Fast Week

Morning weigh-in: 182.5#, 10.% BF

Hit the gym last night, then did laundry and had dinner at Which Brew (then Porters) while it dried -- yes my new dryer is still broken. It probably just needs a new heater element, but old habits, especially bad ones, die hard and revive pretty easy, and I've been in no rush to fix the damn thing.

Tonight will be the towpath, maybe Sals but probably not (wet & easily damaged trails); tomorrow is coffee/chores/errands/gym, then over to Sals for trailwork; and Sunday may be the Gap Gallop, especially if no better offroad offer presents itself. This will probably be my last chance for an organized century ride this year -- my first season without at least one century since maybe 1998 -- but few of my friends seem interested, and next weekend is the All-A-Muchy 50k race & I may opt for more offroad practice, so we'll see.

I had to fast for that blood test earlier in the week, and now I've been avoiding red meat for a few days & also eating a lot more "bulking" foods. Two words: stool sample. I haven't begun, er, "harvesting" yet, but I sure am looking forward to it, and will let y'all know how it comes out...

Republican Apocalypse

Morning weigh-in: 182.5#, 9.5% BF

Oh my, what a news week! Apocalypse, that means "unveiling," right?

Got home last night, was so tired I went to bed around 8:00, slept through to morning. Nothing else to report, not even a dream...

Well That Explains It

Morning weigh-in: 180.5#, 13.5% BF

Had a fasting blood test this morning. Rode last night after dinner, then basically went to bed. I didn't realize that "fasting" does not mean "no water either," but I was supposed to drink all I wanted... Three needles and two phlebotomists later, they say I'm dehydrated and my veins have shrunk so they have to use "the butterfly," ie the needle they use on infants. Long and short of it is, mission accomplished, but that explains what happened to me on 9-11.

I left work early that day like everybody else here, and then did a ride on the towpath to calm down. When I got home I felt an overwhelming need to "do something," so I went down to Miller Blood Center to give blood. Apparently a lot of other people had the same idea; the place was packed and I waited about five hours (well after midnight) before my turn came. The nurse was understandably frazzled and couldn't find my veins on either arm, and though I got stuck I left without giving blood. The worst I ever felt about 9-11 was on the ride home that night.

For years afterward, whenever I needed to give blood or get an IV, I warned the technicians to be extra careful, since I had "very small veins." They'd chuckle indulgently and say "OK, Mr. Kelly..." and there'd of course be no problem. Until today that is, when the truth finally came out.