Just hanging out

Tonks helping me get dressed (or maybe just approving my wardrobe choice).


Blue hanging out on the deck.
(Luna has a new place to lounge, but I haven't caught her with the camera yet.)

Mmmmm, naps

The cats and I were having a really nice nap under the ceiling fan while Blue kept watch. Then the cats decided it was time to be War Kittens.

Spazzy perhaps, but...

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

And this could be a randomly generated author, especially since I had it analyze a couple more paragraphs and it came up with this:

I write like
Isaac Asimov

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Tired pup

No running for Blue, but apparently my efforts at dog training from a chair in the back yard wear her out a little.

Week one of four on crutches is done. My foot is still greenish and puffy and intermittently really painful (when I forget the Tylenol). I'm better at hopping up and down the stairs, but sometimes it's kind of scary.

Ouch

or, Beware of Invisible Stumps.

Here's a map of the Afton Trail Run. This is not an easy run in the woods.

I met up with J and M and C (the most awesome running sherpa/tographer) about 7 on Saturday at Afton State Park. We were determined to have a little hike with some running thrown in. Not that we're overly competitive or anything, but we ran quite a bit and hiked up the hills. Or, in some instances, just about crawled up the hills. There were some flat spots, as evidenced by the following:

We did spend quite a bit of time swearing about the course, but when we were able to look around the scenery was beautiful. There were many references to the fact that this could be a Push, Pull or Drag event and we'd all get across the finish line somehow. Some of the downhills were just crazy.

Here's an elevation profile (this profile isn't exactly this year's course, but it's close enough for government work).

See that section after mile 12, the Meat Grinder and the last aid station, but before the Snowshoe Loop? We were running along a 6 inch wide path with foot high grass on either side. Everything was going pretty well, considering it was in the mid 80s, the sun was shining right on us, M had fallen once flat on her face (nothing broken, no skin lost!) and I had tripped and fallen (but rolled well, nothing scraped even!). J, our intrepid leader, was out ahead, M and I were following.

Suddenly, SMACK! A tree stump on the left side of the trail, hidden by the tall grass... I smashed all four of my small left toes right into that stump, bending them straight down. Given my minimal footwear and the speed at which we were running, I stubbed them pretty hard. M says to me, "Hey, you're limping, what's up?" We stopped and I wiggled all my toes, thinking ok, they all move, nothing broken, let's go. I did a little slow hop running for awhile, whining that the endorphins could kick in at any time to keep my foot from hurting. They sort of did and we finished the last 3 or so miles. There were still a couple of vicious hills to get through. We weren't last!

There was lemonade and more potato chips! I put some ice into my water bottle and stood around with that on my foot. Once we finally figured out where to go for brunch, I walked back to my car to change into some non-sweaty clothes. That was a pretty slow walk, but I'd just run over 15 1/2 miles and the pavement was hot. More icing at the restaurant and my foot seemed fine as long as I didn't move it. Or stand on it. Walking to the car that time was really, really slow. I didn't enjoy shifting gears, either (how far can you go using only 2nd?). I realized that my foot was actually sort of blue once I'd washed all the dirt off my legs. I felt like a wimp, but I thought I should go to Urgent Care and have it looked at. It was probably nothing, right? TODL came over to drive me to the clinic. The doc would tell me that I'd sprained my toes...

Not so much. That's not my x-ray (or my foot), but the black mark on the 4th toe is where mine is broken. Yeah, that part of the bone is broken right off. All jagged and painfully crunchy looking, apparently this little hunk of bone will fuse itself back to where it broke off. Of course, in the meantime (4 weeks), no weight on the foot at all (why are crutches only fun for five minutes?), lots of elevation and ice, a little vicodin here and there, and tons of help from my friends.