Friday Mishmash - (Amazing) Race Edition

Ankle surgery update:  Boy howdy, I was really sick on Wednesday.  Well, from Tuesday night on...the combination of the aftereffects of general anesthesia plus the side effects of the pain meds gave me the worse nausea - being upright made me feel awful.  My ankle pain seemed to be moving all over, and I slept very little.  By midday on Wednesday, I was running a slight fever, sweaty, clammy, and nauseous like you wouldn't believe.  Not fun.  I ended up calling my doctor, who prescribed some phenergan pills for the nausea.  My friend Erica (she of running coach fame) picked up the medicine for me (thank you!!!) and by late evening I was feeling much better.  Whew!  I expected ankle pain, but not the nausea to that extent.  Anyway, things are looking up...I'm trying to stay off of it as much as possible because I'm not great on the crutches yet and I've had a couple of instances where I felt like I came down on the ankle wrong - don't want to do any more damage to it, you know?  Once more, thank you for all the emails and well-wishes - it really means a lot to me! :) :) :)

I wrote the rest of this post last Sunday - general recap of the craziness that passes for my life! 

********************

Last Saturday morning, members of our running club provided support for the Buffalo Stampede half marathon - last year I ran this race when it was (only) a 10 miler.  This year they expanded the course to make it a half.  Many of the people training for a full marathon ran the half, and the halfs, including Jeff, got up extra early to run their nine miles before the race.  Part of our group manned a water station, while Coach Dale, Jeff and I worked the turn-around point.  We made signs to encourage the runners:

 

 Our homage to the movie Anchorman...

Coach Dale trying to slow down the drivers that were doing 60 MPH in the lane right next to the runners.  This was a bad course - I didn't like it last year and it was worse this year as the runners were on the access road for an even longer distance.

 

 Jeff and I wore our pineapple hats - and funny thing, we were recognized by my former trainer Linda, who was driving by (and honked!) on the freeway!

The green shirt is coach AJ - he was so fast that I didn't end up getting a picture as he approached.  He placed 4th in his age group - so close to taking home a trophy!  He's trying to qualify for Boston with our December marathon, and I bet he'll make it.

Being on this side of a race is fun - we high-fived many of the runners as they rounded the cone, and got quite a lot of "thank you's" from them...plus they gave us thumbs up on the signs,which we had posted so they could read them coming and going.  After the last runner came through, we went to the finish line and got to see most of our running group come in (speedy AJ was already done).  It was a good day, but I am itching to get back out there and run a race!

********************

Last Saturday afternoon, I got a text from (running club coach) Joni, saying that TJ Maxx had four pairs of men's Thorlo Experia socks for $5.99 each - less than half price!  Jeff and I hopped in the car and texted Joni that we were on our way.  Then she texted that she'd sent the info to both us and (running club coach) AJ - and the race was on!  The store was a mere 1.1 mile from our house - surely we would beat AJ.  But we hit a red light!  Arghhh!  Just like in the Amazing Race!!  Longest.Red Light.Ever.  As the light finally turned green, we made plans - Jeff would drop me at the door so I could run in and snag the socks.  Now, AJ is fast, but he'd run a half marathon that morning and I was pretty confident I could beat him in a foot race, bum ankle and all.  We made it there first only because AJ mistakenly went to Steinmart first (classic Amazing Race mistake, going to the wrong location).  We got the socks, but had planned on splitting the bounty with him all along.  When AJ and his wife Brandi walked in the store, we waved them over and had a good laugh at our craziness.  I took a picture of Jeff and AJ to send to Joni, but of course I have to share it here...and also, in another example of what the teams in the Amazing Race do, we were all in matching shirts - Jeff and I in our running club shirts, and AJ and Brandi in their race shirts from the Buffalo Stampede.  Yes, I'm sure we looked quite nerdy to everyone else in the store...or MAYBE they thought we really were on the Amazing Race!  Nah...

Sock victory!!!

********************

Oh, I also wanted to tell you about the snake in my house - yes, the snake that I apparently walked past, three times, BAREFOOTED, one morning last week (before I had the surgery).  Ack and eek!  Paco alerted me to it by barking a different bark than he normally does - I was in the kitchen, getting the cat food ready, when I heard the "there's a bad thing happening here!" bark.  I peeked around the doorway to see him facing a greenish/brown snake!!!  It wasn't huge, but it wasn't exactly small, either.  And?  It was getting close to my bedroom!  Believe me, if that had happened, I would have been outside, calling animal control on my cell phone, to come find it.  I grabbed the pair of barbeque tongs (since they are longer than our regular tongs) and stretching my arm as far away from my body as I could, picked up the snake, which then turned its head toward me - EEEEEK!  Paco was barking, I was (slightly) screaming, the cats were completely useless, as I carried the snake to the front door, walked out a few steps, and threw the snake and the tongs onto the lawn.  EEEK!  I had the heebie-jeebies for the rest of the day!  No idea how it got into my house, but we had a thunderstorm during the night, and maybe it got freaked out when rain actually fell?  Any case, that was quite the exciting start to my morning, and, as I told my pool buddy Nancy, I got my cardio in waaay before I started swimming!

Have a great weekend!

Surgery Update

I'm alive!  Writing this on Tuesday evening, still dealing with some nausea off and on every few hours...apparently if you are prone to motion sickness (of which I am the queen, unfortunately), general anesthesia can make you feel sick.  Blech.  Kelly picked me up some saltines along with my pain meds, and that has helped.  Anyway, onto the surgery.

It went well.  I'm a little foggy on the couple of hours after the surgery, but the doctor went in with a camera first (which I knew he was going to do) and saw not only the bone chips but a bone spur on the ankle, so he ground that down (sounds like woodworking to me) and also removed the chips.  He said that the cartilage looked about 95% great, so sounds like not too much permanent damage was done - woohoo!  The best thing was that while in the recovery room, he came in and put a walking boot on me - not that I'm supposed to be walking on it, mind you, but it's much more protected should I accidentally put some weight on it.  Now - when will it stop hurting?  Million dollar question.  'Cause it's not feeling too good right now.

A few pictures of my lovely day, thanks to Kelly:

Waiting to be called back to the pre-op area.  Not nervous at all!

Last shot of my wonky ankle - I wonder if it won't be so pointy and prominent now that the bone spur is gone.  The great unwrapping of the bandages in a week or so should be interesting.

Bleary-eyed - why do they have to start things so early in the morning?  Quite the fashion plate in my lavender gown and teal socks.

 

 OK, this hurt - the IV in my hand was painful if I moved my fingers in the slightest.  I was looking forward to being put under so I wouldn't feel it anymore!

 

Home.  Kelly got me settled in bed and headed out to do the drug run.  Paco laid on my stomach and was a little concerned - he kept looking from my foot to my face.  Not the greatest picture since I used my cell phone, but seriously, this was my view for a while!

Later on, I removed the boot for a while so I could ice it better and discovered that my leg was tan!!!  So THIS is what I would look like with a spray tan!  I kinda like it!  This was the stuff that they prepped my leg with - I'm assuming some sort of strong anti-bacterial something?  Anyway, it was cool. :)

I can't tell you how much it pleased me to know that the socks they gave me matched my toe polish!  Why yes, I do take delight in the small things!

Finally, I just want to tell you all how much your comments and personal emails have meant to me - I am overwhelmed by the support of our blogging community - heck, Kelly and I became friends through blogging, and that crazy girl drove up from Houston to take care of me!  You guys are the best.  Big hugs to all of you!

I'm Ready!

Ankle surgery is set for tomorrow morning.  I have been prepping like a madwoman all week - cleaning house, grocery shopping, taking care of crazy things like getting out of the jury duty that I was scheduled for on October 6th (and dang it, this time it was at the court close to my house, not downtown like I always seem to get).  I've pre-registered at the hospital, did my bloodwork, picked up my crutches and washed the dog (it seemed like a good idea although he didn't think so).  I had lists upon lists going last week - the knowledge that I'll be pretty much immobile for up to two weeks had me a little worried.  But it's all good now.  Today I just have to get my bedding washed, dig out the extra pillows I'll need for elevating my ankle, and call the anesthesiology place to preregister with them (hey, thanks for sending me the notification to do this on Saturday - nothing like waiting for the very last minute). 

Then, the fun begins.  No, not the surgery!  Kelly is coming up to spend the night and go with us to the hospital, as Jeff is teaching and can only drop me off.  At least he's in town this week - next week?  I'll be on my own.  Anyway, Kelly very nicely insisted on coming here to take me home after surgery, get me settled, and make a drug run pick up my prescriptions.  The fun, you say?  Will be tonight, in the form of dinner, Red Mango (sadly, they don't deliver so this will be IT for a while), and quite possibly some shopping - why not go out with a blast, right?

Here's just about everything I'll need for my recuperation - and I thought it was funny that Paco posed with the stuff, because of course, he'll be right there, helping me with every step (and barking at the crutches - so far he's not a fan):

Basket full of little wrapped presents sent by my mom - I'm to open one a day to keep me entertained (kind of like an advent calendar), random library books, new sudoku book, Bridesmaids DVD (I've seen the movie but heard that the outtakes are hilarious), my netbook so I can stay in touch with you all, TV remotes, dog cookies (Paco needs treats, too) and emergency chocolate in the form of Dove Promises.

OK, I'm ready.  Fingers crossed that by doing this, I'll be back to running, pain-free, soon.  That would be wonderful!

Friday Mishmash - Beach Palooza Endnotes

Thanks for all of your patience during this week of palooza posts.  I promise, this is the end.  But really, if I hadn't been posting all of the crazy pictures, I would have just been whining about my upcoming surgery.  So see?  I saved you from that.  P.S.  Come back Monday for the whine. ;)

********************

Speaking of that race (oh, WERE we???), I saw on the BP facebook page that one runner had videoed the race as he ran it (In a ridiculously fast time of 27 minutes. Seriously?!?  I have no hope of ever running a regular 5K in 27 minutes, much less one with obstacles!  Poor guy, he definitely didn't get his money's worth, either.  Slow and steady, dude.) - I guess he strapped the camera to his chest.  Anyway, even though he speeds up the boring running parts, it's a little long, but if you want to see the race as it happens (and the obstacles that we didn't manage to photograph), here are the You Tube links:

Part 1 - Around the 3 minute mark he hits the platforms.  Pause it and look how far it is from one to the next.  Nevermind how easy he makes it look. ;)
Part 2 - Must have been a waterproof camera, as you'll see when he goes in for the icy swim!

After the race we hung around and watched other runners jump over fire.  It was really fun to cheer them on - I felt a strong kinship whenever an overweight woman did it.  Yes!!!  You GO, ladies!!!  Love that they were brave enough to get out there and do this - I wouldn't have had the nerve 100 pounds (or even 50) ago!  Then we went out for a late lunch - we were all STARVING.  When we walked into the restaurant, Jeff immediately notified me that he wasn't splitting a burger with me - he wanted a whole one.  So fine, I made the sacrifice and managed to eat one all by myself.  We did get a huge cookie to split:

This picture cracks me up because Kelly is dispensing Motrin from her gigantic bottle to all of us - she poured a handful and we were all "two please" and "four please" - well, maybe you had to be there.  We weren't going to let a little pain stop us from enjoying the rest of the day!

And speaking of pain - yes, my ankle hurt more than normal.  But not enough to stop me during the race, luckily.  So I guess it's a good thing I'll be having that surgery on Tuesday.

Later on, after we finally got cleaned up, we hurried to the Strand, where our favorite places were:  Fit to Run and La King's Confectionery.  Unfortunately, Fit to Run was closed!  Sad faces:

 

 My favorite running store!  We went back on Sunday and got to shop and chat with the owners - they run the USAFit Galveston program and do a lot of runs from the store.  Except for the occasional hurricanes, Galveston would be a really fun place to live!

Since we couldn't get our running store fix, we went for the next best thing - ice cream at La King's!  Kelly and I posed while Jeff took our picture:

Notice the man making creepy eyes in the window?  Chuck slipped into the store and managed to get in the picture and make us laugh when we realized what he'd done!  As you can tell, we had a good time. :)

Oh, and finally - the best ice cream in the world:

Now THAT'S what I call a race reward!

I know you are probably Palooza'd out, and I thank anyone who is still reading after this week.  I have to tell you that this was such a fun race to do, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  To paraphrase what Anne wrote in one of the comments this week, "obstacles" became "confidence builders" and that is so true - I felt about 10 feet tall when I finished this race.  Loved every minute of it!

My medal - this was a fun one to earn!

Have a great weekend!

Beach Palooza Recap - Part 4

Bear with me - we're almost at the finish line.  But first, we got to play with giant beach balls!

That's Chuck heading in to the beach ball pit - you had to make your way through a bunch of elastic "ropes" first, though.  Sounds simple, right? 

Hah!  Woman down.  At least it was a slow descent to the ground - I got tangled up and  managed to hit the sand.  Holding onto the elastic the entire way down - hey, it really stretched!

 But look - immediately, this nice young man was offering me a hand up.  That was the cool thing about this race - strangers were helping each other all over the place.  Nice!

 Jeff paused from throwing beach balls at me long enough to take this picture - this was a fun obstacle and definitely felt very Beach Palooza-like!

Jeff and I exiting the ball pit.  I managed to stay on my feet at this end!

(The next pictures are lifted from the official photographer's site, and, as someone who worked for a photographer for four years, I feel the need to say that I did buy some of these pictures...I know they work hard at these events, and count on selling some shots to stay in business.  Of course I don't want to wait for the real pictures to come in the mail, so you're seeing the proofs.)

OK, here goes - this is what I was most excited about...FIRE!  We jumped FIRE!!  Twice!!!  It was scary and exciting and crazy and I'm so glad we did this!!!

 This fire looked to be at least 5 feet high as we approached it!  OK, maybe just in my mind.  But still - FIRE!

Jeff and I, catching air!  Although I think I actually went through the flames more than going over them.  Short legs, what can I say?

 This was an exhilarating feeling, to have jumped FIRE!  Twice!!

 

 Chuck was just to the left of Kelly (in the picture) - we all jumped at the same time.  I wish the photographer would have caught all four of us...next time(!) we'll have to be closer together.

Just one more obstacle left - the icy swim.  They weren't kidding!  I don't know how they managed to make the water so cold, but it was.  And it felt dang good.  Some people were wading through it, but the race officials were encouraging everyone to plunge in, so of course we did!

 Jeff and Chuck going for a nice swim...

 Check out the guy on the left - he was going all out!  Love the enthusiasm...wonder if he realized the "pool" was only two feet deep?

 Kelly and I getting ready to slither into the pool.  It was salt water.  Really, really salty water.  I think I was laughing as I dipped into the water and got a mouthful - blech!

Soaking wet never felt so good - this was the perfect obstacle to end the race!

After that, we headed to the finish line! 

This shot cracked me up, because the photographer caught OUR photographers doing their thing!  It's really great to have such supportive husbands who not only are willing to participate in the crazy adventures that Kelly and I sign up for, but also carry the camera and document our fun.  Thanks, Jeff and Chuck!

And the view from the other side...

Woohoo, finished!!!  We did this race in the leisurely time of 1:13 - yes, a 5K in an hour and 13 minutes.  Hey, we wanted to get our money's worth - why rush through it?  (that philosophy originated from the original slow runner, John Bingham)

Hot, sandy, wet - and extremely proud of ourselves!

Beach Palooza Recap - Part 3

Remember how in Part 1 of the recap, I noted that everyone was walking to the obstacles?  After that platform one, I understood why.  Not only was it hot, but dang - the adrenalin would ramp up for each obstacle and then you'd need a bit of a breather before the next one.  Which was the super high cargo net climb!  We watched other runners doing this one while we waited for our wave to start.  The first thing I noticed?  There were no pads on the ground, should one fall.  I was thinking there would be gym mats, or some sort of inflatable bouncy thing.  But no.  Just hard sand.  That would probably explain why the waiver we had to sign at packet pick up was so long!

This is what we saw before we started the race.  *gulp* That thing is HIGH!  My conservative estimate is four stories.  My mind's estimate was 100 feet!

Now, maybe I was on a bit of a high from getting through the platform obstacle, but for whatever reason, I was pumped and ready to climb this one!  My strategy going into it was to climb near one of the support posts, thinking that the ropes might be a bit tauter.  Not sure they were, as there was plenty of give and sway, but I just held on and climbed up.

That first step up was a doozy!  I know I'm short, but I don't normally notice it like I did during this race.  Almost every obstacle was made for tall people.  But that's OK - my short legs and I made it!

Going up!

Photo op - I surprised myself at how comfortable I felt on the ropes!

King of the world, baby!!!

On solid ground again - now THAT was fun!!!

Kelly faced her fears on this obstacle - she does not like heights, but she did it.  Be sure and check her blog for her take on this.  It was so exciting to watch her conquer this obstacle!!

After the cargo net, we faced a series of sand dune hills.  Now, before the race, we noticed that runners were dipping down when they reached the bottom.  We thought "oh, they must have dug a hole" - um, guess what we discovered on our way down the first hill?  They did, indeed, dig a hole...and filled it with water!  Fun times, fun times!

Jeff at the very top, followed by Kelly and Chuck.  Up a hill, down a hill...

Running through the water, climbing up the hills...all in a day's fun!

Not pictured is the fishing net crawl, due to the "no butt shots" pact that Kelly and I made, and also the chain-ladder obstacle that you crab-crawled across (we were all doing it at the same time) and the walk the plank (again, all doing it at the same time).  That one was scary - you walked up a narrow plank, then down (I got on my hands and knees at that point) and then it leveled out and I stood up and walked across and then down to the sand.  Even Jeff was a little uneasy on that one - the planks were very narrow.  I discovered that my childhood dreams of being an Olympic gymnast on the balance beam (hello Olga, hello Nadia) were probably best left at that.

Next up...giant beach balls, FIRE, and an icy swim!

Beach Palooza Recap - Part 2

I know I promised the REALLY scary obstacles, but since I have pictures, here's another set of walls.  We had to climb through them - along with some high walls, we had to make sure and duck so we wouldn't bang our heads.

Kelly's foot is all that I'm showing in this picture due to our "no butt shots" pact we made about all the pictures that were taken.

More climbing, pulling and heaving.  Hey, we earned our bruises!

Kelly liked this shot because her foot touched the ground before Jeff's - there was a little friendly competition going on between those two runners throughout the race!

After the walls, we hit the platforms, aka "Lighthouse Leap" - the race organizers had posted a picture of this on their Facebook page on Friday.  I saw it and got nervous.  I could just picture me jumping from one platform to the next, slipping on the sand, falling backward and smacking my head against the platform behind me.  Oh, and I may have (read:  did) shared that fear with Kelly.  Sorry for putting that into your head, Kel!  This one was scary.  People were going really slow on it.  People were also walking around it...in other words, skipping it. 

Jeff climbed on the first platform and started across.

 I held back.  He turned and said "come on!"  I started on the platform that the woman in the orange shorts is on.  They all wobbled, but that one was REALLY wobbly.  So I climbed off and got on the platform directly behind Jeff.  Stood up and froze.  This was NOT going to happen.

This is me saying "do you SEE how FAR that next platform is?  I'm not jumping!"

I was just about to get off the platform here.  Then I told Jeff I'd only jump if he came down and held my hand to steady me.  At that point the man with the blue painted-on sideburns and mohawk held up his hand and steadied me as I jumped to the next platform.  What a nice guy!  What a scary jump!!!

From then on, Jeff would jump ahead, reach his hand out (and it was QUITE a reach - these were farther apart than I liked), I'd grab on and he'd pull as I jumped.  It was scary every single time.  But we made it across, and thanks to Chuck's photography, I have proof!

Somehow I ended up jumping ahead of Jeff - yeah, I felt pretty dang good about that one!!!

Landing on the last platform - nice shot, Chuck!  I was very glad to have had Jeff there for this obstacle...there is no way I would have done this one on my own.  Also?  I see challenges on Survivor where they do this, and I have a whole new respect for those contestants!

Next up?  The VERY HIGH cargo net climb...