Pallas Athena

Yesterday, layed the old bike down. Was raining, and Mike and I were rushing to make the ERC ride on time. Slipped on the paint and damn I knew better. So now I am minus a bunch of skin, pair of new bike shorts and now with a banged up knee just after the foot finally started feeling better. Jeff accused me of being sullen. Well, the impact is huge. I NEED to get running again, and knee swelling is not a great sign that the running program is getting back on track. If I were a recreational rider, I could set it aside as no big deal. Take a week off and get back out there. But there are about 55 training days left, then taper time. I really slept like crap. Look like I have a huge saddle bag on my thigh. So that has me not so happy. The shocker came via the mail today. I passed the Nephrology Nursing Certification. Phoey, never knew you could get so many wrong and pass. They explain after the fact that they design it to get more than half wrong and still pass. The median...

About a year ago, I was headed to work through Brooklyn. It was garbage day, so everything was out. Someone was tossing a 80's model Schwinn 10-speed. That, of course went on the bike rack. Plenty of rust and nothing left with shine. Nice bulge in the back tire. I thought it was great. I used it for a while to make the .75 mile hike from parking to work. For some reason, the tires still held air. It stayed parked outside the hospital and nobody thought about stealing it. If it rained, the seat stayed wet for a week, and it wasn't nearly as pretty as the other bikes there. For some reason, I thought it should come home. Mike declared it the "Retard Rocket", and placed two bottle rockets under the seat. He thought it was hilarious that I rode that to and from work. Bike snob. Shit, it was a nicer bike than I ever owned when I was a kid. I saved for my first bike, it was a Huffy 10-speed from Shopko that went everywhere. It was freedom before a driver'...

The past two weeks have been crazy. It started with the hosting of a Nephrology Nursing Exam Review. Then we had the Humane Society Bake Sale. Then I hosted the Nephrology Nursing Exam in Madison. This week, I filled 13 applications for CEU's for a fall symposium. It wasn't supposed to be solo, but my helper moved to Arizona 3 weeks ago. Tuesday I got sick, knocked me on my a** . Didn't really do anything for training. Attempted to run Tuesday, but after 2.5 miles ( and 2 stops in the woods) I thought better to give it up. The crappiest part was it was the last day for our SWAT workouts, and I have really enjoyed doing that this year. Today, 5.5 miles in 1 hr, with a easy bike ride of 8 miles. It was ok. But the pressure is on big time to get moving again. IM AZ is CLOSE. Out to MR again today. Picked up my ride, put the new QR seat on it. Bought a new seat for the new ride. I always HATED that old seat, but am finding I put up with a lot more than I ever s...

She pulled it off! Made 242.36....Sunday is a trip to Monroe to see Zoey Jane and Phoebe. She will give them the check then with her friends. Tomorrow is my Nephrology Nursing Exam. This comes at a time when I am seriously considering heading back to ICU. Mike has a good racket at the VA. The turnover is incredibly low. Looking at the Surgical ICU. He is in the Cardiac ICU. Every day I work, I am training someone. And I end up with a lot of call because of the turnover. Call is a serious issue, really. Some days you work your 12 hour shift and then you are out on call all night. Then scheduled to work the next day. Your choice-burn your personal time and lose your overtime OR stay the next day and work. I know I am not at my best then and it is so scary. It gives me lots of biking time, but it is eating my vacation seriously. Last time, I was out on call all night with someone's child. I would not have been my first choice if it was my kid whose life was on the line...

About a month ago; my daughter Cheyenne decided she wanted to help raise funds for the shelter. She has been supporting a dog and a cat for three months now. I should add that Chey is not even 10 yrs old yet. Cheyenne has always wanted to become a veterinarian. It is always all about her pets. When she is away from home, she calls me and wants to talk to her cat on the phone. In May, she was surfing the shelter's site and decided to sponsor a cat. When she got to the shelter, she took on a dog also. Her dog is Zoey Jane, a beautiful pit bull that I would love to take home. If you know the breed, they should not be left alone with other dogs. We have an adopted Whippet and a Doberman Pincher. But she is quite an amusing dog that goes out of her way to entertain. Once a month, we go to the shelter and walk her down to Culvers for a burger. Last time, she crawled on the ground like a lizard and rolled around in the grass. The more Cheyenne and her friends laughed, the mo...

Yesterday was another awesome bike ride brought by my iron addiction. My obsession with biking is at an all time high. The new bike and great weather. I am so there. You scoff at the idea of addiction? You laugh at that? Look it up. I am sure it is in the DSM manual by now. All of the symptoms are there. Persisting despite guilt. Persisting by family suggesting you stop (my mother), telling you you’re obsessed. Coworkers telling you that you don’t work enough Eating in excess, even though you know you should stop. Skin changes to a very dark hue. Weight loss and especially fat wasting. Looking the best you have ever looked, yet unable to stay awake for sex. Going without sleep to obtain your next fix on the run. . I was reading IronPol today; and totally relating to the demands of Ironman training. After spending a day assisting with the end of VBS, he gets to go run 10 miles in the dark. Alone. The problem is the world doesn’t stop for the crazy people with iron obses...

What a long day! The conference we have been planning finally set up and done with. Yah! Then a drive (7hrs worth) to pick up my kids from relatives. Now finally home. Tomorrow is another century ride. Tues and Fri were both 107 miles, each included one loop of the IM WI course. Heading into another busy week. More running this week than anything else, due to time constraints. Nephrology Certification Exam on Saturday....ugh.

The plan was to take off from Chatham , MI and do a loop around Harvey, Marquette, Christmas, Autrain , Munising , Forest Lake and finally back to Chatham . The plan was to include the breathtaking scenery around Lake Superior, maybe stop for a snack in Christmas and stop in Munising to see my sister. Started out great. The weather was sunny, in the 80's. By the time I was 30 miles out, the rain started. A good soaking rain. The temp quickly dropped to the 60's and the wind off the lake was a chill. By the time I really cooled off, it was 40 miles out and the entire loop 86 miles. What do you do? Keep going! The rain eventually died off, but a rock sliced the New tire (I purchased for SORT) and gave me a flat. This was just west of Autrain . I pulled off to change the tire and had to pee so bad I was gonna DIE! One of those great places where if you do, you are totally busted. The tire had to be patched from the inside and then a new tube put in. I figure that was about a 10 m...