Changes and revisions in my life: DNS Dahlgren 50 km and Added to my schedule Self Transcendence Marathon

This is how I spent Saturday morning instead of running the Dahlgren 50 km race (you can see my foot in the upper right hand corner of this picture). You will notice Powder Puff Girl (aka Puffy) agreed with my decision how to spend my saturday morning.

Once I finally decided to get up, Tristan and I took Billy (who is staying with us) and Gilligan to Rock Creek park to Lake Frank for a hike and a dip in the Lake/stream. Billy does not seem overly thrilled about swimming and only would get his ankles/knees wet, while Gilligan was completely immersed (but not swimming as that exerts way too much energy!)

At Lake Frank we saw a turtle. Gilligan was intrigued by it, then frightened by it. I think this picture captures Gilligan leaping backwards at the turtle moved slightly.

On Sunday evening, Tristan, Billy and I went to Sugarloaf for an evening hike/run. I ran up the mountain once (I am still recovering from VT100 I think), but Gilligan and Tristan hiked to the top of the mountain and down the other side. We both finished our respective climbs in about an hour (usually Sugarloaf takes me about 40 minutes, but I was dogging it!)

After our trip to Sugarloaf we went to Brusters for a post hike ice cream. Sadly Gilligan did not make it to Brusters, but he had leftover Gelato from Carmens (which had half price Gelato on Saturday, yum!)

I think Billy enjoyed his doggie sundae and is looking forward to Thursday when we will return for half price banana split night.

This past Saturday I was supposed to get up early (2:30 a.m.) to get ready and drive to the Dahlgren 50 km race. I was excited about my first ultra after VT100, but a bit anxious because last week I had to stop several runs after only a few hundred meters because of knee pain.

I got up bright and early Saturday morning, brushed my teeth, washed my face, took my meds and then started thinking about how tired I was. Then I started thinking about how my knee had bothered me pretty badly 3 out of the 7 days prior to the race. And I made a decision to snuggle up to Tristan, Zaboo, Sagwa, and Powder and go back to bed.

I ended up sleeping until 10:30 a.m.! Ah the life of liesure I dream about but do not typically live.
In fact this worked out pretty well because once I did get up, Tristan and I took Gilligan and Billy (who we are babysitting again) to Lake Frank for a hike/swimming. Although it is hot in MD, by having access to the lake and feeder stream, the dogs could get wet every 10-15 minutes. Gilligan made full use of the water while Billy just waded knee deep.

After this, we all headed to Carmen's for half price Gelato day.

Then after a quick rinse off in the backyard, Saturday afternoon, Tristan and I went to the pool.

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday except I did not sleep in quite as badly (although I did not get up until 8:30). And in the afternoon Gilligan got a full bath with shampoo and Billy got half a bath in which I soaped up his undercarriage and legs (bathing two 120 lb dogs would have taken 3+ hours...not just 1.5 hours as it took me).

In the evening, Tristan, Billy and I headed to Sugarloaf for some hill training. Billy and Tristan hiked to the top while I ran up and down the mountain once.

My excuse for my recent exhaustion is that last weekend (Aug 1) I donated blood. Perhaps I should have waited until after my 50 km to do this; however, someone who desperately needs blood cannot wait. And in the summer I know supplies dwindle signficantly.

Finally, after DNS-ing the Dahlgren 50km, I decided I did need to commit to a long run in Aug. So I decided to sign up for the self transcendence marathon in Congers, NY. My dad lives in New City, NY (where I grew up), so I will get both a family visit and a marathon in this short trip up north.

Now I just need to stop wussing out on events!