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.