Stalking 50

Walk: 2.5 miles

Weather: Sunny, cool, beautiful.

I didn't feel up to a run this morning, but I did feel up to a walk with Alec and Alita in the Salmon Creek Greenway this afternoon. It's important to do this because Alita is having surgery on her big toe joint next week (hallux limitus), so she's going to be laid up for a while.

We took a different trail than the one I usually run on in the park, and got to spend some time off the pavement, which was nice.

We also had the chance to take some nifty photos with the late afternoon light.





I think the distance was about all I could handle, though, because I felt like I hit the wall afterward.

Extra easy tomorrow, as in... probably no activity. I want to get this cold out of my system, pronto.

beautiful pics! Feel better soon! drink lots of hot tea.

Sorry about the bad cold.  Don't breathe over the computer, ok.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Sorry about the bad cold.  Don't breathe over the computer, ok.

I'll try not to. If I were you, I'd lean back a little, just to be safe.  

Mark B wrote:

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Sorry about the bad cold.  Don't breathe over the computer, ok.

I'll try not to. If I were you, I'd lean back a little, just to be safe.  

Thanks for the warning.  I'm finally starting to almost feel normal and I don't need/want to deal with more symptoms at this point!

Take care of yourself.

nkrichards wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Sorry about the bad cold.  Don't breathe over the computer, ok.

I'll try not to. If I were you, I'd lean back a little, just to be safe.  

Thanks for the warning.  I'm finally starting to almost feel normal and I don't need/want to deal with more symptoms at this point!

Take care of yourself.

Thanks! I'm trying. This is a day off for me, and I've spent it sipping tea, eating soup and watching "Lawernce of Arabia" on DVD. (Nothing like a loong movie, though I did skip past the overture and intermission.)

I feel a little guilty, because Alita had to go to work today, and she has been feeling a bad as I have. She'll have a month off post-surgery, so here's hoping it's not spent with a box of tissues.

Glad you're feeling better!

Don't forget to use this, too.
 

ounce wrote:Don't forget to use this, too.
 

Nice, though I was thinking about setting up a Purell Slip-n-Slide.

Alas, we've been trading this virus throughout the house. The only ones unscathed are the cats -- and even they are a little jumpy with the nose-blowing, throat-clearing and coughing.

Yeah, there's a nasty cold virus going around here, too.  Hand washing / hand sanitizer is your friend!  Hopefully you both can kick it quickly.  Good luck to Alita on the toe surgery.  The pics you posted are so pretty.

Just read about the attempted shooting at a school in Vancouver, WA - hope that wasn't your boy's.

Penelope wrote:Yeah, there's a nasty cold virus going around here, too.  Hand washing / hand sanitizer is your friend!  Hopefully you both can kick it quickly.  Good luck to Alita on the toe surgery.  The pics you posted are so pretty.

Thanks, P! I'd tried hand washing when others in the house were showing symptoms, but it must have been too late. Alita works with low-functioning special ed kids at the high school level and is therefore exposed to just about everything out there, repeatedly, every day. I figure it's more a matter of building up immunity to everything at this point.

I'm still not completely over this - some residual gunk - but I'm much better than I was last weekend. A few more days and I may be ready to get out and enjoy this unusually sunny fall weather we're having. Being stuck inside, inactive, has been driving me batty.

Toe surgery is later today. She's understandably nervous. I hopeful for a good outcome and quick recovery.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Just read about the attempted shooting at a school in Vancouver, WA - hope that wasn't your boy's.

Hey Mike! No, it wasn't at Alec's school, thank goodness. It was at one of the middle schools in town that rated highest for bullying incidents and weapons violations, though. It's a weird case. We knew the school went in lockdown, that they'd found some ammunition and a weapon and were investigating -- but that's not all that unusual -- so the news release they put out at 9:45 p.m. saying that they'd found 400 ROUNDS, a handgun and several knives was a shocker. (And poorly timed, given print deadlines.) But not as much as an 11-year-old being arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. There'll be a lot of attention on this incident, I'm sure.

The school where it happened figured prominently in a big story we did last year about violence in schools. We found that middle schools were the worst place for bullying, weapons and fights. (You can read the story here.)

There was a bomb threat locally here yesterday and then the shooting in Danvers, MA.  And my daughter wants to be a math teacher.  Ugh.

Good luck to Alita.  I believe that is the same (or similar) surgery that Greg Castady had, and well, he is still a fast runner.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:There was a bomb threat locally here yesterday and then the shooting in Danvers, MA.  And my daughter wants to be a math teacher.  Ugh.

Good luck to Alita.  I believe that is the same (or similar) surgery that Greg Castady had, and well, he is still a fast runner.

Crazy times. The boy was in court here. He said his plan was to shoot a kid in the arm who had kept calling his friend "gay" - and then shoot himself in the head, but then he heard a voice telling him that he should actually just kill the kid. His mom alerted the school when she noticed a bunch of kitchen knives were gone right after her son left.

Scary situation, but at least this kid will get the help he clearly needs. And maybe the school (notorious for bullying incidents) will crack some heads. Er, I mean, address the issue proactively.

Yeah, for an old guy, Greg does still seem marginally ambulatory.

Alita liked the comparison.

Update!

We had a long wait (arrived at 1:30 p.m., finally rolled out of pre-op at 5 p.m.), but the surgery on Alita's foot went pretty quickly.

The doctor said there was a large amount of arthritis removed, but that she should now how good dorsiflexion of the toe - and no huge bone spurs poking out the top of her foot. He seemed pleased about her prospects for walking, running, etc. Woot!

I've taken several days off to fuss over her and make sure she keeps her foot iced and elevated.

Keep up the fussing - you are a good husband.

Good news!

Mark B wrote:Update!

We had a long wait (arrived at 1:30 p.m., finally rolled out of pre-op at 5 p.m.), but the surgery on Alita's foot went pretty quickly.

The doctor said there was a large amount of arthritis removed, but that she should now how good dorsiflexion of the toe - and no huge bone spurs poking out the top of her foot. He seemed pleased about her prospects for walking, running, etc. Woot!

I've taken several days off to fuss over her and make sure she keeps her foot iced and elevated.

That's good to read.  Give her Maffetone to read, followed by Hadd, to get her in the right frame of mind.

And as far as the fussing, I don't care what Michele says, you're okay!

Michael Enright wrote:Keep up the fussing - you are a good husband.

Good  news!

+1  If you can stay inside fussing over Alita during this nice weather you're a GREAT husband.  

Glad to hear things went well.  Maybe next year Alita will be able to do the Girlfriends Half again.

Michael Enright wrote:Keep up the fussing - you are a good husband.

Good  news!

Thanks, Michael. I'm doing my best. The first few days are the roughest, then it gets better.

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:Update!

We had a long wait (arrived at 1:30 p.m., finally rolled out of pre-op at 5 p.m.), but the surgery on Alita's foot went pretty quickly.

The doctor said there was a large amount of arthritis removed, but that she should now how good dorsiflexion of the toe - and no huge bone spurs poking out the top of her foot. He seemed pleased about her prospects for walking, running, etc. Woot!

I've taken several days off to fuss over her and make sure she keeps her foot iced and elevated.

That's good to read.  Give her Maffetone to read, followed by Hadd, to get her in the right frame of mind.

And as far as the fussing, I don't care what Michele says, you're okay!

Oh, I think Alita could earn an advanced degree on Maffetone and Hadd, after hearing me ramble on about it over the years.

And I'm not sure... Michele does seem to be an awfully good judge of character...

nkrichards wrote:

Michael Enright wrote:Keep up the fussing - you are a good husband.

Good  news!

+1  If you can stay inside fussing over Alita during this nice weather you're a GREAT husband.  

Glad to hear things went well.  Maybe next year Alita will be able to do the Girlfriends Half again.

Aw. Thanks! It helps that I have such a good patient.

Alita would love to get out there again, though she has said Girlfriend's is a bit too "pink" for her tastes. She's confessed that she really seemed to connect with the lower-key, less produced vibe of (wait for it...) -- trail ultras!

Wait - I never said that Mark was a bad hubby - just that Alita would soon be as fast as G$.  I'm sure that Mark is treating her more than very well after all she had to put up with his training for a 50 miler 

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Wait - I never said that Mark was a bad hubby - just that Alita would soon be as fast as G$.  I'm sure that Mark is treating her more than very well after all she had to put up with his training for a 50 miler 

I think Ounce was just joshin' ya, Michele. And yes - for all she had to put up with, what I'm doing for her pales by comparison.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Wait - I never said that Mark was a bad hubby - just that Alita would soon be as fast as G$.  I'm sure that Mark is treating her more than very well after all she had to put up with his ---fill in the blank----.

it could be that I got that wrong.  And I tweaked your quote a bit to make it more 'real world.' 

ounce wrote:

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Wait - I never said that Mark was a bad hubby - just that Alita would soon be as fast as G$.  I'm sure that Mark is treating her more than very well after all she had to put up with his ---fill in the blank----.

it could be that I got that wrong.  And I tweaked your quote a bit to make it more 'real world.' 

I think the "doing the 50-miler" probably covers most of the other options for that "fill in the blank" section.

We're dealing with pain management, medication levels, and instability on crutches today, which led to a scary near-fall and somewhat painful self-arrest using her bad foot. Tomorrow will be better.

ouch

Whoa, it's Sunday? Wow. Kinda lost track of time there...

Here's an update, on the third day after surgery. The first couple of days were a bit rough, but Alita's foot seems significantly improved this morning. She's been able to walk without crutches (still wearing as surgical shoe) and is in less pain overall. Whew!

I've been staying close by and keeping myself busy when not fussing over Alita by playing with the cats (they're addicted to the laser pointer) and updating system software and applications on our two iMacs. (The new Mavericks OS seems to be a very solid upgrade, and the price -- free -- can't be beat.)

No running at all - I want to say close to home - but that's probably not the worst thing in the world as I finally clear the last remnants of that nasty cold bug out of my system.

If all keeps goes well, I'll be back to work (and exercising) later this week. I hope to do some "birthday shoe" running on Wednesday...