I'm No Warrior - Am I?

To steal a quote from one of my favorite television shows, "Holy crap on a cracker..."

Either as a result of menopausal wackiness, a momentary lapse of sanity, or just some weird unthinking whim, when I got a wait-list email from Jason that a couple of spots had opened up for the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek, I threw caution to the wind and said "I'll take them!" This, in spite of the fact that 1) I have never in my life even seen those trails, 2) I am the most unfit I've been in many, many years, 3) I weigh more than I have in, heck, I can't even remember when, and 4) the majority of my sporadic mountain bike rides for the past year have been sub-five-mile, sub-half-hour jaunts on easy local trails and I frequently could use a nap and a sandwich just to get through those!

What on earth I was thinking to sign up for this thing I may never know, and as soon as the payment was made, the sane portion of my brain asked, no screamed, "What on earth did you just do???". Regardless, what was done was done, so I immediately began the search to find a teammate.

As I had done the 6 hour Meltdown at Harris Lake last month as a duo, I figured I would see about getting a two-person team together once again for WC. So The Frybabies got on the start list for Female Duos.

Now I've heard all manner of descriptions of the Warrior Creek trail, fortunately almost exclusively positive, but some of them do make note of the tough steep climbs and wicked rocks. Also, I've seen some of the videos from previous races and although I realize helmet cam footage often distorts the trail reality, some sections on film do appear rather "ledgy" to my heights-fearing self. That, combined with my lack of fitness and strength, as well as the limited riding I've been doing lately due to a variety of excuses ranging from crappy weather to everyday life's excessive demands on my time, I've been more than a little nervous about this race.

Then Mother Nature decided to wreak additional havoc on my already stressed nerves by dumping mass quantities of rain, sleet and, yes, apparently SNOW on the trail today according to The Weather Service website, with bunches more rain forecast through the night and into the morning, leaving less than a day for the trail to (not) dry. Knowing that other trails in the Wilkesboro area - and I assume Warrior Creek as well - contain lots of that poorly draining North Carolina red clay, I have grave concerns about the trail conditions for race day coming up the day after tomorrow. Not the least of  my worries is that I will be that slowpoke, timid, low level rider getting in everyone else's way. My duo teammate has volunteered to ride the first lap, so hopefully every rider that catches me by the time I head out will happen to do so on a stretch where there is room for me to safely and quickly move over and let them pass easily!

It's been a long time since I've been to a big race event, and the years in between have not been particularly kind to my lack of ambition and training. Coming back to the endurance race scene after all these years, 30 pounds heavier and now in my 50s, is scary and nerve-wracking. At the same time, it's something I feel I need to do, for myself.
At least now I have a bike in which I have total confidence - all I have to do is trust the Rip9 and my own abilities, kick all those self-doubts in the ass, get out there and prove to myself that I can still do this.

The Dream

Last night I dreamed I saw a dog sleeping on my couch. At first I thought it was Fry, but as I drew closer, I clearly saw familiar distinctive white "socks" on the lower legs. Could it be? When I leaned over to stroke the soft black fur speckled with flecks of greying, I saw that beautiful white-striped face look up at me softly, as if to say "I'm okay Mom; everything is fine".

I don't know what dreams mean, or if they even mean anything, but my heart wants to believe this one is telling me that Spyder's spirit is always with me and that he is indeed Resting in Peace.

Happy 3rd Birthday Frylie!

To my puppy, my protector, my partner, my furry best friend...

 For always bringing a smile to my face, for sharing life's adventures with me, for encouraging me to stay active...

 And for showing me how to always enjoy life to the fullest...

Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

Happy Valentine's Day - To Me!

I've decided to give myself a very special Valentine's gift this year to celebrate the second half-century of my life. I retrieved my old training schedule written out specifically for me by Charlie Storm back when he was my cycling coach a few years ago and am going through it again to get back into shape for the spring/summer cycling season. Today is day two and it didn't take me long to remember just how tough my training plan was! However, I know the payoff will be worth the effort, as I saw excellent results with it previously and I'm looking forward to regaining some significant fitness and strength using Charlie's proven techniques.

Heck, I think I might even sign up for a couple of local races this spring, just to give myself some goals to work toward...

Fry Update

Good News! At the veterinarian's office this afternoon, it was decided that in light of how well Fry's torn toenail was healing, no surgery would be required at this time after all. So for now he will remain on the oral antibiotics to finish out the week's course, and will continue with the twice daily Betadine cleansings. The vet said she could not explain the inexplicably fast healing and apparent painlessness of the wound and suggested either Fry was a very lucky little boy or we were doing an excellent job of caring for the injury or (more likely, in my opinion) both. Regardless, we're very pleased and hope to have Fry back on his regular activity schedule in short order.

Off To The Hospital

Well, I thought we could escape a hospital visit, but it just wasn't in the stars...

Our little boy suffered an unfortunate nasty torn toenail on his right hind foot during his trail run a few days ago. The nail appeared to be severed cleanly with no fragments hanging, but the "quick" was clearly exposed. Oddly enough, Fry never yelped or cried or gave any signs of being hurt at all. In fact, had I not noticed him licking substantial amounts of blood off his foot once we arrived back home, his behavior otherwise would never have indicated what I would have expected to be a very painful injury.

On the advice of the veterinarian, we initially treated it with twice daily dilute Betadine cleansing along with oral antibiotics. The wound surprisingly didn't seem to be really bothering Fry at all and there were no nail fragments needing to be trimmed off, so careful monitoring and home treatment were recommended. However, within a couple of days, Fry began licking and worrying the toe and the "quick" started appearing raw looking and seemed to be getting more irritated.

As a result, Fry will be heading to the hospital for an inpatient day procedure this week to surgically remove the irritated "quick" under anesthesia in an effort to try and relieve his pain, ward off infection, and speed up the healing process. Hopefully our little furbaby will be back to his old self and feeling better soon.

Home Again

What a whirlwind the past few weeks have been! It seems like only yesterday we started looking into the possibility of moving to another house, and now here we are, already getting settled into our new home, thanks to our wonderful realtor, Maggie, and several strokes of Good Fortune making the place we've been dreaming of a reality at long last.

 From the spectacular vaulted ceilings in the master suite, kitchen and living room...

Offering lots of light and an open feel...

 To the private and lovely half-acre wooded back yard...

The brick walkway curving around the house...

to the gazebo and gate...

 And back around to the spacious deck...

With a peaceful view of the back yard...

 Everything about this place says "home" to us.

We've only been here a week, so are still finishing up the unpacking and organizing process, but it already feels like home here, and our little family could not be happier.