If you can hear me

Spent the last couple of days at the Ataxia Investigators meeting in Las Vegas. My first...perhaps last trip to the most plastic city on the planet. However 50+ degrees in the morning at 6.30 am makes for perfect running weather. First day I set off in one direction up 'The Strip' northwards from The Flamingo where I was staying. It is extraordinary to see the length that people will go to to replicate Venice at 'The Venetian' hotel, a treasure island at the hotel of the same name....
I ran for about 40 minutes, out and back music still blaring from the casinos, people either running fresh and early or staggering really, really late. It's clean, feels very safe and there is plenty to look at. The rest of the day was spent in the meeting, some really good talks but long and endless until 9pm when we were allowed outside again. This time the crowds weave slowly, managing their spreading forms without any grace. The penny slots have people sitting forever their bodies moulding their way around the edges of their seats dripping greasily down onto the floor.
At the airport on the way home to the 'gastric flu haven' it has turned into since I left. Overhead announcement as I wait for my plane -
"Will the gentleman who left his false teeth and hearing aid please return to the washroom where he left them....if you can hear me, please return to the washroom."

Dogs

Back at home, anybody reading this might think I'm going to tell you about ugly girls but no I am going to write a few lines about the fluffy four-legged variety. It surprised me a few weeks ago when J, after having known his mother for over nine years, calmly informed me that I don't really like animals/pets. I thought long and hard about why his once 'I want to be a vet' turned zoologist/biologist parent could have given him such an impression. Finally I came to the conclusion that I rarely point out the lovely creatures around us anymore since there are such a huge number of dogs with parents that just haven't brought them up very well. I've tried to redress the balance in my comments in front of J now. Then of course this morning I decide to do the Greenlake loop. 8.5 miles or thereabouts. A bunch of hills on the way and the same bunch on the way back. I arrived at the lake at around 6:10 am...still dark. As I started to run along the inner (shorter path) there were a fair number of people walking or running towards me each with at least one canine friend and perhaps one or more human friends (plus their canines...you get the picture?) too. I ask you, is it too much to ask that they keep the dogs on a leash that is shorter than the entire circumference of the lake. Needless to say that with all the detours around the pooches I probably ran more than 8.5 this morning. You'll be proud of me, I didn't use any 'square' words out loud.

old guy at the bus stop

Skiing was fantastic. I so hope that wasn't the last this season, though mid-March we're stretching our luck hoping for the snow to last. Twice down Gold Hills what a rush! So I have to tell you about T. At 5 and a half the kid is steady on his skis but last time we were up there we had quite the moment with him. Having decided that he really can ski now we decided to take away the reins. All went well. A beautiful day, sun, snow, friends waiting for us at the Campbell Basin Lodge. T got dressed, no fussing getting out of the car. At the top of Forest Queen he lost it and would not ski down. "I'm not skiing", "I want to be on my own", "Just leave me here". We skied down a little way hoping that would encourage him to follow but no. In the end R had to ski down to the lift, get back to the top and then carry a screaming kicking kid down the hill. Obviously time for a ski lesson.
So back to last Sunday. T can now ski down Forest Queen...and Gold Hills in fact anything, doesn't matter if it's green or blue, smooth or bumpy. I asked him what the instructor had shown him....apparently nothing. Money well spent?
Running, I'm back in! Despite a sore throat last night I managed to peel myself out of bed in the morning for my usual 6 miler 'to Meadowbrook and back'. Around 75th and 40th there is a bus shelter and most mornings as I run past there an old crumpled up man with a flat cap yells out 'Good Morning'. Quite startling the first few times but now I look for the bent-over figure at the bus stop around 6am, did I say it's still dark at that time? Whenever he isn't there I have the awful thought that he must have died. Dramatic I know but he's old and it's dark.
He wasn't there this morning.
About 50 yards further on a loud voice yelled at me from the other side of the road 'Good morning'. After the fright wore off I realised it was crumply man, yelled a response and continued to lumber up the hill, happy that he's still okay.

The second toenail...

12 miles it was. All in daylight for a change. I left well after 7am and ran along the trail. Never carry water but rely on water fountains, Starbucks, PCC etc. Nice morning, cool, overcast, slight drizzle...you know I like this kind of weather. I took along a Strawberry Banana GU. I've owned several of these flavour for over a year now. They were free samples but I haven't dared to taste them yet. Didn't happen today either, maybe I need to just throw them out. It seems I'd rather starve (or run very very slowly) than taste the GU attempt at banana flavour. Legs were nicely rested, lungs clear...ribcage tired from all that coughing. A new discovery is the filing of the second toenail on each foot. The hilly Seafair half marathon 2006 left me with very bruised toenails (you may need to skip the next bit if squeamish). Both toenails eventually parted company with their respective toes. The grown back version has been thicker and easily bruised again. Last week after my 20 miler I finally took action and filed them down to the normal thickness of my other toenails. Not only do my feet look normal again but even after 12 miles the toes are not even slightly sensitive - genius!
Nice restful Saturday, maybe to Crystal tomorrow for a spot of Spring skiing.

Here goes!

I imagine that this will take some time. I'll start with the running. Silly me, built to walk and sit, decided to take up running to shed a few pounds (more would be better). Never really been overweight but not skinny either. So here I am just over two years later and half a dozen half marathons, two full marathons and a number of shorter races have been entered, run and completed. I start with all this because it is a surprise to myself each time I think about it. I am still 'not a runner' though I run almost every day. I am still built to sit or walk. I run rather slowly.
Had to start writing today since this week I haven't run at all. For the first time since I started up this whole craziness I have been hit by the local flu virus. There is light however, and tomorrow I return to the roads, early in the morning, to shuffle through a twelve miler. This is the test to see whether my lungs (and legs) are still up to it as I train for the second Eugene Marathon on the 4th May.