Things I think about while cleaning my cat's behind...

This week started off with a trip to the vet for Princess Cone Head (the cat formerly known as "Nimbus"). I found an abscess in her hind leg on Sunday night. It was nasty.

The vet said it was about the size of a tennis ball and most of it was inside. Yummy.

This week my training has included learning such tasks as:
1) How to give a cat a pill (an exercise in will, strength and patience)
and
2) Hydrotheraphy (at least that's what the vet called it). The real name for it is "Giving your cat's back end a shower". That could be somewhat likened to wrestling with a tiger.

I shouldn't complain. She's a good cat. What seems to stress her out the most is not being able to wash herself at all because of the cone. She found a way to reach the last couple of inches of her tail and she purrs like a freight train when she cleans it.

I think this qualifies as "Mom duty", no??

A nice bonus is that I was able to fix up Turtle Guy with a new girl. She's a 4-month old kitten that a family had brought in to be euthanized because she scratched their baby. The folks at the vet clinic decided that at four months old there was a chance she could be socialized and trained to be less aggressive, so they asked if they could attempt to do that and re-home her. The family agreed. The vet clinic said that within a week she'd come a long way and they hoped to find her a home soon. I thought of Turtle, who lost both his cats not too long ago and next thing you know, I got a photo of his new little treasure, who has yet to be named, I understand. In any event, for sure she'll find a good home over at Turtle's.

As for running training, I've been in recovery this week, doing short, easy runs. I realized that I ran pretty hard last weekend and my legs still feel heavy. I'll go out again today, but I think I'll only do 5 miles or so.

In his last comment, Rob asked if I was going to start training for a marathon. The answer is yes.

Now, there are various other questions to answer... Which one? Where? When? How to train...?

I've started to put together a training calendar that spans several months. It's only in draft form and I'll definitely consult with a few people on it, but at least it gets me thinking about it.

I've been asking around as to what's a good marathon to run. Various answers have come in. Karen says I should do the Stampede marathon here in Calgary (so she can cheer me on, bless her heart!) Robb says I should get my butt home to Halifax and run the Blue Nose Marathon next May long weekend. Dawn has said we should train together for the marathon on Prince Edward Island next October.

My chiropractor has suggested that I consider the Okanagan International Marathon or the Royal Victoria Marathon, both in the neighboring province of British Columbia or the Portland Oregon Marathon, all of which would be exactly one year from this weekend. His reasoning is that it means I wouldn't have to do long training runs in the bitter cold of Alberta winters... and that running at lower altitudes is easier.

I am undecided. I like Karen's idea because my first half marathon in July took me over some of the same course this year. I could run the rest of the course in my training and really know what I was getting into. Besides, I like the idea of running at home and having people I know be there!

Robb's idea is my dream; to go back home and run in the city where I grew up would be thrilling! I know many of those streets, too. I could catch up with old friends and meet Robb and Running Wife, which would be very cool.

The idea of training with someone, Dawn, and going to a race together sounds like a blast! She's an experienced runner and I am guessing that I'd have a good time no matter what.

Hhhmm... Decisions, decisions.... Anyone else got any ideas??

Oh yeah, training advice and recommendations for books to read are also welcome.

What is that expression? "The journey of 26.2 miles begins with a single step," right?

Here I go...