Just a Little Further

When I start my run, I am doing well. I mark how far I’ve traveled with stop lights (in Red); Old Concord, the Naval Air Station entrance road, Pat Mell Rd, and Windy Hill Rd (the half way point). Somewhere at that half way point my focus changes. I’m no longer paying attention to how far I’ve traveled; I'm focused on how much further I’ve got to go.

In order to make it back, I set small goals (in Yellow); Rush Truck, Stop Light at Pat Mell Rd, the street my friend lives on, the Naval Air Station entrance road, the dead rat (This was a particularly good goal. Unlike all the other goals, this one you can’t see until your about to step on it. This keeps you very busy looking for the dead rat, because you don’t want to step on it, and keeps your mind off of how tired and crappy you feel.), the big plane outside the Naval Air Station, The German Bakery (the reason I don’t bring a wallet), the Stop Light at Old Concord, the back way back to my house (it takes everything I have, not to turn down this street (sometimes I don’t have anything)), and the last Stop Light at Austell Rd (the end). These small goals makes the return a little more bearable, by breaking it down to “just a little further” sections.

Iron Hill Trail

I had every intention of waking up Saturday, and going for a ride. Alas, the siren song of the couch called to me. I spent most of the day curled up on the couch watching TV, or napping. During one of the watching TV times, I watched the Ironman competition, and the Xterra games (I was getting my exercise through osmosis).

One of the things about the Ironman, Xterra, any Marathon, or even the Tour de France is that they are boring to watch on TV. How exciting is “there is our leader running”, “there is our leader still running”, “there is our leader still running”, and “there is our leader running to the finish” (no wonder I was napping so much). But, what they have done to make it more interesting is to tell stories about the people in the race. The father doing a race with his 13 year old daughter, the 73 year old great grandfather, or the cancer survivor all make you care about the race. It also makes you feel like a pathetic slug for sitting on your couch all day.

Sunday morning, motivated by all the inspirational stories, I went to Red Top Mountain State Park. I had decided to do the Iron Hill Trail; the Iron Hill Trail is a 3.9 mile crushed gravel trail that runs along Lake Altoona. I had decided to make this outing my own little duathlon.

If you have read my blog, you know I ride my bike a couple of times a week (7.5 to 10 miles) at lunch or I run/trail run a couple of times (2.5 to 5 miles) after work. But, I’ve never done both in the same training session. This was adventures for me.



I started out mountain biking the trail. I did this for three laps (just under 12 miles). Mountain biking is a lot different than road cycling; it’s a lot harder, more fun, but a lot harder. By the time I got back to the car I was tired. My knees ached, my legs felt like rubber, and I was cold. This would have been a good time to pack up and go home, but noooo. I had watched the Ironman, and I had to also run the tail. So I changed shoes and shorts and ran (trudged) the same loop that I had just finished riding 3 times.

I don’t know why I thought I had to do this. It didn’t make me an Ironman. Maybe a Tinfoil Man, but definitely not an Ironman.

Outdoorsy

I am an outdoorsy kind of guy. I wasn’t always. I grew up in Brooklyn. The closest I came to the outdoors back then was the tree in front of my house and summers in New Jersey.

I started enjoying the outdoors when I was in the Coast Guard, but that was mostly the beach. I didn’t really become outdoorsy till I moved to Atlanta, which I find funny because I chose Atlanta because it was a real city's city. One with a night life, buildings, museums, and everything else a real city has to offer. Not the outdoors.

I think my current outdoorsyness started many years ago with a 17 ½ inch Brook Trout. My brother-in-law took me trout fishing on the Chattahoochee River and with the catch of my first trout, I became a fan. Although I haven’t been fishing in a while, I have developed a fondness for the creeks and rivers of Georgia.

The second thing that contributed to my outdoorsyness was the adoption of my first dog, Tosi. Tosi and I lived in an apartment and had to walk everyday. This started me walking further and further, till I started hiking. To this day, I still like hiking. I like hiking so much that I became the co-coordinator/leader of the GRRA’s (Golden Retriever Rescue of Atlanta) hiking group, and have stayed even after the passing of Buddy.

The purchase of a mountain bike was the third event that contributed to my outdoorsyness. I hadn’t ridden a bike since I got my drivers license, but mountain biking had reminded me of the joys of childhood. I have not done anything since becoming an adult that reminded me of childlike fun more than mountain biking. Riding down some tight singletrack reminded me of being a kid (even though I never saw any singletrack in Brooklyn). It is exhilaration at its best.

Trail running is my most recent outdoorsy activity. If you run, you can’t beat trail running. You never have to worry about sucking in diesel fumes in the middle of the woods, like you do when running on the street. Even running the same trails over and over, it is more interesting than running on a treadmill (even with a TV).

Next year I think I’m going to take up Kayaking. Because, if your going to do something new, do something outdoorsy.

Riding Can be Fun

I’ve been riding pretty regular during lunch. I do 3 to 4 laps of a 2.5 mile loop. Because most of it is in an industrial park, the ride can become boring. So, I’ve started a little game to help me through the boredom. I call it “What dead animal will I have to avoid today?” and the supplemental game “How long will the rotting carcass stay on the road?”.

So far the tally is:
4 squirrels - 1 to 2 weeks
1 opossum - 2 week
1 red fox - 1 ½ weeks (I wonder if it was saying “I’m coming for you Elizabeth”)
1 something - was there till in became a red spot.

Riding can be fun.

Cloudland Canyon

I went hiking at Cloudland Canyon last weekend. This was the first time I went there. I didn't go down into the canyon; I just hiked the rims.

The west rim trail is a singletrack rocky trail with some beautiful overlooks of the canyon. The day I went, the leaves were just changing. It was spectacular. Well worth the 2 hour drive from Atlanta.

It Has Been Awhile

I know I haven’t blogged in a while. It’s not because I haven’t had anything to blog about; I just haven’t had time. So, today I will update you about everything that’s going on.

Last month I found one of Allie’s teats swollen. I took her into the vet and they did a mastectomy on her. They also found a nodule on one of her other teats, and removed it. The results came back last Friday, and the swollen teat was benign, but the nodule was malignant. Because the report came back saying the margins are clear and because she is over 12 years old, I’m not going to put her through another surgery now. I will monitor her (we go to the vet once a month anyway) and play it by ear.

But, she is doing well. We walk 7/10th of a mile in the morning before work (she can only do a mile or so, max).

Hockey season started again and I have gone to one game. The Thrashers do not look good, but I don’t care. I enjoy going to the games.

I’ve been hiking a bit. I led 2 GRRA (Golden Retriever Rescue of Atlanta) hikes, which feels kind of wrong to go on a dog hike without a dog. At the last hike Hal & Allison let me borrow one of their dogs (Beau).

In the month and a half since hiking Panther Creek, I’ve hiked Sweetwater Creek twice (one was a GRRA hike), hiked a new trail at Red Top Mountain, done the GRRA hike at Piedmont Park and hiked Cloudland Canyon (more on this in a future blog).

The Piedmont Park hike kind of sucked because I dropped my phone during it. One of the park people found it and was calling everyone in my address book (basically he wanted someone to come and give him some money for the phone, which I was more than willing to do). When I got home and found out I had lost my phone (it wasn’t hard to figure out, I had 10 messages from my family and friends telling me I lost my phone), I called my number and made arrangements to meet. Unfortunately the person who found my phone didn’t like sitting in one place, and because of this I didn’t get my phone back. The next day I cancelled it and bought a new phone.

I ran the KP Challenge again this year. I was able to run the whole thing whithout walking or stopping, and I didn't hurt my knee this year (altough I still wear a brace when I run because of last year).

I started riding my bike during lunch. I mapped out a 2.5 mile loop that doesn’t have a lot of traffic. I started off just doing two laps (it’s a tough loop and I am fat), but now I’m up to 4 laps (10 miles). I’ve also done a couple of 15+ mile rides on the weekend (the Silver Comet Trail and the Panola Mountain/Arabian Mountain trail are great training rides).

I’ve also steadily increased the amount of miles I run (trudge) a week. I’ve been running the Bell Bomber Loop 2 to 3 times a week, for 2.5 to 3 miles a pop, and because of the switch back to standard time (it’s too dark to run in the woods) I started running on an asphalt trail along Atlanta Road which is 4.5 miles.

Anyone reading this might think I’m in good shape. After all, I walk almost a mile every morning with my dog, I hike 2 to 3 times a month, I ride my bike during lunch (7 to 10 mile a pop, 4 to 5 times a week, depending on meetings) and I run when I get home (2 to 4 miles a pop, 2 to 3 times a week). But, I’m not in good shape (unless you consider round being a good shape). I’m just an active fat bastard.

Panther Creek

Sunday I went for a hike with a friend of mine and his son. We went to Panther Creek, up in North Georgia. I have hiked this trail a couple of times before, and it is a long tiring hike. Especially since I haven’t gone on a real hike since Buddy and I did the Palisades.

Panther Creek trail head starts off of old 441 in Habersham County. It is a single file trail that follows Panther Creek. This hike is not for the faint of heart. It is 3 ½ miles to the falls and the swimming hole (which means it is 3 ½ miles back). The trail is rooty and rocky during most of the hike, with most of it shaded by a large assortment of trees.

The falls and swimming hole is a nice rest spot. We had lunch and went for a swim (the water is cold there). The swimming hole is not too deep, so jumping off the falls is out of the question (unless you don’t mind broken bones (the bottom of the swimming hole is very rocky by the falls)). After climbing on the falls (and slipping all over the place (the falls are slicker than snot)), we dried off and headed back.

The bad thing about the return trip is it is up hill. Sections of the return are steep, and you know you are going up hill, but most of it you are going uphill and you don’t even know it (my Dick Tracy watch said it was a 600 feet of elevation gain). That is why it took us longer to return (gravity is not a fat guys friend).

By the time we got back to the car (about 4 ½ hours) I was tired and my friend looked like he would have stroked out if it was another mile longer. His son said it was a easy hike and that he didn’t want to hike with old people any more (we are to slow), but I did notice that he slept the whole way back to Atlanta (easy my ass).

I Started Working Out Again

After Buddy passed I started working out again. I’ve heard that exercise helps with depression, so I thought it might be a good idea to start working out again.

On Wednesday I went for a bike ride on the Silver Comet. I am so out of shape that I only did seven plus miles (seven plus sounds so much better than less than eight, even though they mean the same). This was an easy activity with no hills. The purpose was to jump start my training/exercise again.

On Thursday I went for a jog on the Bell Bomber Loop. I didn’t realize how sad I would feel doing this. I hadn’t jogged with Buddy since May and I hadn’t jogged with Buddy on this loop since last year. But, the sadness was almost overwhelming. I came very close to stopping shortly after starting. It felt lonely. I would see a squirrel and I would look to my side to tell Bud to leave it, but he wasn’t there. This was less enjoyable than most runs, and I don’t find any run enjoyable.

On Saturday I went for a walk with my sister and her dog Gretzky. We did three miles.

On Monday I took Allie for a walk before work. She can not do more than a mile with her hips being what they are. So we walk about three quarters of a mile around the neighborhood. I plan on doing this a couple of times a week (depending how she feels).

I also went for a bike ride at lunch. I have mapped out a 2.5 mile loop around work. The first day I only did 2 laps (it kicked my ass), and plan on just doing 2 laps for a couple of weeks, or until the alarm on my heart rate monitor stops trying to make me think I’m about to die (this ride has hills).

Buddy Stories Part 1

First Christmas Parades

I would march with Allie in the Paulding county Christmas parade. We would march with a group called Dreamworkers (they did therapy dog work). Allie never was able to do therapy work because of her fear of slick floors (like the ones you find in hospitals, nursing homes and schools). But, she did great at the parade.

The first year I had buddy I took him to the parade instead of Allie. He had already done well in class and I wanted to get more exposure for him (he didn’t have any fear of floors, or anything that I could tell). He was a hit. Walking along the crowd stopping for any kid that wanted to pet him, he showboated the whole parade. He pranced as he walked so excided about all the attention.

Even thought he was a big hit with everyone, that wasn’t what made him special that day. At the very end of the parade a little girl sat all alone with a big pout on her face. Buddy walked up to her and laid down at her feet, rolled over onto his back and smiled up at her. The girl slowly reached down and started rubbing his belly, causing his tail to wag furiously. The little girl who had just had the biggest pout on her face now had a grin that stretched from ear to ear. After a few minutes buddy got up, stuck his nose to her nose (he was never much into licking) and took off to catch up to the other dogs in our group.

As we caught up to the others in the group I could hear the little girl yelling “Goodbye Mr. Doggy”.


Second Christmas Parade

By the second Christmas parade, Buddy had become very attached to me. He actually became too attached. For all of Buddy’s goofy, fun loving, marshmellowy, easy going looks, Buddy was strong. It had become hard to hand over his leash to someone to hold. I often would find Buddy and the person holding the leash standing next to me (this can make using the restroom awkward).

So at the second Christmas parade I decided to bring Buddy and Allie, and have my sister walk Buddy. I figured this would be good practice for Buddy. It would give him a chance to see that walking with someone else was OK. Besides, my sister has Great Danes. It shouldn’t be too difficult to handle a dog that weighs half of hers.

We started off walking next to each other and Buddy was fine. Slowly we drifted apart, as Buddy became distracted by all the people and noise. He was fine until the point when he noticed I wasn’t holding his leash (it didn’t matter that he knew my sister and loved her, she was not me). He became panicked and started looking for me. Once I was spotted, he had to be next to me. It didn’t matter what my sister wanted, he was coming. I watched as he pulled my sister, a dog trainer and owner of giant breed dogs, across the street like she never handled a dog before. After that he would not let me leave his sight. He wouldn’t even walk near the spectators that wanted to pet him. Half way through the parade my sister and I switched dogs (Allie also has separation issues, but not to the extent of Buddy). Once the leash was in my hand Buddy was back to entertaining the crowd once more.

Buddy was much stronger than he looked.

The Last Christmas Parade

Last year at the Christmas Parade, Buddy did something that made me swear at my parents. We where with our group, waiting for the parade to start, and Buddy walked over to one of the marching band and laid down in the middle of a cluster of high school girls. All of the girls stopped what they were doing and started fawning over Buddy. He just smiled at them and wagged his tail.

I thought to myself, if my parents had gotten me a golden when I was in high school, I could have had more success with the ladies.

Damn my parents for not being dog people.

Goodbye Buddy

Buddy passed today. He will be missed by me and all those whose lives he touched (man, women and dog (not cats, he hated cats)).

Buddy With His Friends

Buddy Hiking

Goodbye Buddy

My Night Sucked

If you’ve been reading by blog, you know I had to do the brakes on my truck. I finally got around to it the other day and it sucked. Now I’m an ASE certified Master Technician, and a brake job is a very easy task to do. It should have taken me all of 30 minutes. I started on the passenger side brakes first and was done with it in 10 minutes.

Then I started on the drivers side brakes, and that’s when the sucking started. While taking off the wheel, three studs broke. This has happened to me before so I had two lug nuts in my tool box, but the only stud I had was for the rear. This meant I had to walk to the auto parts store (I only have one vehicle and I had already broken it).

At the auto parts store they only had 2 studs and no lug nuts. This didn’t help me much. Although I could replace 2 studs and nuts, I would have to disassemble the hub twice, and that would be a pain in the ass. So I walked to the next auto parts store (Luckily the first one is only a mile away, and the next one is only a mile from it). This one also had studs and no lug nuts. This was OK because I could replace all the studs and use the two lug nuts I had (I could install the third lug nut later).

Once home I started fixing the drivers side brakes. Nissan does things a little different than most other manufactures. In order to remove the hub, a specialty tool is needed. I don’t have this specialty tool, so I had to make do with what I had (that means I couldn’t torque the wheel bearings when re-installing the hub; I had to use the German method of tightening, "gutintite" (good and tight)). The hub then had to be removed from rotor (it is held in place by 6 bolts) and the three broken were replaced.

All wrapped up I test drove the truck, parked it and went inside to get cleaned up. I took a shower and started to have a couple of beers. After the second beer I realized that I didn’t tighten down the 6 bolts holding the rotor to the hub. I only snugged them down. I had already cleaned up, and had a nice buzz on, so I wasn’t about to go get dirty again that night. I decided to do it in the morning, and had another beer. I called my cell phone (it was charging in my bedroom) and left a message on it to remind me that I needed to fix the truck before I drove it to work.

In the morning, I woke up early, got dressed (at which time I saw that I had missed a call on my cell phone, and remembered that I had to fix my truck) I changed, because tan pants and light blue shirts show dirt and grease more than dark blue pants and shirt (I didn't want to look like total crap all day). So I took the wheel off my truck, and tightened the 6 bolts that I had forgotten to tighten the night before( this sucked to do before I had my first cup of coffee).

It pretty much set the tone for the day. My day sucked, just like my night sucked.

Buddy Update

Buddy has gotten his cast off. After the first day of having his cast off he is doing well, but the first day he didn’t do well. I don’t know if it was because he hadn’t used his neck in 5 weeks and re-using it made it hurt, or if it was a left over reaction from the sedative. By the time I got home the next day he was back to normal (as normal as a dog dying of cancer can be (which is more normal than you would think)).

We still have to go to the vet next week. Because Buddy had a cast that whapped around his legs; he developed a couple of arm pit sores (I guess it is actually leg pit sores because he doesn’t have arms). I have to clean the sores daily and put an ointment on them twice a day to help them heal. That is why the vet wants to see him, to make sure he is healing OK.

With any luck the vet will clear him, so he can go to Yappy Hour on August 9th and say goodbye to everyone from GRRA.

Jeep

As I was leaving the restaurant at lunch, I looked across the street and saw this Jeep. It was parked in a bar parking lot. This got me wondering, why? The following are some reasons it could be.

1. Someone left the bar with someone, and the person who wanted to leave with them was pissed (and just finished shopping at Office Depot).
   
2. Someone was getting married in the bar and the best man didn't know where to get empty cans.


3. The Atlanta Police don't know how to subtly mark a car for surveillance.


4. Who needs to boot a car when you have post-its.


5. It is the new Maco budget paint job.


6. Nothing was wrong. The car is owned by Carrot Top.


7. The owner is a criminal genius. The cops will be looking for a dark blue Jeep, not a pink, yellow, lime green, light blue and purple jeep. And, it has the added benefit of windows that they can't see into.

Good Boss

When I left my old position as a Technical Instructor, my biggest apprehension was leaving my boss. After years of having a bad boss, Scott was a welcome change. Scott was a good boss. Scott wanted you to do well, because when you did well, he did well. He even encouraged us to put in for promotions, which is why I have my current position.

Going from a good boss to a unknown boss can be unnerving. For the last few months Seyed (my new boss) and I have been feeling each other out. He has been a good boss so far, but recently he has gone beyond good boss. With all of Buddy's vet appointments he has let me take vacation days, and today he let me swap my off day so I wouldn't have to burn up all my vacation.

Working for a good boss makes life a little easier. I just wish Seyed liked working a 4 day work week like Scott did.

I just finished reading a book called Ten Points. It is the memoir of Bill Strickland, an editor of Bicycling magazine. It recounts a race season that he tries to score 10 points in. He uses the racing to exorcise the demons of his past.

It is a good story with parts that are disturbing and others that are inspiring. Although it is sold with the cycling books in the sports section of the book store, it really isn't a cycling story. It just often takes place while he's cycling. It is more of a inspirational story.

If you are wondering how I'm able to read and not mow my yard. The answer is easy. You can read with a Golden using you as a pillow, but you can't drive a mower.

What a Mess

My lawn is high. If my dogs lay down, I might loose them. The brakes on my car squeal when I stop. The high pitch metal on metal sound makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. I have a mountain of laundry. I’m thinking of hiring a Sherpa. I am fatter than normal. I am no longer a Clydesdale, I’m the draft wagon. I haven’t exercised in a month. My bike and running shoes are gathering dust (I couldn’t go for a ride or a run if I wanted to. All my cycling and running shorts are in the mountain of laundry, and I would probably cause an avalanche if I tied to dig it out to wash.).

You may ask why my life is in such disarray. Because it sounds worse than what could be explained by my normal laziness. You would be right. As you know Buddy (my Golden Retriever) is sick (he’s dying). This has left me a little depressed. Add depression to laziness and you get a person who sleeps a lot. The other thing is when I get home; all I want to do is hang out with Buddy.

Friday I have to take Buddy to the Vet. In order to change his cast they have to knock him out. With the time I have between dropping Buddy off and picking him up, I might be able to mow the yard or fix the brakes on my car.

Who am I kidding? I will probably curl up in a little ball on the couch and wait to pick Buddy back up.

Buddy in a Shirt and Cast

The Biopsy came back on Buddy. He has Chondrosarcoma. For anyone that doesn’t know what that is, it’s a malignant tumor of the bone and cartilage. It isn’t a fast moving tumor, and it doesn’t usually spread to other parts of the body, but because of its location and extent, there is not much we can do. I am still waiting to talk to the surgeon.

They had to knock Buddy out to change his cast. He had a couple of sore spots from the rubbing, so they put on a shirt under the cast. They must have re routed the tape a bit, because he is walking better. This may not be a good thing because he snagged his new shirt on the screened door and fell down as he pushed the door open in order to get away from me (he didn’t want to go in the crate).

I have to take him in to the vet again Friday; they want to redress his sores.

Buddy

On June 20th, I returned from Pittsburgh, PA to find my dog, Buddy, having trouble walking. I took him to the vet and had x-rays done. The x-rays showed a discoloration on his spine (indicating cancer). My vet referred me to a specialist.

On the 26th I met with the specialist. Buddy's prognosis isn't good, but nothing was concrete till they do a biopsy. So Buddy had biopsy surgery (I gave the vet permission to remove any of the growth, if it's in the best interest of Buddy). The vet removed what he called a cancerous growth (we don't have the results of the biopsy yet). Unfortunately, he could not remove it all without destabilizing the spine. This means that if it's cancer, he still has it.

After surgery, Buddy couldn't walk for a couple of day. When I visited him on Saturday morning, he still couldn't walk or stand (not even with help). I left him with the vet over the weekend, but they didn't think he would be much better Monday. I started contemplating putting him to sleep.

On Monday he was a different dog. With the help of a sling he could get around. After visiting him and taking him outside, I left him at the vet so I could prepare the house for his homecoming (moving furniture, putting down area rugs, setting up his crate, etc...).

On July 1st Buddy came home. He has been getting stronger and stronger each day. Today he even walked a little bit on his own. Next week he returns to the vet to get his stitches out and his neck brace replaced. Total rehab will last 4 to 6 weeks, and their is no guarantee that he will be better than he is now or how long he has to live. The most I can do is make his life as easy as I can make it.