Boring

In the month or so since I last posted, I've been super boring.  I rested from the bronchitis and stopped coughing last week.  I've gone for one hike.  I've caught up on house cleaning, paying bills and work.  Getting caught up made me realize that the last three or four years of running have taken a toll on other parts of my life!  I was really behind.

Starting tomorrow, I will be back to running and training.  I'll post a list of races I'm going to commit to.

Thanks so much to my wonderful friends who have sent me unexpected gifts (Donna and Elise!) and those who have emailed me (Leigh, Wanda, Elise, Jason).  I know I've been in a funk and it would definitely be a much deeper funk if I wasn't treated so kindly by my friends.

I'm thankful for my friends, my health (which overall is pretty good), warm weather down here in Teton Valley and for having a flexible job that works around the other things in my life.

Recently, one of my caretaking clients noticed a bear at the ranch.  Click here for some video of the bear walking around the pond and a local news story. Fish and Game brought a trap.  They caught 3 bears, not one.  I was lucky enough to see the last one trapped.

Here's what it sounded like!

 Here it is being released by Fish and Game.  Picture is from the local paper, the Teton Valley News.

 A frozen spider web.

 Looking into a creek

 Looking at Buck Mountain from the trail.

 Bugs have carved a mountain scene in an old log.

 Amber waves of grain.

My baby starts his junior year of Teton High School.

Slow times

A skull in a tree on the way up to Targhee, I saw this last weekend while I was having another terrible run. A sign of things to come???

Yes, slow times. The apathy and lethargy I was feeling two weeks ago morphed into bronchitis. Yuck. I haven't done much running or hiking in the last week because I've been feeling slower and slower. The coughing started a few days ago. Yesterday, I felt hot and sweaty despite the cool temps in the 50s. I decided to go to the doctor before the cough turned into pneumonia. He told me I've got bronchitis and that it's probably bacterial (other factors are involved).

So, slow times, I'm still doing my mile a day (Day 193 of the streak). Right now I'm parked in front of the computer. In the next couple of days, I hope to catch up on emails, insurance stuff, paying bills and setting fall and winter goals.

Last week I did a couple of fun things. Below are the pics. Enjoy!

I had to ride the bus, which I don't do very often, and loved this sign. Also, the bus has INTERNET! You can't get a phone signal but you can get internet. Amazing!

Sweet Baby horse is over a year old now! She's changed so much!

My husband using the golf course he's put in the backyard. There are flags and everything but you can't see them in this picture.

I never tire of this view from the top of Fred's Mountain at Grand Targhee. I had a terrible run this day but was treated to stunning views.

Buck Mountain. I got my son to come up here with me. We nearly got to the top but had to stop just below the summit (the story of my summer!).

Buck again but as the sun is rising.

We awoke to frost on the tent and backpacks at 10,400 feet

Zane hiking up to Timberline Lake at the base of Buck Mountain. Grand Teton in the centerish part of the picture. Owen? to the right?

It's tough waking up when you're 16!

A gorgeous view of the Tetons from the East Ridge of Buck Mountain.

4th class scrambling on the East Ridge of Buck

A mama and baby moose that we nearly, literally, ran into. Mama didn't like us!

Apathy and under replacement, your symptoms may vary

This is a post for my Addison's readers.

I've spent Saturday through Wednesday being completely apathetic. Saturday and Sunday I was uncharacteristically sore from a hike/run that I did so I passed my apathy off as an after effect of being sore and tired. Monday came and I could not motivate to run or work much or care about much of anything. Tuesday and Wednesday were much the same.

At first the apathy was kind of nice, I get too worked up about too much stuff and stress out on a day to day basis. With the apathy, I didn't give a crap about what got done or when. By Wednesday, I was getting behind on the running and my jobs and still not feeling too stressed about it. I was getting unsettled by my lethargy, apathy, indifference and aching hands and wrists. I started thinking to myself, hummmmmm, when has this happened before? The answer is when I had a broken hip this winter. I am not saying my hip is broken. When I started thinking about the details, I realized that I was slightly under replaced because this is exactly how I felt when my hip was broken and I was too stupid to up my HC.

Usually, I get a stomachache or nausea when I'm under replaced. This time, I did not. I think the difference is that I was slightly, slightly under replaced for days.

What did I do? Popped 5 mg HC when I realized what was going on (yesterday) and took and extra 10 today. I feel like my usual, stressed out, highly motivated self again! Off for some long runs this weekend!

I guess what I'm hoping to have others take away from this is...

1. Under replacement isn't always a HUGE gap between the HC you're putting in and the HC your body needs. It can be subtle.
2. Under replacement can manifest itself in different ways in the same person at different times depending on the circumstances.
3. If you're not feeling like yourself, listen to your body and try to figure out what it's trying so hard to tell you. You may be under replaced, need salt, need water, need Magnesium or need lots of sleep.