Blow Out

On Sunday afternoon a good sized group gathered over
at Emrick,and many of them had already skated the
morning indoor practice at Frenchtown.
God bless their strong legs and indomitable spirits!
With my son settled in front of his computer wearing
his new and quite expensive headset from Circuit City,
I was free to join them.
Things didn't turn out quite the way I thought they
would..
First, it was pretty hot, maybe going on to the high
80's.
Hot enough to want to stay in the shade when you were
getting your boots on.
OK, so it was hot, the first hot skate of the season
for me. Big deal I thought when we headed out onto the
1 mile loop, after we'd had a slow go round of the smaller
track to get organized.
Turned out to be a big deal for me, much to my dismay..
Within 4 miles my feet hurt, in 30 minutes I felt
cooked and drained.
Taking my turn to lead our group it was on the next lap
I motioned to the skaters behind me that I was getting
out of the line. As I rolled over to the parking lot
our cars where in, I watched my group continue on without
me and didn't feel good about it at all.
What happened to the gal who was doing lap after lap
outdoors in the same location just a few days ago?
Bummer..I took my skates off,( which might have been
a mistake), and got the Gatorade out of the cooler I'd
brought.
I didn't feel very well..
Five or ten minutes later I was joined in the small
bit of shade I was sitting in by others and gradually
everyone came in to re-hydrate.
I wasn't the only skater that felt fried..
We had a good amount of time to rest and booting back
up I joined the group over on the small track.
Dang!
My feet hurt worse than they did before :O
The second and third toe of my right foot felt like
they'd grown two inches, had turned into painful
pressurized concrete, and were pressing against the
front of my boot in the most painful and distracting
manner.
And I thought having the skin ripped off my wrist was
distracting?
My feet had never hurt so bad in speed boots.
Call me a weeny, but I couldn't skate like that and had
to call an end to it with only 35 minutes on my watch...
This made me doubt I'd ever make a very good outdoor
skater..
Oh well, as Willy said, "some days it's heaven, some days
it's hell, and some days I don't even know".
I don't know what happened yesterday, nor why I fell apart
so fast..
On the plus side. The portion of my left wrist where the
top layer of skin was missing was painful unless I kept
it completely lubricated with ointment, and I kept hitting
and rubbing it on stuff making it worse.
On the way home from Emrick, with my tail between my legs,
I stopped at "CVS" and toured the first aid aisle.
Come away with a box of Johnson & Johnson Advanced Healing
Adhesive Pads.
Like big band aids, but they stay on for days, are water
proof, protect, minimize pain, and promote faster healing.
Certainly does the second two and it was a huge relief not
to constantly be reminded of it.
Sure did feel good to take a cool bath, get all
the sweat and grime off, and put that J&J pad on.
Refreshed, I went down to the basement, to finish doing
my laundry, and discovered our 30yr. old dryer, had
utterly, and finally died.
Crack!
After my recent buying spree at the local home improvement
store, and bringing home two much needed air conditioners
and a ceiling fan, that old, well used dryer, must have
felt left out.
Great..my financial well is dry and I need a dryer..(I
don't like crunchy clothes off the clothes line, I've
tired it).
Just where was that ad I'd cut out of the local "Penny
Saver" paper and put away somewhere?
Guy sells used white goods and I'd saved his number for
this very reason.
Luck was on my side!
Found the ad, called, left a message, "Tom" called me
back in 5 minutes, we made a deal over the phone, and
if things go as planned he will deliver it today, on
a holiday no less :)
I am thankful..
And thankful to have a day ahead of me to relax, read,
and do some weeding in my flower beds..
The heavy thunder storms that moved through last night
helped get all those weeds ready for easy pulling :)