You'd think I'd done the whole race!

Did you miss it? Best finisher photo EVER!

This has been a creaky week. Monday I was in the pool for a nice relaxing swim, trying to stretch out and get my pool stroke back.

Who am I kidding? It was all about the hot tub.

Yes, I know you love my honesty. It's why I haven't risen to the top of the corporate hierarchy. Oh well. Though I did swim a K or so and mostly it felt pretty good.

Chatted with Madi, Jordan, and Rose, which was nice, I haven't seen Rose in a while.

The rest of the day was wandering around like a half slaughtered sheep, starting to do something, forgetting what it was part way through, starting something else, then reverting. At least there was some nice cuddle time with Curtis and Celina.

Curtis ended up having a big day, going to the vet, them having a hole in their schedule to do a biopsy of the paw that has some sort of infection happening. His front paws have had it, and we could understand how they could get a sliver or something, since he is always putting his paws into something. But his back paw? We tried the same antibiotic that worked before, and it didn't this time. The various suggested further treatments were all guesswork, and one of the shots has the possibility of causing diabetes. Not in our cat! The biopsy should tell us what we are dealing with, and what the actual treatment is.

He's had a woozy couple of days, but seems to be perking up. As long as he isn't licking or chewing at the stitches in his paw, there will be no cone of shame.

Tuesday I was walking like a crippled man. My calves were killing me! I went to bed early. I'd planned on swimming Wednesday and bailed on it. My legs got better throughout the day, and so I decided to head out for a short easy run.

Holy crap, that was awful. Even running really slowly I couldn't breath. My knees hurt, not in a warming up or niggle sort of way, but almost actual pain. I slowed down even more, played with my stride, stretched a bit more on a bus stop bench, and none of it did any good. My hips were hurting and the shirt I was wearing felt too tight. My shorts were riding up. I ended up taking off my new shoes and walking home in sock feet. That felt better. Even afterward I've been feeling funny twinges in my feet. I'll go back to the store and see if they can swap them out or something.

Here is an example of how good Linda is at gardening things. We bought a raised bed. Yes, I realize they're simple to make. Well, they are if you have the tools, and I don't. Not really.

I cleared out the worst of the grass. Linda did the fine tuning so it was to her liking, and I helped drag the bed back. I popped the level on it. Can you see how good she is?

Maybe not. Look more closely. Level. First time.

Here's the end result.

I'd drawn a little diagram on my wall at work to explain the difficulties of the swim, and have been asked to post it here. I'm so good to you guys. And yes, the note about data is out front where everybody passing by can read it. This helps them understand some of my behaviour at work. Big sighs. Head scratches. Staring thoughtfully at the computer screen. Scribbling little diagrams on my whiteboard. Muttering, which descends to cursing.