Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Got some much needed cleaning done today, after giving an impromptu tour of the apartment & complex to a co-worker who is looking in the area. She and I had chatted Friday about the neighborhood, and then I ran into her on the street this afternoon while heading home from brunch so I invited her in to see the place. Was a tad embarrassing that I’d let it get so dirty, but hell, I’ve been sick for three weeks, I think I get a pass there.

Does mean I’ll try & call the cleaning person my neighbor recommended, though. I just don’t keep up with this enough, and I have to say I miss having someone else clean up every other week.

Brunch was fun. No mimosas, of course – still have antibiotics in my system and am not going to mess with that. Next week maybe? Very, very tired of being sick now. It’s just a minor lingering thing now, but still, enough already. Plus, would be nice to have it gone before I go see the ENT a week from tomorrow. Not that inflammation isn’t expected, but just the normal stuff, please, and not the cold on top of it.

Set up the exercise bike in the living room again, hoping to get in a ride, no matter how short, in the morning. Several weeks of inactivity have taken their toll and I’m ready to try and start up again.

Definitely feeling much better today. Mood improved, a tad more energy, though still not up for real exercise yet (and I feel like an absolute slug from the lack of exercise. Ugh). But it’s getting there, which is the important part.

Got kicked out of work even before the early dismissal time we got because of the storm here in DC. About half an hour before my 2 hour point da boss called and told us to get the heck outta dodge because the snow was worsening and traffic was starting to turn into a real clusterfuck. I managed to catch a bus, so rode home rather than walking (I was prepared to walk – duck boots and all – but glad for the ride). Traffic was definitely horked, but our driver was pushy and got us through without too much delay. Seeing the news reports from lots of friends without power tonight I am very, very glad I bought close to downtown where the power lines are all buried. And if I do ever buy in an area where the lines aren’t buried, the place had better have a working fireplace and room to stack some wood.

Our newbie program is coming together now, and I think it’s going to be a good one this year, certainly better than last year’s (which I think we let slip some, to be honest). Now that I’ve finally gotten more brain power back I’m putting together some of the training materials to supplement our plan, and liking how it’s coming together. Oh, and I got registered for the USAT coaching class in April, so I’ll be going out for coaching certification then. Not sure how long it’ll take once I take the course and turn in my test to get the results back, but I’m hopeful I’ll get certified and then we’ll have a coach for the newbies finally, like we’ve been adding coaches for the more “advanced” programs we’ve started.

The drugs do seem to be helping. They’re opening up all the little inflamed passages and all sorts of fun snot is breaking loose. Which I’m sure you were just dying to know. Sleeping should be fun this week, too, since several of these are stimulants.

It was good to get back to work, get out of the apartment, see real people again, etc. I did spend most of the day with my door closed so as minimize the risk to co-workers, but it was still nice to get out of the house. A couple weeks delayed haircut and dinner out topped off the evening away from the apartment, and now I’m settling in with knitting and the boss’ speech. I’d ignore the thing, but I’m long past the point where I need to be attuned to what the big boss is saying, even in broad terms, about what my BGA is supposed to be doing for him, so I tune in and listen. A shame I can’t drink my way through the speech this year, but at least I have knitting to keep my hands busy. And the sweater has been neglected for over a month now, so it’s time to put in a few more rows.

Physician’s Assistant, in this case, though I like the other, more permanently attached PA as well. I think today was the first time in a couple of years that I’ve been to see my doc outside of my annual physical. The PA was sympathetic, and said they’d been seeing a lot of crud like this in the past couple of weeks (which is consistent with what I’ve been hearing/seeing from friends as well). So I got some prescriptions to help with various bits of the mess, and a (painful!) shot to help things along before some of the pills kick in tomorrow.

He was also shocked to hear I’d been taking a decongestant/expectorant combo to help with my allergies for the past several years, and suggested I might want to go see an ENT after this is all cleared up to see if there’s some other cause of my recurrent nasal congestion. Not a bad idea, and since I have an ENT thanks to the vertigo a few years back, I think I’ll make an appointment once this cold is done and gone.

Been fighting a head cold for the past two weeks. Been to urgent care once (my doc was closed), after my parents bullied me into going to ensure it wasn’t pneumonia (it wasn’t). I think I’m going to try to get to the regular doctor tomorrow. The fever had left before the end of the first week, but it popped back up today, which indicates to me that the thing has gotten worse. That or the second cold I was exposed to this weekend decided to hit me on top of the original cold.

Friend came to visit this weekend (long planned trip) and he had come down with something just before he left. So, this could be cold #2, or a combo of the 2, or a restrengthened cold #1. Who knows. Regardless, this is one of the worst colds I’ve had in a couple years and I’m really, truly tired of dealing with it now.

Good thing my annual physical was before I got my latest “annual escrow account disclosure statement” from my mortgage servicing company, because it’s put my blood pressure through the roof (again). They’re showing two missed escrow payments, and one double payment, with the result that the spreadsheet I put together to track their nonsense now includes the fields “check number” and “when payment cleared the bank” so I’ll have that info in front of me when I call them tomorrow. Can’t wait for the explanation as to why they’re showing missed escrow payments when they had the funds in question 1-6 days before the payments were even due. They’ll probably tell me they couldn’t pay it because they didn’t know what to do with money that shows up on time. Ugh.

Otherwise the annual physical, 6 month dental checkup, periodic podiatrist visit, and dermatologist’s skin check yesterday showed me to be healthy as the proverbial horse. Cramming them all into one day is a lot of walking, but nicer on my leave balance. So, another year of fooling mother nature into thinking clean living will keep me going. To celebrate after the clean bills of health, I got a tattoo:

Actually, that was simply the last of five appointments I had yesterday, made over a month and a half ago, upon returning to DC after the Ironman. Convenient timing, with the planned day off. So far it’s healing well, a little sore today, but not itchy. I’m told day three can be fun, but so far I’m okay with this beast. Taking the picture was the hardest – it’s awkward to snap a photo of your own ankle/lower leg.

Had a really successful bike ride on Saturday. 101 miles, no cramping. Did get tired of eating, but no burping up with a completely full stomach, so managed to keep hydrated and thoroughly electrolyted. It was another ride where I focused on hydration with the result that I constantly had to pee. Again. Just like Total 200. Better that than cramps, but man, got tired of hunting for port-a-johns and bathrooms on the way. Keep this up and I’m going to get to know all of them on the W&OD.

Didn’t get started until 9, which is roughly when I should be starting the IM, depending on when I get into the water. It all worked, even with a rest break at the 1/2 way point and a popped tube in the middle of suburbia, so I think I should be able to get through the thing now. I used Nuun rather than a caloried sports drink this time, and I think that made the difference. I kept the aero bottle between the bars and one of my water bottles filled with water, and one water bottle filled with Nuun. I’d alternate sipping some Nuun after eating with sipping water. I think I may have found the right mix to get through the bike. Hopefully the mix that worked for the run at Eagleman will work as well at Louisville.

So far so good.

In other news™ I’ve been dating someone I’ll call The Boy here for a month now. It’s going well, and I’m enjoying it. He lives a way out in Northern Virginia, but we’ve managed to see each other at least once or twice a week since we first met back on the 1st of July. He’s off with his family to Maine for a week starting tomorrow, so won’t see him at all in the next week, though I imagine there will be much texting. Dragged him out to Nerd Brunch, my regular Sunday thing, as well as a game day party, and so far that’s worked. Am enjoying the company. He’s roughly my size, so we fit together well while cuddling on the couch.

Speaking of couches, I finally ordered a new one, one I hope will be more conducive to the aforementioned cuddling. It’ll be delivered in a couple of months, by which point I’ll have figured out what to do with the current one. It’s not a sleeper, unlike the current one, so I added an ottoman that is a sleeper in a matching fabric. Ever so slowly the living room will come together.

Feeling a bit worn out this week, likely still feeling after effects from the all-day ride this past Saturday. The ride went fairly well, though I pulled out after lunch (108 miles), then reinserted for the last 17 at the last aid station, putting my total mileage at exactly 125 miles. Had some heat & nutrition issues, though was never dehydrated. Far from dehydrated, in fact – every chance I got I was peeing! And while there was a twinge or two in my inner thighs, I feel like I mostly did okay with nutrition, until I started adding in too much sports drink. Stomach couldn’t handle that many calories at once, so had to stop taking stuff in, which wasn’t good, and probably contributed to the post-lunch slump. So, either diluted sports drink this weekend, or perhaps try the “nuun” stuff (fizzy, electrolytes, but no calories).

The heat was definitely a factor, with several participants from previous years saying this was the hottest the event had ever been. Not that I’d have felt bad dropping back even if it hadn’t been ungodly hot, but it does help that the external factor of the heat was known and acknowledged by the group.

It was a good learning experience, though, which was what I needed for the IM. I’d still like to be faster going up hills, but that’s for next season I think. I’m also thinking after some down time post-IM that I really, really need to do some weights this fall in the off season. Might help, and can’t hurt.

But in the meantime, I’m trying to get back into a groove, and I’m just not there yet. I’ll get there, but until then I’m just trying to rest and recuperate. Another lesson from Saturday – give yourself adequate time to be down and recuperate. But I’m feeling tired of being tired.

The season is almost done for my newbie triathlete program. They do their goal race tomorrow, then it’s one more event and wrap email and they’re on their own. As usual some of the co-leaders are completely burnt out (as I was last year, until I let myself rest), but I’m feeling pretty good about the season. We’ve already discussed ideas for next year and developing a more standardized format for the program, emails, etc. As with everything it’s a learning experience, and it’s just gonna get better.

The sunburn is in the “itchy, peel-y” stage right now and is driving me nuts. I’m going to have to vacuum like mad tomorrow to get rid of all the dead skin. Yuck! It’s just plain gross, but that’s the normal progression, and it’s healing fairly well. Because of the burn I took the week off from exercise. Headed back to the pool tomorrow for a clinic to work on efficiency in my stroke. Then I should get back to my normal training load with a nice long ride on Saturday, 6-7 hours or so. But this time with lots more sunscreen.

I haven’t managed to switch the swim and run workouts yet, but it’s been an odd couple of weeks for workouts. Got in a fun 5 hour ride last weekend to prep for Eagleman this Sunday, and it felt good. Overall I’m feeling good about this one, though it’s looking like it’s gonna be a really, really hot run.

I’m remembering now why it is I haven’t signed up for this race before, though – it’s the same weekend as Gay Pride here in DC, and I’m regretting that I’m going to miss the festivities. As much as I’m looking forward to another PR (gotta beat Diamondman’s dreadful seven and a half hours – ugh!), I’m going to miss seeing a lot of friends who only come into DC on special occasions like Pride. So as I sit and pack tonight it’s kind of melancholy. It’ll be better as the race excitement hits tomorrow, but tonight I’m feeling a little sad for missing it.