Where Have I Been

Honestly, nowhere.  Right here doing the thing that is my life at the moment.  As I'm sure I have mentioned I am out of the NYC Marathon which is this Sunday due to Achilles issues (it also means I am out of the Tough Mudder; not sure which I am more upset about).  My good friends have arranged to watch the race at a pub on the race route, beer in hand, to wash away my misery.  If you can't be healthy and run the race, you might as well be drunk.  Ok, maybe not that extreme, but I have a babysitter just in case.  The answer to that equation is no running.

My staph infection is finally healed.  The one that was caused by my bike helmet.  Yes, I ordered new padding which is back ordered, but will arrive in time for it to be too cold to ride outside.  It has been a long process of healing and it is something that I did not take seriously enough when it first appeared.  I am now overly vigilant when I see a cut on myself or my son.  Staph is no fun.  The answer to this equation is that there has been no swimming and biking due to the infection.  

Staph time line.  Note my use of my non makeup Avatar look on 10/8-10/10.  Anyone know any good scar healing cream?

Essentially the sport of triathlon has rejected my ass.  It's a lonely feeling and is going to be a long road back filled with much soul searching.  I haven't trained much at all.  Mostly due to the injury and infection and then partially due to tons of work that needed to be done for the NY Tabletop Show where I hoped to sell designs and make contacts; both of which I managed to do, although I wish I had sold more.  I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to prepare, but all things considered it went ok.  Next time should be more productive for me.  However, this preparation also interfered with any kind of training; I needed to focus on my work.  It's hard getting back on the horse.  I'll do it, but I need some separation.  Coach Michelle sensed this too.  It is amazing how intuitive she is and how well she can read between the lines.  As a result I am on a 'do whatever I feel like doing whenever I feel like doing it' training plan.  Anything else is too much stress for me at the moment.  If I have a plan in front of me I feel obligated to fulfill it to the best of my ability and anything less is failure, including not being able to do it at all.  Looking at my TP calendar is just depressing and stressful lately.  I did manage to get off my ass today and do this (felt good to almost feel like I was dying):

 

This weekend we also had a close family member who was admitted to the hospital with kidney failure.  It is unclear what will happen there, but the prognosis is not good.  Is 2011 over yet?

Some cleaner and brighter news.  I finally managed to get the funk out of my workout clothes from a summer of sweat and stink.  I'll admit it, my shit was getting nasty.  I tried treating with vinegar; no luck.  It tried ammonia with limited success.  Finally I just took all my stuff, dumped it in the kitchen sink full of warm water and then added a 1/4 cup of bleach.  There was enough bleach to kill all the nasty, musty, sweaty smelling stuff, but not enough to effect the color of any of my garments. Afterward I  ran everything through the wash and it all came out smelling fabulous.  The next time I used them there was non of that funk.  Mind you, I have no outdoor place to hang things in the sun.  I do rinse everything right after I work out and hang it in the bathroom to dry, but drying stuff in the bathroom in summer only makes matters worse as there is little ventilation in there.  Just thought I would share, since I really can't afford to go out and buy all new stuff. 

That's it in a nutshell.