Yoshimi 1992-2012

On Thursday we had to say goodbye to Yoshimi. Her spirits were still very good, but she had started hiding more, and was clearly uncomfortable. With a long, hot, holiday weekend coming up we decided that it was time to enact the "a week early is better than a day late" policy.

We spent that night and the next morning with her and then had a pretty awful experience at the vet. Our Vet is amazing, but everything that could go wrong went wrong. Yoshimi didn't go through any more pain than she would have if they had gone right, but we ended up having to give her an injection right into her heart because she tore up a vet tech that tried to insert her catheter and the sedative didn't work.

Nick has been my rock in all this - his counsel, opinion, support, and affection for Yoshimi made me feel like I wasn't alone in this. And, for once, I think that the fact that we took her home for a few weeks was a very good idea - we all enjoyed that time immensely.

In the meantime, we still don't know what is wrong with our house and are waiting for autopsy results to give us a better idea. They say they will be very thorough, but it may take up to three weeks for test results. In the meantime, it is very sad living in a house without cats - except for living in the dorms for two years, I have always lived with cats. The house is lonely and quiet and cold. But, we can't, in good conscious get any more pets while we live here.

Yoshimi has really really grown to like this string:


And she's always loved these windows:


And she has recently really enjoyed this window seat:


Nick took this timed shot when I was at work:


This is Yoshimi's original adoption sheet - she was supposedly named "Brenda" - this is what she thinks of that:



Being mischievous:



At the vet :(

Madison Half Marathon

I ran the Madison Half Marathon yesterday with a time of 2:30:22! Due to the heat, the full marathon was cancelled and our friend Mike ran with me. He was great companionship and although it was hard, we had a blast - I'll definitely do it again!

Right around Halfway I asked Nick to meet me halfway with a second water bottle. There were plenty of water stations, but I had trained with these and they were cold :)

Willy St. This was about the point that I started to feel some pain (in my knees and feet).

Machinery Row Our old frisbee friend Mike was going to run the full marathon but it was cancelled due to the heat - he ran with me instead and was great company. We stuck right with the 2:30 pacesetter and chatted most of the way.

John Nolen Drive This was the beginning of the hardest part - no shade, last 5K, hot, and cranky.

Our friends Stacey and Adam met me at Machinery Row with this great sign! The crowds in general were great and it was wonderful to have friends cheer me on :)

Mile 10! From here on out was uncharted territory for me - my longest previous run had been 10 miles!

Olin Park Did I mention no breeze?

Mile 11.5 Starting to get cranky.

Firehose! I spent half a mile staring at that firehose, waiting to run under it - it was the best feeling in my entire life.

Last Hill The last half mile was uphill - Mike was surprised to see I kept my word (I actually enjoy uphills) and not only made it up without walking, but sped up our pace and passed a lot of people.

Finish! Given how many people were at the start line, we actually started 7 minutes after the first runner, so the time is a little misleading.

2:30:22! I am very impressed my posture here! I didn't walk once, kept pretty much a 11:20 pace, but sped up to 8:50 for the final half mile (UPHILL).

Finishers! That chocolate milk was the best chocolate milk I ever tasted. 78 degrees at the finish line, btw.

Finisher! I have to admit - it was hard, but *so* much fun!

Local News Story:

http://host.madison.com/wsj/sports/running/runners-battle-heat-in-half-marathon-after-madison-marathon-canceled/article_77692ccc-a827-11e1-b1d2-001a4bcf887a.html

And Local News Official Pictures: http://host.madison.com/wsj/sports/running/photos-madison-half-marathon/collection_0d6d3dee-a828-11e1-95ff-001a4bcf887a.html