Like, Totally Tubular, Dude...

It's super hot outside today. We suddenly got this blast of warm air and a hot breeze along with it. I woke up at 3:15 am. Why, I don't know. But after trying to go back to sleep unsuccessfully, I decided to get up and get my run in. I wanted to get 15 miles with a tempo run of 5 miles, so I made coffee, and headed out to the Power Trail just as the light was filling the sky.

I have been working on more business stuff today. I finished the practice display for my booth at this weekend's Pink Boa 5K.

I am staying plenty busy, it seems like each week I look ahead at the following week and the calendar is clear, but by the end of a week, the coming week is jam-packed. That's a good thing. I will be ready for a break in July when I escape to Badwater and then later in the summer when we go to Manhattan Beach.

This morning I started out slow and stiff but after a few miles I was feeling good, so I proceeded south along the Power Trail and got a hair over 5 miles in 39 minutes and change, just under 8 minute pace again. I did 11.2 miles, so I need another 4 or so.

I need to finish running easy this afternoon so I'm waiting for the temperature to peak in the 90s, I need that heat training.

The neighbors behind us are replacing the fence between their yard and ours so I'm having to keep the girls in today, which is fine because they wouldn't want to be out in the heat.

I finally took a break and got some food, ate, and decided to check the mail. All junk, except for one thing.

The colonoscopy report.

I didn't get any phone calls, so that's a good thing. I had that little flutter of dread and fear in my gut that I always have after a mammogram, regardless. I opened the letter, hoping it would say, cleared for 10 years.

Denied!

Dammit. But I am still off the hook for 5 years. As long as I have no symptoms, that is.

The little polyp they removed was a tubular adenoma, those are the most common type of polyp, and they do have the potential to become cancerous. But it's out of me, and I can continue doing what I do, and eat lots of fiber, and go back in 5 years and hope there are no more polyps. They say that these polyps are more likely to be trouble if they grow to 2 cm or more. My little polyp (and I say that affectionately) was 4 mm.

This just confirms the importance of getting these screenings done. If that polyp was in there, and who knows how long it has been, and I didn't know about it, even at 4 millimeters, who knows how long it might take to grow to 2 cm, or larger. Who knows how long it might take to develop into cancer?

I could be walking around with colon cancer in a few years if the right set of cellular or molecular circumstances or triggers happened. Or maybe not. But I'm glad that thing is out of me, cute little polyp that it was, maybe I should give it a name. If it, or another one of it's buddies, wants to cause trouble, it will have to start from scratch.

As much as I found drinking the magnesium citrate to be the worst part of the whole experience, even worse than pooping a gazillion times in 12 hours, worse than having an impossibly sore butt for several days, I would gladly do it again in 5 years if it means I get to avoid colon cancer.

And it's another reason why YOU should not put off screening. Done with my public service announcement soapbox.

Back to running, I am planning to run with two different friends tomorrow, I should get lots of miles in. I run with Emma first thing in the morning and then with Cat at 9. I can still feel those hills from Horsetooth last weekend. The soreness is almost gone but it sucks to get out of the habit of doing hills. Next time I'll do some Rock Repeats, hopefully no rattlesnakes.

Time to go out and run. It is officially 90 degrees.

A Visit From SpongeBob

No I wasn't still hallucinating from some anesthetic from the colonoscopy.

I walked outside this afternoon, I'd been mesmerized by the computer for hours, working on some promotional stuff, so my eyes were a bit glazed over. There was something yellow stuck under my windshield wipers.

Felix!!!

Felix is back from his trip to China, and SpongeBob followed him.

It was a bamboo SpongeBob, something soft and absorbent that I could use to clean my car.

Felix acquired the curse of SpongeBob in the Owens Valley late one night in July of 2011. SpongeBob jumped out of the shadows in the desert and he never left. He stalks Felix everywhere, halfway around the earth.

As soon as I was sure I wasn't hallucinating, I sent Felix a message on Facebook to see if he had anything to do with this...

I've been feeling pretty good today, though Thursday, which was the day after, I wasn't so sure. I'm not sure if I got so dehydrated that I felt funny, but I did try to run Thursday and after about a tenth of a mile I gave it up. I didn't feel right. So I walked, did about 5 miles of walking, and that was good. I felt like I needed to catch up on fluids more than anything. I ate a lot, too, and felt better after I ate.

Even a colonoscopy is an adventure.

This morning I went out for a run and felt so good I decided to push the pace for about 30 minutes of it. Ended up running under 8 minute pace without pushing too hard. I got a little over 12 miles today. Next week it's back to the cemetery with Wheaties Boy for mile repeats.

I signed up for the Estes Park Half Marathon today. Finally, after all these years of running that damn marathon and suffering, I got wise. I will get a good hard training run without it killing me.

I'll run hills tomorrow at Horsetooth and get some easy miles in over the weekend, and then Monday, as Wheaties Boy would say, shit gets serious.

At least this time I won't have to drink the mag citrate!

Done and Sparkling Clean...

You have GOT to experience this!

Anyone over 50 still hesitating on getting their colonoscopy done, I chicked you.

Yes the prep sucks. But the procedure itself, no problem.

I was scheduled for a 1 pm procedure and they told me to check in at noon. We planned for Morgan to pick me up at 11:45. She lives on the north side of town, and of course the noon train that goes along Vine Street held up traffic. I got a frantic text from her telling me she was stuck behind the train. I wrote back, no worries. It's fine.

Iris was pissed off all morning, She sat at the bottom of the stairs, giving me that look...the guilt look.

Morgan got here just a few minutes after noon and we arrived at the surgery center at 12:08. As it turned out, they were running behind too, so we sat out in the waiting area, talking, until after 1:00 when they took me back.

They weighed me and took me to a little prep area with a chair, gurney and curtain. They asked me a gazillion questions about allergies and then I changed into a gown. The nurse came back in and started my IV, and as we talked, I found out she works with one of my old coworkers. She did a good job with my IV, one poke, and started running some fluid into me, which was great because I was so dehydrated.

I waited for a while and then the anesthesiologist came in and talked with me, asked more questions, and then I asked him some questions about propofol.

One of the nurses I used to work with was there but she wasn't assigned to me, but I asked her to stop by so we talked for a little while, she seems a lot happier there at the surgery center. Later it turned out she was my recovery nurse.

The doctor came by and apologized for running behind, I didn't get taken into the procedure room until about 2 pm, but it seemed like the time went by fast.

When the nurse anesthetist came in, I knew we would be going soon. He asked me more questions and then wheeled me down to the room. He hooked me up to the monitor and put a nasal cannula on me. The doctor came over and talked with me, had me sign the consent, I rolled onto my left side and then the nurse anesthetist told me he would give me some lidocaine first to numb the vein because the propofol burns going in. I saw him attach the lidocaine, then I saw him attach the little syringe filled with the milky propofol. I said, "Good night" and watched his fingers push the syringe. Suddenly everything went fuzzy and gray, and that was it.

Next thing I knew, they were waking me up in the recovery area. The nurse brought me some crackers and juice, and once I was awake enough, she brought Morgan in.

I had a good prep, my colon was really clean. Damn, it should be! They did find one small (4 millimeter) polyp that the doctor said appeared benign and of course they completely removed it and send it off to pathology, so I won't have the results for a week or so. But everything else was perfectly clean and smooth. I got pictures, too.

It was amazing how fast I recovered and felt lucid. I got up with the nurse standing next to me to make sure I wouldn't fall over, and then I got dressed, she took out my IV, and I was sprung. Morgan drove me home and I came in the house to a vocal Buffalo greeting, and after hugs, headed for the food. I scarfed. I was so hungry. Then I took a shower.

Soon Dennis came home and we ate more.

I am hoping that the pathology results allow me to not have to come back for 10 years. I don't want to do this prep again anytime soon, and 5 years goes by FAST. But it was only the prep that is dreadful, not the colonoscopy itself. Someone has got to come up with a better way to clean out your gut.

Beer flavored laxative...you'd think one of the local breweries would get on that already...Fort Collins is the ideal place for that to happen. I can just see it now: New Belgium selling six packs of colonoscopy prep beer. What would we name it? Gut blaster? Butt blaster? Roto RootBeer?

I need a ton of sleep and probably a lot of fluids, and I'll be ready to go before the weekend. Looking forward to next week, hitting the speed again with Wheaties Boy.

This has been a public service announcement from Alene Gone Bad.

We now resume our regularly scheduled programming...

Doomsday Arrives...

The caption should say: "Runner grimaces anticipating tomorrow's colonoscopy prep."

Pre-Prep

This morning Dennis pointed out this picture of me in the paper from running the Houska Houska yesterday. It shows my Feed Your Crazy shirt really well, and I do look a little crazy in the picture.

You would too if you knew what awaits you in the 24 to 48 hours after you reach the finish line.

It's Tuesday, doomsday. First thing this morning I enjoyed my last cup of coffee, yes, that alone is a crisis for tomorrow morning.

Then I ate breakfast, tried to get some protein in before I went to clear liquids. I had some egg whites and turkey, two of the foods that were okay on the list for the day before breakfast.

Then I had a work appointment this morning. When that was done, I came home and did my run, a little over 12 miles.

Now I'm drinking clear, sugar free soda and Gatorade with sugar in it for a few calories. I'm planning on eating jello, chicken broth, gatorade, and nothing red, blue or purple all night. I was thinking about other possible things that might be on a clear liquid diet. What about gels? Like banana or vanilla? They are liquid and clear and if you wash them down with plenty of water, they would count. Give you a few calories, too.

Ultrarunners are well equipped for a colonoscopy. Most of us have baby wipes, Gatorade, butt grease, gels, and toilet paper anyway.

Knowing that you can't eat is worse than not eating. Plus I was brave enough to get on the scale the other day and my weight is still at 120 pounds. The lowest I got to was 118 before Cornbelt. I really haven't gained much as a result of not running but eating tons of food for several weeks. So it's not like I need to not eat.

I want to. Eat. Everything. Because I can't.

The instructions said to take 2 Dulcolax tablets at 4 pm the day before. The laxative kind, not the stool softener kind. Then at 6 pm the fun begins, drink one and a half bottles of magnesium citrate, which I've had chilling in the fridge. I've heard it tastes better cold, we used to give it to patients on ice. Or maybe it's just easier to choke down that way.

They warn you to be close to the toilet. It must work fast.

At 4 pm I took those pills, so I was officially prepping, and waiting for results...things shouldn't start really moving until I drink the mag citrate at 6 pm.

I have the baby wipes, A & D ointment, and plenty of toilet paper waiting for me next to the toilet. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to go commando, either! Skirts are great for that. I just hope I get most of the stuff out of me by a reasonable hour so I can sleep. I do have to make sure I wake up by 8 to drink the other half of the mag citrate 4 hours before the procedure.

The reason they have you do half the prep the day before and the other half the morning of the procedure is that the GI tract starts to get icky again if you finish the prep too many hours before the procedure. Your colon secretes mucus which makes it harder for them to see polyps, especially ones which have more tendency to be cancerous.

It's in your best interest to get the best prep possible so they can see everything they are looking for. Why go through all this if you're not going to get the full benefit of the procedure?

So they clean you out the night before and then clean you out again the morning of, and it works well that way.

It's always a little scary going through these screening things because you wonder if they're going to find something. Now that I've had probably a dozen mammograms in my life, I am used to the anticipation of waiting for the results. Not fun. Especially when you've had a family history of something. I've had no symptoms or anything to be worried about, so I am just being positive and hoping that everything turns out good, and if they find anything concerning, that it all works out for the best. That is all I can do. But I'd rather know than not know. To me, putting something off and not knowing is stressful.

The procedure is at 1 pm and my responsible adult friend Morgan is picking me up, waiting, and taking me home.

22 hours to food...

I'm wondering what it will be like by Friday, trying to run. I'm hoping I'll have all that nasty propofol out of my system and I feel okay. The key will be repletion of electrolytes before then. You lose a lot of potassium from your GI tract, not to mention all the fluids I'll be consuming, that will deplete my sodium and other minerals. I'm adding salt to the chicken broth, because I only had low sodium broth.

Probably not a bad idea to eat some yogurt after the procedure to add some probiotics back to the GI tract, too. That means I'll have to do some eating on Thursday to put everything back...too bad. Absolutely breaks my heart.

This week I have about 60 miles on the agenda, and then next week it's full-on training again. I'll be ready to recover and start hammering. After food.

But Wait...It Gets Better...

I took a short nap from about 5:30 to 6. I needed to wake up because it was time to drink the Mag Citrate. I opened the first bottle and poured a little into a glass. First sip.

Good thing Dennis was ready with the camera. At 6:08 pm I took the first sip.

This is THE nastiest crap. I swear, I don't know how the label on the bottle could say "In case of overdose..." Who in the hell would ever drink this stuff intentionally? I can think of much better things to drink to kill yourself.

7:09 pm: It took me a full hour to force 15 ounces down. I drank water and chased it with Gatorade with it because the taste was so nasty. Like paint. My advice- use clothespins for your nose, you wouldn't want to be able to smell this stuff. I don't think drinking it cold matters one bit. It tastes horrible.

Even the dogs looked worried.

I just hope this stuff works, fast and furious. Right now it is sitting in my stomach and not going anywhere, and I just hope it does it's job and goes in the right direction. Drinking this is the ultimate torture. It sure took care of the urge to eat anything. Barf me out of town!

Dennis got some pictures, and videos. Since you probably wouldn't want me to share what will be happening later on, enjoy these classics (below) of me drinking the prep...and leave the rest to your imagination, or not. I'm just imagining being done. What I can't imagine at this point, is how I'm going to gag the other 15 ounces of this crap down in the morning.

8:12 pm: Excuse me...things are starting to gurgle...gotta RUN!!!
Enjoy the videos...I'm expecting an Oscar for the drama.




Colonoscopy morning notes: As I sit here waiting for my responsible adult to pick me up and take me to the Roto-Rooter place, I did survive the overnight prep, but it wasn't fun. I spent much of the time in the bathroom until about 11 pm and then I went to sleep in the extra bedroom so I wouldn't wake Dennis up with my frequent trips to the bathroom. I woke up at midnight, and again at 2:40 am, and spent some time sitting there...there is no butt grease that is sufficient for this. Baby wipes and A & D ointment are a little more soothing than toilet paper, but by this morning, the most uncomfortable place on my body is the exact same portal to where they will place that endoscope. At least I'll be out of it when they do that.

I woke up at 6:47 am and started drinking the remaining prep, chasing it with clear soda. It was disgusting. I didn't breathe, just took multiple sips and then drank the soda, so I wouldn't taste or smell the nasty stuff. And then from about 8 to 9 am I hung out in the bathroom. Once things settled down, I took a nap with Iris. She gave me this look..."I guess this means we're not going for a walk this morning..."

They know something's up with mom. I'll look forward to coming home afterwards. I want a Buffalo hugs, a shower, food, and a nap. In that order.

I'll post about it after I recover from the propofol...hope I'm not too goofy and irresponsible to write a blogpost! I probably won't remember anything!

Word of Mouth: Top to Bottom

I have started running again, just a little. I've been working on doing about 8 to 10 miles on my feet each day, some dog walking, and then running small amounts. I feel great when I run. I'm a little slow but my legs don't feel bad. Yesterday I did 5 miles and wanted to keep going but stopped myself. The plan is 20 miles this week, 40 next, and see how it goes from there.

I plan to run the Houska Houska on May 26, which is a fun 5K. That week I will also do my first speed session again. I'm not going to push hard, it will just be interesting to see where I am 3 or 4 weeks post-race. And as of the first week of June I'd like to be back into training for this fall. I can't wait to get going again!

So the rest of this post is my public service announcement. If you're squeamish and can't bring yourself to put your big boy or big girl panties on, then by all means, move on to another post. If you think it's TMI, then I'm calling you a wimp.

I'm a 50 year old athlete, I run ultras, I've been mostly healthy all my life. I hope to continue that way. Some things you just never know if they're going to happen, but to the extent that you can prevent some awful thing from happening, I think you should. My opinion on this, and you might not agree, is that you have a social responsibility to control health care costs in your own life for the benefit of society in general.

By avoiding preventive care, your chances of having a serious health condition that needs expensive and drawn-out treatment result in increased costs that are spread to everyone. That's not fair. I'm not saying that everything can be detected early, because it can't. And no test, no screening procedure is ever fool-proof and 100% accurate.

Yes there are many tumors that go undetected, some cancers that often can't be caught early like pancreatic and ovarian, and I can't even tell you the number of women who had a mammogram come out "normal" and then within a short period of time later, found a lump that was beyond stage I. But those are generally the exceptions.

And if you are diagnosed with cancer or some chronic disease, it is not your fault (almost never! the exception would be if you willfully and knowingly allowed it to progress and then decided to wait to obtain treatment) and you deserve the best care that is available to restore your health, regardless of where you fall on the socioeconomic ladder. Knowledge is power and I am just saying that you have a responsibility to your fellow citizens not to bury your head in the sand if you have the knowledge and are able to access preventive care.

Having seen and administered the treatment for many types of cancer, I can tell you almost without exception, you are much better off detecting a disease, especially cancer, early, because the outcome and treatment are so much more favorable.

Yesterday I had an appointment with a dermatologist to check out my skin and lips because at my checkup this spring my dentist thought I had some sun damage on my lower lip that should be looked at. The dermatologist thought things looked pretty good, and advised against freezing off the few small spots on my cheeks, nose, and upper lip that are little pre-cancers until later on in the year, when I'm not having so much sun exposure, because it would leave white scars right now.

There were a few little rough spots on the edge of my upper lip, again, not too concerning, these are tiny little precancer areas. And the area of my lower lip that the dentist was concerned about, the dermatologist felt that there was nothing concerning at all there.

So I took care of the top half as far as cancer surveillance. Went to the dermatologist, had my mammogram, and now the not as much fun part: I scheduled the Roto-Rooter for the last week of May.

As an oncology nurse, I have to set a good example for readers. So I'm writing about colonoscopies. This won't be the last post, either. This is the PRE-colonoscopy blogpost. There might be a during the prep blogpost if I can get away from the can long enough, and yes I promise you I will wash my hands before I come back to the computer, there will be no virtual spread of disease and E. coli by reading my blog...and I also promise you, there will most definitely be a post-colonoscopy blogpost even though I anticipate I will have no memory of the entire procedure.

My intention is not to post graphic pictures or gross you out. The appearance of my inferior-most orifice will remain a secret between me and the gastroenterologist. But as far as the details of the procedure, if you're freaked out by the "EW" factor, then it's time to re-condition yourself.

I didn't get to have the colonoscopy appointment as soon as I wanted to, but I got it a week later, and still in May, with the doctor I wanted, so I'm content with that.

I wanted to get it done before Memorial Day because I want to return to full training but one more week won't hurt anything. I'm a little concerned about getting the anesthetic out of my system. They use propofol (yes that's the Michael Jackson drug) and from what I can tell about the pharmacokinetics (how the drug works, moves through your body, and is eliminated) it looks like it will be a good 48 hours before it's cleared. Until that time is over I'm not taking any chances. Two years ago when Dennis had his colonoscopy he broke his foot the day after, by slipping off the stairs. I'm convinced it happened because he was still affected by the propofol.

It kind of freaks me out to have them putting propofol in my system. We used that all the time for sedation for patients on ventilators in ICU. It's pretty freaky stuff. It wears off quickly, and it's this thick milky-looking liquid. I don't want it in my body. That is more of an issue for me than the scope itself. But I also know I don't want to be aware of or remember what they're doing with the endoscope, so I'll compromise.

What are the biggest fears people have around getting a colonoscopy that keeps them from doing it?

1. Embarrassment: exposing your butt hole to other people. Seriously. Everybody has one. (Some more than others)

Believe me, I don't remember the faces or other parts of any of the patients I ever was present with during their scope, and there were a lot. Even less so with your doctor, they do these day in and day out, they are busy watching the video screen of the inside of your colon, not paying attention to any personalized markings on your body. You won't run into your gastroenterologist in the grocery store and they'll think...oh yeah that was the one with the hairy butthole...

Now if you have a tattoo on your right butt cheek that says "Scope Me" or has the doctor's name, well, maybe they would remember that...but the room is dark so they might not even see it.

As far as the outside parts go, seen one, seen 'em all. Some have hemorrhoids, some don't. Unless you tattoo your hemorrhoids, they won't remember. That's about it...

What if you pass gas during the procedure? You might, but it's more likely to do that afterwards. But you'll be in your little recovery area and everyone else is out of it with anesthesia too. They won't know where it's coming from. Sort of like farting in a crowded, loud room full of people. And during the procedure, there is noise in the room and they aren't very close to the offending part anyway, they are focused on moving the scope and the video screen. You won't know, and won't remember. Everyone farts, you, your dog, your grandmother. Even gastroenterologists fart.

2. Afraid of pain: It's highly unlikely that it will be painful unless you already have some sort of serious GI disorder, and in that case they would medicate you. You will be lightly sedated, and the doctor can even talk to you during the procedure. Afterwards you will not remember it. But you will be able to let the doctor know during the procedure if you're having any pain. They can give pain medication if necessary, but usually it is not needed.

3. Afraid they'll find "something": If they find a polyp, they will remove it during the procedure. You won't even know. They'll slip this little wire around it and cut it off, take it out and send it off to the pathologist. It's done. Most of the time the polyps are benign and if they are suspicious, the nice thing is that they are out of there. Unless they find a major tumor, they are not likely to have to do anything else.

Sometimes they find a polyp that upon examination by a pathologist, needs to be followed up on with a repeat colonoscopy in 5 years, instead of 10 years. But since they took it out already, at least you have the peace of mind knowing that you've stopped the growth of a potential cancer and set it back. That alone is better than not knowing there is something growing in there, and finding it when it's already spread.

Wouldn't you rather know that you had a precancerous polyp removed and out of your body? At least you'll know you can do something about it in the future. And you'll know that the colonoscopy procedure wasn't that bad. It's a lot easier than waiting until there's a huge tumor that has spread to your liver and you need chemotherapy and surgery and possibly living afterwards with a colostomy bag attached to your abdomen. Believe me, a quick colonoscopy that you won't even remember is much more favorable.

4. Fear of complications: Unless you are in poor health, have advanced cancer, or already have some kind of advanced GI tract disease, it is very unlikely that anything can go wrong in a healthy colon. The scopes don't have sharp edges, the little tools they use are retracted inside the endoscope, and they are watching the entire procedure on video the whole time.

The doc I chose is one I actually know, and have conversations with if I run into him somewhere in the hallway or in town, and I know his wife too. But I feel totally comfortable because I've worked with him doing the procedure before and I know he does a thorough job. He's got a nice personality and you feel at ease around him. I won't be freaked out after the procedure if I run into him in the grocery store.

So that's my public service announcement for the day. I admit that yes I do feel a little icky about it. It's not something I look forward to. But I also know that it's better to get it over with, so I'm looking forward to being done.

The important thing to remember, other than GET YOUR COLONOSCOPY is, make sure you choose a doctor whose name you haven't tattooed on your butt.

Date With A Porn Star...

Curiosity killed the cat. Or maybe it was a raccoon. I saw dozens of dead raccoons, roadkill along I-80, like the official roadkill of the Midwest.

I had to check out this Maid-Rite thing. I had a sadistic fascination with anything as bizarre and porno-esque as a "loose meat sandwich" and I was in post-race repletion mode, so why not?

Conveniently, as I needed to stop for gas in Grimes, Iowa, there happened to be a Maid Rite place just behind the gas station off the exit.

I ordered a basic Maid-Rite basket, just a plain sandwich and fries, and a drink. They give you a spoon, too, in case you have some stray loose meat that falls out of the bun. I was impressed by the fact that they had hand sanitizer by the register and by the trash cans. How often do you see that in restaurants? Actually they should have that in all restaurants, and all hotel rooms for housekeeping staff to use between rooms. What a concept.

Anyway the plain old boring Maid-Rite sandwich wasn't too bad, it wasn't exciting or anything, but it was palatable. And a small, reasonably sized dose of French fries tasted pretty good too at that time.

The other thing was the portions were like normal food, not supersized like everything else in the world. I drank the iced tea for the caffeine, and hit the road again. I did a few laps around the parking lot before leaving, it felt so good to walk the stiffness off.

I lucked out again, the wind shifted yesterday from east to west, so I had a tailwind going home too! Nice for saving money on gas, and it made the trip a bit faster.

After a while I needed to stop again at a rest area just to walk and stretch out my legs. So I did that.









And then half an hour later I was starving again. I stopped in Kearney and for some reason I was craving Taco Bell, so I found one, and ordered one taco supreme and some beans, and that wasn't enough so I went back and ordered two more tacos. There I was, living out my Taco Bell fantasy.

Before I got back on the road, I felt sorry for Dennis tonight, after all this horrible road food.

I stopped one last time for gas and being hungry again, in Sidney, Nebraska. This time it was a McDonald's salad.

Then a couple of hours later I was home, with a beautiful sunset over the mountains.

It was so nice to be home to Dennis and the girls, I got the dramatic greeting from the Buffaloes, and we took them for a walk around the block to help me stretch my legs.

I feel pretty good despite the long hours on the road, I'm sure Tuesday I will be sore from sitting in the car, and I cannot wait to get back to eating salads and my other normal foods.

Maybe this would be a good time to get that colonoscopy over with...

Just Say No to the Taper Worm...

The taper is going as well as can be expected. I've been busy with work and other things so it's a welcome distraction from feeling like I need to bounce off the ceiling.

We took a trip up to the cabin this weekend to clear stuff out. We've decided to sell it, we aren't using it enough. We took the girls, they got a chance to hang out at their cabin hopefully before it sells. It's one of those "taper projects".

Iris knows where she is, as soon as we get over Kenosha Pass, she always goes crazy. We think it's the smell of cows, but it could be the scenery. This time there were no cows, probably too early for them to be grazing out there since the snow is not completely gone. As soon as we dropped down into South Park, she started getting excited.

On the way back the girls had to ride with all the junk we brought back from the cabin.

I was greeted by this nice piece of mail when I got home. One of those nice things about turning 50. Thanks for the pleasant reminder. Talk about the ultimate taper worm! I will have this done sometime this year, but I'm putting it off until AFTER the race.

Still Burning...

Record temperatures, and the High Park fire is still raging. It's at 85,000 acres, only about 55% contained as of today, and about 250 homes destroyed. They think it will be the end of July before it's contained, and that's an estimate.

Depending on what the weather gods throw at us between now and then, who knows. An area west of Colorado Springs is burning up, and it seems like fires are happening everywhere. Estes Park had a fire the other day. And south of Salt Lake City, too. And others...I'm just mentioning the ones where I know people who have evacuated.

We still have off and on smoke in town. You never know what each hour will be like, as the wind shifts. Sometimes the air is clear, other times you're choking on ash.

Considering all that's happened, with almost no rain, low humidity, record temperatures, and the number of homes in the path of the fire, the firefighters have done an amazing job. It's a job in hell, and I am in awe of what they do. Why do we pay CEOs so damn much money?

Here in town we just watch the horizon and the sky. Last night we got a miraculous, but short, rainstorm. Anything is good. I was hoping for it again tonight but the clouds don't seem to be as promising.

We've all but given up on watering the yard. The grass is pretty much dead. We do have some flowers, our tomatoes, cilantro and raspberries that are all doing fairly well, but I don't have very high expectations for anything growing here this year. That's okay. We have our house, it's intact and we're not in the path of the fire. We consider ourselves very fortunate.

Last night I was walking to the store near our house and I was thinking about it not feeling too bad outside, and then I heard some people bitching miserably about the heat, and I thought about how good it is to be heat trained. Try blowing a hair dryer in your face, I thought.





The girls have not been thrilled with the hot weather. I take them for short little walks morning and evening but it's still so hot that a half mile is about all they want to do. Same with me. I have been out on the bike, but just to spin. I figure after this week I'll give the old legs a try again at running and maybe I can get the full month of July in for training. No rush. I'm off to Badwater in the middle of the month, and after that I'll get serious about running again.



So today was my work hangover day, a Monday, following my work weekend. It was pretty slow at work, busy all morning but then things dropped off in the afternoons. I had appropriate plans for my work hangover Monday though, a date with GI Joe, of sorts.

Actually it was Dennis who had the date. I was the responsible adult. Dennis turned 50 last August, and is about to turn 51, and I've been nagging him to get his colonoscopy before he turns 51. So he did it today. I got to be the driver. He told me he didn't care if I blogged about it, as long as I didn't post any graphic pictures. Ha!


And I was the waiter, too. As in, waiting in the waiting room. The prep is the worst part, and he had to drink three bottles of Mag Citrate (pictured) in the 16 hours or so before the procedure. It works. He slept downstairs so he wouldn't keep me up with his frequent trips to the bathroom. The joy...

Anyway we went to see GI Joe, the doctor whose name is not actually Joe, but we went to the surgery center and I hung out with Dennis as they prepped him and started his IV, and then I waited in the waiting room until he was done. Everything is good. He's off the hook for a long time as long as nothing weird happens.

I told him I would go as soon as I turn 50 and get it over with. A year and 9 months, that's how long they have to figure out a completely noninvasive way to screen for colon cancer so I don't have to do it! Chop, chop!

Afterwards Dennis was starving so we went to the Silver Grill and he demolished some pancakes and a cinnamon roll, they are huge. Then we came home so he could sleep it off and I went for a bike ride in the lovely 102 degree afternoon. The smoke was not bad today in town.

I will be on the bike for the next few days, then I have a string of work days coming up from Thursday to Saturday, then I work the July 4th holiday. Weird schedule for me again, but it really doesn't matter. I'm highly unmotivated to do most of the things I need to do outside of running, so I might as well work and stay out of trouble.

By this time in the summer I'm usually looking forward to fall. This year especially, it can't come soon enough. How about some snow on July 4th?

Sounds good to me.