Dear dogs, almost parallel, glutton for swelling

So last night Ali came out to pick up the dogs after she got back into town.  Before she did I was outside with them letting them play.  I was amazed when Nicki got excited by Sadie sprinting around the yard and actually tried to run for maybe 20 feet after her, something I haven’t seen her do for a looong time.  Then Nicki tried to tease Sadie by running around the dog deck away from her.  Sadie immediately gave chase and quickly caught, t-boned and sent Nicki barrel rolling.  However Nicki didn’t seem to mind the collision and got right back up with a big dog smile on her face.

She then joined me up on the dog deck and sat down, staring up at me with a big prideful smile, almost like she was saying “Look what I did!”  It was so cute.  I can only attribute it to her better eating and the low dose aspirin we have been including in her meals.  I am sure a few days away from the two flights of stairs she has to traverse at Ali’s place helps as well. As always it was a sad moment as the girls drove away.  Even though we didn’t do any dog specific fun activities, just having them around changes day to day existence, for the better.

Last night I decided to do some more work on my back levers, indoors on the Triple Gym to avoid the bastard mosquitoes.  I was within a few degrees of the goal of being parallel to the ground a couple times.  Unfortunately my forearms and elbows paid the price with my playing around with the forces of gravity.  They are killing me today.  Watch my progress here.

So I bit the bullet and signed up for my 3rd Tough Mudder this morning.  This year they have moved the date a full month earlier than the prior two years.  I signed up for the Saturday event on November 2nd.  It also is much further away than last year, requiring nearly double the drive which means a hotel stay will be needed.

I was hesitant to sign up for it to be honest.  It’s expensive, and almost a surefire way for an old guy with bad knees to get hurt.  Who can forget the elephant leg (and damaged balls) I developed after last years very uneven and treacherous course?

Plus I have proven my point, I can hack a Tough Mudder.  I can hack a Tough Mudder and still do 20 pull ups afterwards.  Do I need to do it a third time?  At this point the Tough Mudder races have been around long enough that it isn’t quite the badge of honor it once was to complete one, it seems like every Tom, Dick, and Harry has done a Mudder nowadays.

So despite all these reasons to not do it again, I am doing it again.  I am sure I will still take pride in the completion of the course since it will be all new and a different venue.  I just hope I can walk by the end of it.  Tough Mudders take a disproportionate chunk out of whatever shelf life I have left in my knees.

Tonight promises to be busy.  I will be installing the SSD drive in Mom’s new computer, hopefully transforming it into a screaming beast.  I’d like to get some time to play some more Heart of the Swarm but I have Ray Donovan, Dexter and Falling Skies episodes calling me name.