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Knee-dy

Just a quick knee update; had the first physical therapy session today and it looks like it’s just something that needs to be strengthened more than anything else.

That said? I’d forgotten how things that look awfully simple end up being harder than one imagined. I’d say that the people at the gym are going to get a good chuckle with me doing my squats or curls, but let’s face it, if you’re at the gym  you know how easily these things can kick your butt. (And part of why I like going to the TJ Community Center is the lack of judgmental people there.)

On an utterly different note, I am determined that this week I will finally dig everything out of the kitchen cabinets underneath the bar/countertop and re-arrange. It’s been in progress since… um… December. It would be nice to have that countertop back into something usable again. Fingers crossed.

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No Super Powers (yet)

While training for the Columbia Triathlon, earlier in May I was feeling some soreness on the right side of my knee when I was cycling. While running or swimming it didn’t bother me, but cycling did something not quite right to that muscle. I chalked it up to not being used to biking for that distance (it was after all much farther than I’d ever pedaled before), iced it and took some anti-inflammatories, and didn’t worry.

Post-triathlon, though, it was still bugging me, so I took some time off from even my spinning class to let it get back to normal. After yesterday’s rowing machine session started bothering it (clearly it depends on just how much it bends, since rowing and cycling bend the knee much more), though, I mentioned it to my doctor today. Next thing I knew, after work today I was getting an x-ray at Virginia Hospital Center. (Weekdays at 6pm? No waiting for an x-ray.)

Tragically? So far as I can tell, I have not yet developed super powers as a direct result of the x-ray. I’m always a tiny bit disappointed on that front. I think comic books lied to me over the years. Hmph. (I’ll let you know if it turns out to be anything serious. I’ve also got some PT scheduled for starting next week to strengthen the muscle since it’s probably just a bad strain. But we shall see.)

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“The stormmaker says it ain’t so bad…”

After going to the gym this evening (I’ve missed you too, rowing machine), I was confronted by rain… Well, make that a downpour. And rumbles of thunder in the distance. Oh, great, I thought. They’d been predicting storms for the afternoon, and it looked like they were arriving a bit late.

But I was already sweaty and gross, so if I could just keep my iPod from getting drenched it was no big deal. After stalling for a minute or two, and tucking headphones and iPod into a shorts pocket as best I could, I sprinted through the rain. Someone ran by me in the opposite direction, running shoes in one hand and sqeulching along in flip-flops, a big grin on his face. I smiled back, dodging streams of mulch residue finally made to the car.

It was about ten feet away from the car that I noticed the direction I was running had utterly clear skies, even as the rain continued to come down in buckets all around me. That’s odd. I’d wisely put the keys in my hand before heading out the door, and I jumped into the car and pulled the door shut behind me.

The rain instantly stopped.

Not a slow lessening, or a shift to a drizzle. One second, rain so strong it was hard to see. The next second, gone.

I probably laughed for a good two minutes before starting up the car and driving home, waving to everyone now leaving the gym nice and dry.

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A Month Later

I’m bad, sometimes, about updating my blog. (Ok, most of the time, these days.) But I am alive, honest. But since the last update over here… let’s see…

The Columbia Triathlon went well (full report here), despite some horrific thunderstorms the night before that had me on about three hours sleep, and rain that only stopped right before I got into the water, resulting in slick roads. The hills were much harder than I’d imagined, and I did better on the cycling and worse on the running than I’d thought. (Swimming I came in a matter of seconds after my projected finish time.)

I’d signed up for the DC Triathlon as well, which was today, but I ended up not running it. I thought it would be fun; a much flatter course, going through places I knew, and a promise of some great crowd support. But soon after Columbia, I came down with… well, that’s still up in the air to be honest. I wish I knew. All I know for certain was it meant I was feeling run down and tired for about three weeks. We’re not talking about, “I could use a nap” but rather “I feel like I’m going to collapse.” I tried to run one day and actually felt light-headed and dizzy. Maybe some sort of cold bug? (It never did give me other classic cold symptoms, though.) A strange lack of iron? Too much Super Mario Galaxy 2? Whatever it was, though, it killed the DC Tri for me. I had little running, one spinning class (and no actual cycling), and until two days ago no swimming under my belt, post-Columbia. Add in a high of 95 degrees today and it just seemed like the stupidest thing possible. I’m regretting not being able to run the race, but am also convinced and glad that I made the right decision to cancel my plans.

I’m also at this point unsure on if running the Toronto Half Marathon will actually happen or not. I might have to find a local race to tackle instead, which is going to mean doing some research in the next month or two to figure out what’s even an option. I know the Baltimore Half Marathon exists, if you don’t mind hills. But surely there are some other choices available. We’ll see.

On the bright side, it did mean that last night instead of going to bed at 8pm, I instead went to the movies with Charlie and we saw Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. Joan Rivers is one of those women who until about five years ago I really knew nothing about. Sure, I knew she was a comedian, I knew she hosted red carpet events, but that was about it. But as I’d started to learn a bit about her stand-up and her general trailblazing nature, I’ve found her to be much more than the joke she was usually written off as by the public. Well, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work shows all that and more. She’s one of those people who just can’t stop working; it’s actually a little exhausting at times to watch her schedule unfold! The documentary is also rather sad in places, much more than I’d have expected. Really good, try and catch it if you can.

Then again, the last few movies I’ve seen have all been excellent. The City of Your Final Destination (a Merchant Ivory film that’s been done for a while but is just now getting released in the States) was absorbing, and Micmacs (the new Jean-Pierre Jeunet film) was sweet and funny and unpredictable. Still dying to see Toy Story 3, soon. Finally, good movies!

Other than that, a boring life. Which is better than a drama-filled life, right?

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Goals for Sunday’s Race

This Sunday I’m tackling the Columbia Triathlon up in Maryland (.93mi swim, 25.4mi bike, 6.2mi run) and I have decided that I should have some goals in mind throughout the weekend. Some are carry-overs from running in general, but there’s no reason why they can’t apply too. So here we go…

  1. Finish. Always the #1 goal of a race.
  2. Don’t throw up. Not that I am planning to. But that’s always a very important rule to put out there. I’ve made it 10 years now without breaking this one.
  3. Maximum number of times to get kicked in the head during the swim: 2. I did get kicked in the head when I did a super-sprint tri last year, but it was also only about a quarter of the distance. So if I can limit the number of head-kicks to two, well, that will be a victory.
  4. Don’t swear too much during the bike course. I cannot promise this goal will be met.
  5. Remember to take OFF the bike helmet before I start the run. There are some awfully funny pictures out there of people who forgot. I would like to not be one of those people forever immortalized.
  6. Find winning lottery ticket. Oh, wait, I’m sorry, I thought this was the “pipe dreams” list. Never mind.

We shall see how many of these actually happen. Famous last words, I’m sure.

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The Allure of a New Gadget

I was link-hopping this morning over breakfast and I landed on this post at “Steak and Legs” about the iPad. And with one exception (I’ve crossed those words out, you’ll know it when you see it) it is my exact feelings about the iPad in a nutshell. So much that it’s a little eerie and a relief simultaneously. (I’m not alone! It’s not just me!)

It just looks so cool! I spent a couple days trying to think up what I’m sure were probably the most incredible excuses Legs has ever heard. I need an eBook reader… But I never read books anyway. I need something to go browse the web around the apartment… but I’m never more than 3 feet from a computer in the Apartment anyway.

What it comes down to is that I don’t need one. I have no real use for one. I even went to Best Buy and played with one and couldn’t think of anything to do with it that I couldn’t do with the iPhone in my pocket. But I still want one.

I’m addicted. I just love the feeling of coming home with a new toy to un-box and play with. I love learning the new system inside and out and then showing my friends all the cool stuff it does. If only my toy’s weren’t $500 this wouldn’t be an issue.

To be fair, I do have an eBook reader already. If anything, it even reduces the need for an iPad further. But they’re still awfully cool. Fortunately I am in the process of trying to save up a lot of money, so concentrating on that long term goal is a good way to keep me from blowing all that money on something I sooooo do not need.

(But if someone is going out of town and needs an iPad babysitter, please, let me know.)

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Attack of the 50-foot Catherine Keener

Watching a movie in the second row, I’ve decided, creates an entirely different dimension to a movie that perhaps the filmmakers did not intend. I am fairly sure, for instance, that the setting of Please Give was not supposed a world where radiation from the sun has caused a race of hugely tall people to take over New York City. Although with all the talk of tanning, microwaves, and larger apartments in the film, perhaps I am onto something here.

(P.S. It’s awesome, go see it.)

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On the Cutting Edge

Continuing my attempt not be a zillion years behind the times (and failing), I finally heard that Ke$ha song “Tik Tok” thanks to The Simpsons remaking their opening sequence to the first minute or so of the song.

(If you haven’t seen it, it’s well worth doing so. Surprisingly clever, and a search for Simpsons Tik Tok should do it. People are uploading faster than Fox can take them down.)

Anyway, curious, I listened to the rest of the song and three thoughts won’t leave my head now.

  1. Thanks to auto-tune, anyone it seems can be a hit singer. Seriously, could it be any more blatant?
  2. I could go the rest of my life, happily, without ever hear the word “crunk” again.
  3. Damn, that song sure is catchy. It’s been stuck in my head all day long.

Tune in during July 2015 when I finally hear a song by Justin Bieber.