Jim's Marathon

Poor Jim!  I reported Sunday that he had finished 10th in his age group (of 25) in Saturday's Pikes Peak Ascension race, a half-marathon.  I had no idea that he was horribly ill Saturday night and Sunday morning, and that an RN told him not to run in the race Sunday.  Jim was committed to running, however, and run he did.  Only ten men in his age group ran in the marathon, and, besides Jim, only one of these men had run the Ascension the day before.  Jim had to stop multiple times to throw-up during his run Sunday.  He finished ninth out of ten -  and the other man who was a Doubler finished only 9 minutes ahead of him in the marathon.  So Jim was second in his age group for the Doubler contestants.  We still don't know what made him so ill.  He was about 90% yesterday, and seems to be fine today.
  Lovey and Nedi were very happy when I returned home yesterday afternoon and had no problems coming inside for the night at 10.  When I was ready to leave this morning, to walk Rosie, and head over to Alexy's, it was another story.  I'd get one of the kits inside, and go out to catch the other.     Once I caught the second kit, I had to open the door to get us both back inside with the first kit.  Whichever kit was inside managed to escape outdoors when I brought the other kit inside.  I felt like I was in a Keystone Kops short film...  I finally managed to carry Lovey in, while keeping Nedi in at the same time.
  Met one of the new bus drivers on my route this morning.  His name is Steve, and he's a third generation Boulderite.  He's driving an RTD bus as a stop-gap measure; he was in advertising, but his company outsourced the entire office to the Philippines, so he's still on the job trail.

Horse Racing and Weather

It's chilly (14 degrees) but sunny here in Boulder today. My kits have been running in and out, doing their usual chases. Lovey is curled up in the cat tree, soaking up sun right now, while Nedi is playing with the raven family. I'm still recovering from bronchitis - supposed to call and schedule an appointment for a chest X-Ray today because I'm still coughing stuff up. Over all, I feel better - just tired and I would love to stop coughing. I have to start sprucing up the apartment today - we've been warned the City is doing it's 5-year inspection for apartment certification; and I must admit I've been letting my recyclables pile up, so I'll have to make several trips out to the "Green" dumpster. I also need to clean out my refrigerator, so that'll be one trip to the regular (brown) dumpster. The weather folks are now saying we're going to have snow on Valentine's Day and Friday... we'll see. And the good news is that my cousin Aleda, on Chincoteague Island, has finally received the results of all her tests back - she does not have cancer - just a huge, nasty ulcer and a very worn-down immune system. That is such good news!!!
  I have always been a fan of horse racing, even though I don't like what it does to a horses muscle and skeletal systems. Chincoteaguers had a lot of Standardbred racers, and Dad grew up in farm country where families raced their horses and mules for fun; so I had a lot of background information, and acquired information from reading, as I was growing up. I was always puzzled by the way people not involved in racing or training horses (of any type) frequently looked confused when I spoke to them about racing. It was as though I was speaking a different language. Well, today, with my mind elsewhere, I read some of the headlines at The Bloodhorse - and I had to laugh - just glance at the following headlines:
"Golden Mystery Cruises in Hurricane Bertie"
"Channel Lady Flows in Suwanee River"
"Slim Shadey Shines in San Marcos"
  Luckily for me, I knew that the first two words in each headline was the name of a horse, and the last two words were the name of a race, and I smiled at the playful use of the verbs used to describe the horse's win. But how many other people, stumbling upon those headlines, would understand the import of each statement? I know that The Bloodhorse is a thoroughbred racing magazine, newspaper, and website - but for someone just finding the site, some of the headlines and terms used seem strange. Perhaps there should be an easier to read and understand website for those uninitiated to The Sport of Kings? ... It's just a thought.
  Black Caviar, the undefeated Australian mare, will race on Saturday down under, looking for her 23rd win. Her half-brother, All Too Hard, won the Orr Stakes last weekend. And Gary Stevens, who will be 50 next month, rode stakes winners on both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. Your return to riding is going great guns, Gary! I hope you continue to succeed!