to get out there and move!

I truly love Shannon's suggestion for a Turkey trot run or a Jingle Bell jog....very good things to add in to the calendar to keep motivated and as a part of my training plan for the Rock and Roll Mardi Gras half marathon in New Orleans coming up in February. So today I will look for those events and get my ass out there!

Saturday morning I will go ride my bike, OranGina, in the cold morning air. Hey you cyclists out there....are the shoe/foot booties really worth it? I haven't experienced my feet getting cold on the bike yet. I do need to find a good outer layer for riding. The last jacket I found that I liked was waaaaaaaaaaayyyyy expensive.

Enjoy your weekend! I am determined to break out of the blahs..... it is a no blah zone here!

Edited to add: See events I signed up for this morning! A 5k on the 15th and a 10k on the 26th. I hope I will be ready for a 10k by then!

Enough with the ennui!

en·nui [ on w ]
noun
Definition:

boredom from lack of interest: weariness and dissatisfaction with life that results from a loss of interest or sense of excitement
[Mid-18th century. < French< Latin in odio (est) "(it is) hateful"]

This is my total mode at the moment! I hate it! I not sure what to do to break from it. I just can't seem to get jazzed about anything. Work is dead, dull and boring at the moment, my personal life has nothing happening in it, I can't seem to get back on the training stick (although I know that makes me feel better).

BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Good luck to my bloggy friends that are participating in B2B this weekend! I am certain you will rock! I can't wait to read race reports and live vicariously since I can't seem to get out my current state of mind.

Why is it...

that I never seem to get to the blog when I am at home, where I can load the photos from my camera and post them? I do take pictures. I do wish to share. I think some of it stems from sitting in front of a computer at work all day (and work is a bit on the slow side for me these days) thus I have caught up on my blog reading and posting, so I have no desire to do it at night when I am home. I will see if I can change that up a bit. You all need to see that sweet little kitten, Sunday; my big goofy boy, Sampson; and the gorgeous Miss Willow. Yes and of course the places I ride and run.

So, this weekend I am co-leading a hike on Saturday. I hope that the rain stays away for the whole hike. Since it is Halloween I will bring candy to give out to the other hikers. Everybody needs a little candy on Halloween. I am going to wear my $5, newly obtained from Target, ghost t-shirt over my technical tee to provide a little Halloween flair.... or maybe I will wear my skelaton shirt that says Shake your booooooo teee?? hmmmm such choices.

Sunday morning I hope to either get a ride in or get a run in. I have got to get myself back to exercising because my mood has been total crap for the past few days and I know some of that is because I have not been regularly exercising. I was entertaining thoughts of my first triathlon in 2010 to be Olympic distance other morning while I was pondering life in the shower (lots of pondering life thoughts in the shower). I figured my running will be up since I am starting up my half marathon training for Februrary ON SUNDAY!. I will continue to cycle outside unless there is snow and ice or it is crazily below freezing. I will also have a trainer for indoor work (on my to purchase list) .. now if I can just get myself to the pool for really meaningful swim time - the Olympic distance thought really shouldn't be a problem.

hmmm....
Good weekend to all! Let's see if I can manage to post some pictures soon! Maybe even just a post of pictures!

Not much....

I was a slug last week. Only one day in the gym... I did ride on Thursday night, but I was struggling. I wasn't my muscles, but my lungs. I just couldn't get air. Plus all the hard core riders are out on Thursday nights. I struggle to keep up with them on a good day! Fall can be like that for me, aggravating my allergies and asthma symptoms. FUN!

I need to get the motivation train to come by my house and kick my butt! Last Monday, I did see the podiatrist. I had self diagnosed myself correctly. Posterior tibial Tendonitis. I also found out that I have a little extra piece of bone near my navicular bone that can often cause and aggravate this condition. Of course, the doc confirmed that the crappy shoes didn't help! So while he said to take it easy for a bit - he did not say SIT ON YOUR ASS AND DO NOTHING! So, I need to get back out there. It is still tender, but feeling better. Gotta get running so that I am not walking the New Orleans half in February.

While we are still missing Shadow from the household, my daughter and I had a very weak moment over the weekend. I had to go get Sampson's dog food and gee there just happened to be kitties available for adoption.... pictures to come.... she is so tiny and cute. She hisses at Sampson and he looks so hurt! Willow, my other cat, has been a little put off, but was showing some interest this morning. Hopefully all will living happy together.

How about those Marine Corps Marathoners this weekend??? They had an awesome day for the run. I didn't go spectate, but I did follow a friend from Texas who was running via the online tracker. He had a good race.

RIP Shadow

Shadow (aka Pookies) June 1994 - October 20, 2009.
I don't have picture on this computer. I will try to add one later.
He was a lively, personality filled tuxedo cat. When I used to read out loud to my daughter, Shadow always came to listen too. He accepted all other animals into our household. He liked all people too. He will be missed by all. Last night I found Willow, my other cat, sitting on the dining room buffet looking down at the chair Shadow had taken to being in 24/7 during the last week. I haven't vacuumed it yet, thus is still has his hair, etc. on it. It was a strange moment to see her looking at the chair. It makes you wonder what goes through their little heads when one of their own is no longer around.

Sorry no photos - a rather uneventful weekend

Saturday was just disgusting as far as weather goes. The other hike leader and I did go scout and we even hiked in the rain for over an hour. Hey all my rain gear works! Good to know! Thanks REI! I really felt bad for the two weddings that were setting up in the covered pavilions in the park where the hike starts. It wasn't even 40 degrees out and the rain was just steady all day. I bet those vows were all said quickly!
I did bring my camera with me, but because it was raining and foggy you would not have seen much in a photo. We bailed after trudging for while and then checked out the where the bus has to pick up at the end of the short hike and the end of the long hike. Then is was HOME! After a really nice warm shower, I put on my pjs... Mind you it was 3 in the afternoon! LOL... I didn't go anywhere the rest of the day... I only ventured outside one more time to take Sam for his evening stroll and poop - and we were quick for that! I took a nap on the couch during football and then I watch movies that I had seen before on HBO - The Women and the Slumdog Millionaire.
Sunday - I cleaned, and actually hung a few things on the wall in my apartment (finally) and then went to Walmart (YIKES). That place makes me crazy. Picked up my daughter from her Dad and then she and I hung out until her class at 4 pm. Sunday's are like that...
No running or exercising on this front. My foot is still tender. Doc appt is at 2 pm today. I just hope his only answer isn't custom orthotics. I have had custom orthotics before and I have never been happy with them!

Tomorrow is a probably sad day... I think I will be putting my beloved, old Shadow cat to sleep. He has been suffering from some kind of allergy that we cannot seem to figure out and resolve and he is having some neurological issues. He has withdrawn and lost weight, although he still eats. He is scratching always - to the point of open wounds. We have try natural things, steroids, food switches... you name it....He is 15 years old. He has lived a good long life and was a great cat in his day. Awesome personality. It is sad, but he looks like he has had enough. It is always tough to make these choices. I have had to make it one other time with another cat, it was hard then too. My other dog, Trixie, died in her sleep after being ill, so I didn't have to make the choice there. With another elderly pet in the mix, these things are on my mind. Sampson is 10.5 years old. This is ancient for a Great Dane. Thankfully, he is healthy. Although Trixie was too and then it all fell apart for her in the span of a few weeks. My furry friends...

Okay, lets see if I can be productive at work today.

Brrrr...... and OUCH!

It is October! It is 45 degrees today. That is pretty chilly for a day time high in the 'burbs of Washington DC for October. And it isn't going away for the next few days. To top it off it is raining off and on. I can deal with cold and snow, but I truly hate a cold rain!

Here is my joy for this weekend from weather channel's website
Daily Details for Cascade, MD (21719)
Rain / Snow Showers
High38°F Precip60%
Wind: From NNW at 10 mph

Did you catch that word SNOW?!!? Again, it is OCTOBER! I am scouting a hike Saturday for the hike I am leading on Halloween. This is our starting point town. It is going to be COLD and WET! YUCK... I'm not ready for gloves, hats, and thermal layers. I will try to remember to take pictures and then actually post them for all your viewing pleasure. I'm sure the leaves are lovely up here. A good part of this hike is on the Applachian Trail. Let's hope the actually club hike day enjoys better weather.

Working out and running.... Not so much this week. I did strength work on Tuesday morning and again this morning. I also did intervals on the stairmaster for 20 minutes this morning. I gave my foot a rest this week. It turns out that my arch pain - is a tendonitis (I think Posterior Tibial Tendonitis- to be truly diagnosed next week). I have been icing, taking anti-inflammatories, stretching my calves, and working on some myofacial release to get at this tendon that runs behind the calf muscle and into the foot and making sure that I have my foot well supported at all times. I was in so much pain on Tuesday that it just hurt to walk - even in my running shoes. YIKES! Today, it feels so much better. NO MORE NON SUPPORTIVE - but very cute and chic - summer sandals for me! I know that is what has aggravated this and I should have known better.... being a slight fashonista got the best of me! It has been nagging for a bit and just got really bad over the past couple of weeks. Ignoring obviously was not the answer...duh..