slacker town

Holy crap.  Has it really been more than a month since I've written???  Seriously, it seems like it's just been days. This past month has FLOWN by!

So let's see, just what have I been doing?

The Ankle

The diagnosis is in: tendinitis of all three tendons in my right foot.  So I've been taking it easy for what seems like FOREVER and trying to listen to my damn ankle.  I have a bunch of exercises I have to do, and I think they're helping so I'm continuing to do them.  So very boring.  And I've been walking a lot in lieu of running.  Also boring   And I've been doing more core work so hopefully that will pay off at some point, too.

Running

Note the distance - I must have killed the tangents again!
My official time was 30:31.

*see above*  Not so much running but check this out:  I ran a 5K PR!!  Officially a PR this time!  Sadly, not as fast as my virtual 5k PR but I'll take it.  It was in the Gopher to Badger 5K where the course takes us along and over the St. Croix River from Minnesota to Wisconsin (hence the name "Gopher to Badger" - Minnesota is the Gopher state and Wisconsin has badgers.  Not Honey Badgers though, which is both a failing and a blessing.)  I loved the course, part shady street, part trail, over a long bridge.... The ankle didn't hurt at all during the run but it sure complained later in the day and the next day too.  So less running, more rehabbing.  It's on the mend but it sure is taking it's sweet time.

It gets kind of warm in Arizona in August....

Family

Remember last February when darling daughter and I traveled out East in search of the perfect college?  Well, I dropped her off at college last week.  In Arizona.  Did we travel to Arizona to look at schools?  Nope.  Have we ever even BEEN to Arizona?  Nope.  So how did she find this school anyway?  Her boss told her about it during her performance review.  She looked it up on the google, applied, found out that they would be very generous with scholarship money and made her decision.  Ta da!  But it's awful having her that far away.  A three hour plane ride and then a two hour drive...... She'll do great.  I'm the one who needs to adjust.

Other health related issues
As you may or may not know, I am a pasty an alabaster skinned Irish lass who is prone to sunburn.  As I kid, I got sunburned a lot, and as a stupid teen I did the whole "baby oil and reflective blanket" thing to try to fool my skin into thinking it's capable of obtaining a tan.  I also fried myself in those new-fangled tanning beds when they first came out.  The upshot of all that is that I have damaged my skin and as a precautionary measure, I get my skin checked by a dermatologist on a yearly basis.  I'm always inspecting my skin to look for anything new so that my derm can take a look and make sure that any of the more unusual spots and freckles are harmless....  So this year, I'm in for my annual check and she finds a suspicious spot that I had missed.  (Let's just say it was on my naughty bits and required the use of a mirror for me to see it... we'll leave it at that.)  Anywhoo, so she says to me that she's "80% certain that it's benign and we can either do a biopsy today or we can watch it closely, and I can come back in a month and she'll measure it and see if it's changed at all...." and I'm thinking to myself, "Only 80% certain??  I think I want a better percentage than that.  And come back in a month?  She wants me back in that soon for a check??"  So I asked what type of skin cancer it would likely be if it wasn't benign and she said, "Melanoma."  Umm, yeah.  OK. Not interested in watchful waiting.  Take the damn thing off.  NOW.  Long story short, it's benign.  <HUGE  sigh of relief>  I didn't realize how much I was stressing about it until I got the results of the biopsy.  I got the news two days before taking DD to school in Arizona so I was able to relax and enjoy my time with her.  My kids thought I was the sunscreen nazi before, they have no idea what they're in for now.

Work
Busy, busy, busy!  I love my job - it's interesting and I'm always learning something new.  And it keeps me occupied and out of trouble.  More or less!

As promised
Some more Warrior Dash photos!  Such a fun day!!!

Action shot of us running after getting blasted by water from the snow-making machines.  It was such a hot day that running soaking wet felt great.

One of the many lonnnnngggg hills on the course.  It was at a ski resort and they made the most of the hills.

Running through the sand pit.  Up another hill.

At the top of the wall!  See that chick on the lower right?  This was a frickin' tall wall to climb!! And check out the arms on the dude on the right.  Yikes!

Jumping over fire!  
I'm probably the whitest girl you know.

Crossing the finish line after crawling under barbed wire through the mud pit.  Notice how pristine the husband's face is...

My face.....not so pristine.  I don't know how the husband stayed so clean!