For a Friend: CrossFit 07/29/2014

(My friend Chris back in 1990-something)

I lost a very good friend the other day. Chris O'Hare was one of a group of great girlfriends that I had back in NYC in the days when we used to all go out a lot. God, I have so, so many stories that I could tell from those days. I'll just leave that part of it by saying, I'm glad there was no such thing as Facebook or camera phones in those days! On the other hand, it would be fun to be able to look back through those times. Anyway, there was a pack of us and, kind of odd for a group of women, I honestly don't remember any bitchiness or competitiveness, none of that nonsense. We all always had each others' backs. We all had a blast rolling around NYC together. I even remember when a new gym opened up close to work. We all decided to join and would go to the bar before going to the gym! Chris was never the athletic type. I remember her looking at me in horror once at the gym as I worked out on a Stairmaster or something and exclaiming, "you're ... sweating!!!" I had to say, "well, yes Chris, that's kind of par for the course at the gym."

Chris' health began to fail a few years ago. All at the same time she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and heart disease (and had a heart attack soon afterwards). She fought it for the past few years, but finally lost the fight a couple of days ago. Throughout her illness though, we would talk on the phone from time-to-time (not often enough!) and reminisce about the old days and the good times we all had back then. She had recently gotten a little active on Facebook and enjoyed following what everyone was doing. Because we all knew each other in NYC, the fact that I now live in New Hampshire and own a horse had Chris convinced that I live on a farm! She always managed to crack me up somehow.

Over the past couple of years, as I work through my own struggle to get fit, I have been thinking of Chris a lot. I think of what she could not do, but what I can choose to do. Every day comes down to choices. Sometimes I win, sometimes I don't reach my goal for the day, but every day is a new opportunity to get it right. Sometimes thinking of Chris helps motivate me, when I can't quite find the strength or enthusiasm on my own.

Today was one of those days. Chris, this workout was for you. I wish I did a better job.

Posted workout for Tuesday, July 29th:

Warm-Up:

3 Rounds, :30 per station:

1. Jump Rope
2. Lunge w/ Twist
3. Dive Bombers

What I did: I'm so mad, I forgot my jump rope!!! I took one of the gym jump ropes and right away couldn't even do it. I figured it was too long and so I went back to try and find a shorter one and couldn't, so then I tied two knots in the cable and it was too short ... argh! With all my dithering, I didn't end up doing a lot of the warm-up. Stumbled through some crappy attempts at the jump rope, some really terrible twist lunges and some push-ups from the knees. Geez, I was a mess. 

Looking at the WOD, I was in a bit of a panic that I wasn't going to be able to do the jump rope at ALL, after my disaster of a warm-up. 

We then did a bunch of stretching (especially hip mobility) and then WOD prep.

Performance / WOD:

A. "Blender Bottle"

AMRAP 8:00 (as many reps as possible in 8 minutes):

40 Double Unders
20 Wall Balls (20lbs men/14lbs women)

-Rest 2 minutes-

AMRAP 3:00:

5 Deadlifts (225lbs men/155lbs women)
5 Box Jumps (24" men/20" women)

-Rest 2 minutes-

2 RFT, 5:00 Cap (2 rounds for time, max time 5 minutes):

5 Deadlifts (225lbs men/155lbs women)
10 Box Jumps (24" men/20" women)
15 Wall Balls (20lbs men/14lbs women)
20 Double Unders

(Editorial Note: Apparently Tuesday is now Cardio Interval Day. I can't figure out if tonight or last Tuesday was harder. They both pretty much killed me.)

What I did: I finally figured out that I needed one knot in the jump rope cable to be able to use it. In the last couple of minutes before the clock went off I was able to string out a few at once, so that relieved my panic a bit (imagine panicking about using a jump rope? What is CrossFit doing to me?) I thought I was back at Square One with the stupid thing. 

Anyway ... 
Round 1 (8 minutes): I actually surprised myself when, after stumbling through a couple of false starts, I was actually able to string 40 (singles) together without screwing up. I did not double or triple my jumps for this WOD because I just knew I was stretched to the limits of what I could do already. I got through ... okay, I've already forgotten! I am pretty sure that I got through three rounds and then. Damn, I can't remember. Sheesh! Anyway, the Wall Balls were tough on me tonight. I struggled. Usually I can do at least 10 at a time before I have to rest a bit, tonight I was only stringing 5 together at a time. And my squats were crappy. Going through round-after-round of this, well, I just kind of completely lost my ability to hold myself together.  8 minutes never seemed so long. 

Round 2 (3 minutes): Again, I've totally forgotten how many rounds I got through. That's how delirious I was. I know that I Deadlifted 85lbs for the workout though and a did step-ups on a box (20"), but I honestly don't know how many rounds I did. I went through at least a couple. 

Round 3 (5 minutes): I got through 2 rounds of 5 Deadlifts (85lbs), 2 Rounds of 10 box step-ups (20"), 1 round of 15 Wall Balls and 1 round of 10, 1 round of 20 (single) jump rope. 

I don't even know what my score was. 

B. Plank Holds: 5 holds of 30 seconds, 15 seconds rest in between.

What I did: 5 plank holds, but only the first one was 30 seconds. 

Notes:

• As bad as my performance was, I was red-lining it for most of the WOD. I felt a bit light-headed and very loose-limbed and noodle-y throughout. So, that is what I had in me tonight. 
• The steps-ups aggravate my left achilles if I lead with my right foot, so I am only leading with my left right now. It's a little cockeyed, but it is what I need to do not cause more irritation. I think the step-ups are easier on it than "box" jumps though. 
• The Deadlift repeats at 85lbs were challenging, but doable, so that is good to remember for the next time there are DL with a bunch of repeats (my 1 RM for DL is 125lbs at the moment). 
• It's been a while since I practiced with the jump rope. I should spend some extra time doing that (and running) every week. 
• I keep talking about a lot of "should dos". I need to stop talking about it and just do it.
• I literally couldn't move for a few minutes once the WOD was done. Actually, everyone else in the class seemed to be in the same boat. 
• Planks suck.
• I thought about Chris a few times during my misery when I wanted to quit. 

Reunion Weekend

I ended up having a rather fun weekend. A bunch of friends from NYC came up to stay with Paul & Luminita and so I ended up having dinner plans for both Saturday and Sunday nights. It really was a blast. Paul, Eugene, Holly, Tommy and I (along with a bunch of others: Darryl, Julian, Carolina & Janos, Michelle, “Medicated Dave”, Paul L, Kenny and various other players who sometimes made appearances) were all part of our original crowd of friends. Luminita joined us a number of years later and Eugene’s wife (they’ve been married about a year) joined after I had moved to New Hampshire. Way back in those good old days (and I’m talking, starting in the early to mid-90s here) we would travel around Manhattan in a pack, hopping from one bar to another and staying out all night. It was so, so great back in those days, we were all single, yet there was never any “boy vs. girl” drama, we were all just really great friends who enjoyed each others’ company. Of course the dynamic had long changed by the time I left NYC, since many of the various members had since paired off, but “back in the day” it was really a great time. Luckily, we’ve all been able to remain really good friends over the years, even though everyone’s lives have changed and changed pretty dramatically, for the most part.

So it was a party weekend again with Paul & Luminita, Tommy & Holly (who were single members of our group for years, but finally hooked up one year at an infamous Christmas pub crawl we all attended), Eugene & Grayce (who I had never met before this weekend). Of course I was the one singleton in the crowd, as usual, but for once I didn’t even mind that. We just had a blast telling all the old stories and finding new ways to mock each other (one of those “you kinda had to be there” things). I was also, really, really glad that I liked Grayce so much. I had been very worried about that. Eugene has been such a good friend of mine for many years, I was really hoping that I was going to like his wife. He deserves the best and, let’s face it, it’s a horrible feeling to have a friend marry someone you can’t stand (or even just merely don’t connect with). There is no quicker way to drifting away from someone than when that happens. But I loved Grayce, she totally fits in with our twisted, caustic humor and I felt that I connected with her right away. I'm so happy about that and I’m so happy that Eugene found the perfect person for him.

Anyway, so it was a great reunion. I hadn’t seen most of these guys in a very long time. For Eugene it had been about three years, and for Holly & Tommy it had been even longer than that as they had been living in Vegas for a few years when I moved up to NH. It had probably been five or six years since I had last seen them. Everyone loved where we live in New Hampshire. It turns out that Holly & Tommy have a fairly short trip to get here – they live in North Eastern Long Island and can take a ferry to Connecticut which makes the trip only two and a half hours for them, so we know they’ll be likely to be back regularly. Eugene & Grayce live in Manhattan, but are so sick of it at this stage that they were thrilled with the opportunity to get out of there for a visit. I even think that under the right circumstances they would even consider moving up here. Bwahahaha! Thus my evil plan is revealed … I will eventually get all of my old friends to move up here – HA!

Catching-Up (yet again)

General

I know, I know, I know, it’s been forever since I’ve written. I really have a terrible time with myself during the holidays. I seem to go into a real slump and almost actually kind of fall apart from my birthday through the end of the year. I think it’s getting a little worse every year too. So, in addition to depression and an uninspired attitude, I seem to lack motivation for things like writing blog posts and working out and other stuff that I should do, or need to be doing.

This year with the state of the economy, the company layoffs and changes in the air, a general “unsettledness” feeling of my world has all contributed to my funk. Add to that, little to non-existent immediate family in my life, loneliness (and really, I am generally NOT a lonely type person at all, it just only seems to rear its head from my birthday through the holidays), a little bit of work burn out and I’ve been a bit of a mess. I know it’s a transient feeling though, and since I had a bunch of vacation time left to use, I now have a nice break from work to enjoy, thus I know that this is a temporary feeling for the most part. I’ll get through it okay and will be more positive once January hits. In the meantime, this time off is helping to give me a bit of a breather.

Holidays

Nothing much is new. Christmas came & went and it was pleasant enough. I spent Christmas Eve at one of my cousins who lives close to me. We had a smaller group than at Thanksgiving and I felt it was more fun that way, in my opinion anyway. It was very relaxed and casual and fun. I brought all three dogs with me for the first time and all behaved wonderfully and got along very well with the other dogs there. So I think I’ll be doing that again. Christmas day I just spent alone at home and that was okay. It was more like a lazy Sunday at home watching movies and reading than any kind of holiday, but it was nice not to have be running off anywhere, or worrying about work.

Since I didn’t get much in the way of presents from family, I decided to buy some gifts for myself. I’ve done this for the past few years and it really has helped me get through the holidays a bit. Anyway, this is what I got myself:

• A necklace.
• A sweater.
• A lamp (for the living room to replace a lamp that was bent).
• A new goose down comforter.

I don’t feel like I went overboard too badly. Of course, there are a ton of sales going on, so I have to be careful to keep my itchy fingers off the keyboard and away from the online stores that are the most tempting to me, lest I lose control and go into a spending frenzy. It wouldn’t be the first time after all.

Real Estate

I have this ongoing interest in real estate. I just can’t seem to stop myself from looking online at a couple of the towns near where I live that I love. Anyway, I recently saw a pretty affordable cottage in one of my favorite towns. It’s the town where one of my cousins live (where I spent Thanksgiving and Christmas this year) and also where the riding stables are – it’s actually pretty much around the corner from the Winter barn. It is on this nice quiet road and there is conservation land with wooded trails up the lane from the house (perfect for running and/or walking the dogs). Anyway, this is one of the tougher towns in the area to get into. Traditionally unaffordable, I don’t usually see much, if anything, in my potential price range, and especially never something that I actually like in that range. Well, I had been going back to this listing again and again and then drove past the house a couple of times. Finally, I contacted the realtor and set up an appointment to see it. I was very upfront about my situation, didn’t want to waste her time, but she was willing and I felt that the amount of time I was spending looking at this listing online, I had better finally just see the place. So I went on a sunny day and just loved it (as I knew I would). It’s a little cape, but very open and airy and it was flooded with sun throughout. Big, 3/4 acre back yard, screened porch, lovely big family room with French doors. It’s not perfect, of course. It could use some kitchen and bathroom updating and there is no garage or deck (there is a patio though), and a lack of a garage is a huge bummer in New Hampshire! But I loved it still, it was very charming and most of all, I could see myself living there.

So, I spoke to the realtor very seriously about my options. She is familiar with the homes in my neighborhood and knows well what I would be dealing with in trying to sell. She said, surprisingly, that my type of place tends to sell quickly. I have my doubts, but whatever. I also find it hard to believe that I would be able to sell it for enough to be able to buy the other house. Still, it may be worth a chance to see if something happens. The realtor suggested that I put my house on the market with a contingency that I would need to find suitable housing. Then, if all the planets align and the timing is right and I can sell it fast enough and for the right price, then perhaps it would work out. If not, there is nothing really lost, although there is the inconvenience factor to deal with.

Anyway, I don’t know. It’s completely unrealistic and probably even a little bit crazy to even be thinking of this. However, this may be the only time I’ll ever be able to afford to buy into this town too, so maybe it’s worth a shot. I can’t stop thinking about the house and it’s making me a little nuts. Well, if it’s meant to be, maybe something will happen, if not then, oh well.

Well, for what it's worth, here is a picture of the house and the backyard:





Rant

So, while Christmas shopping (online), I placed an order for a present for my father (and his wife) with Sturbridge Yankee Workshop. The site took my order, took my payment and sent me an online receipt. After ordering, I realized that the tea lights shown on the item page were separate and had to also be ordered. So, no big deal, I called up the customer service number, gave them the order number that had been generated a couple of minutes before and added the additional item. No problem. Until a few days later when I received a paper receipt in the mail with an (oh, by the way) notation that the main item is back-ordered! Most online stores will let you know before you actually place your order that something is on back-order so you have the option of maybe choosing to not order it. This is especially helpful in the week before Christmas when one might be ordering something as a GIFT. But to let you know days later by MAIL when it’s too late to now order something else, after even speaking to someone on the phone right after placing the order who perhaps could have mentioned the back-order issue, WTF kind of way is that to run a store? I’m still freaking pissed off and I feel like there is really nothing that I can do about it. What a shitty way to run a business.

Another Rant: why do I always, always, always end up behind the problem customer on line at the grocery store? I pick the one line where the person in front of me doesn’t have an overflowing shopping cart, only to have that person paying separately for each item and then with all kinds of complicated coupons and credits that no one in the store can figure out how to apply? Why, why, why???? SHEESH.

Horses & Riding

I’ve been riding in two lessons/training sessions a week and can ride two additional “free” rides a week. I feel like I’m slowly making some improvements, but I still get really frustrated with myself. Sometimes when Lulu and I do a jump course I feel like it’s a wild, wild west round – slightly out of control. It seems a little worse in the indoor ring too because, being smaller, the jumps seem to come up much quicker, so there is less time to organize and balance and slow-down between fences. So I’m working on gaining balance and control and maintaining a steady pace, even attempting for a slow pace. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t, but I’m working on it. I participated in a jumping clinic a few weeks ago with an upper level eventing rider and I felt that to be somewhat helpful too. Not that she said anything much different from what Alison has been saying, but I find that sometimes getting the additional perspective can help drill concepts into my head. Anyway, I had the opportunity to talk to her a little bit after the clinic and I asked her specifically about my position over fences. It had been somewhat bad (or at least, not ideal) when I first started back to jumping, but she said that actually this was pretty good. So I think I’ve made some progress there. Still, I have plenty of work to do, I’m never going to be able to move onto bigger jumps or more complicated courses until I have better control. I love Lulu’s enthusiasm, but I have to learn how to harness it better.

On the flat I feel like I’ve made a little more progress. Lulu does not have the ideal conformation for riding round, on the bit and in a frame and she can be a little stiff to bending and to engaging her back, so it is not an automatic thing with her. Still, with work she DOES do it, it just doesn’t happen easily or automatically. This has been a real learning experience for me and is really helping me re-develop some of the more subtle riding skills that I had forgotten. It’s not perfect yet, typically, with work, I’ll get a few great strides of a great, round, on the bit frame and then we’ll be off again, or she’s tossing her head or resisting in some way. Still, I feel like it is getting better, the good strides are becoming more frequent and of longer duration, so I feel that I am beginning to get it somewhat. I’m actually kind of glad that Lulu is not easy in this regard. An easy horse and I’d more likely be sitting pretty and not contributing as much to making it happen and thus not actively learning and really getting it as much as I feel I am with this work.

Yesterday I had a make-up lesson with another of the instructors in Alison’s barn. I had ridden with Danielle only once before, right after I started leasing Lulu (it might even have been that first week). Anyway, after our training session yesterday morning, Danielle complimented me and said that she can see that I’ve made A LOT of progress since that first time with her. So I felt very good about that, and felt like she was sincere. She also put me through such a tough flat lesson too. I worked incredibly hard the entire hour, we didn’t walk even once, it was complete work from start to finish. Even though it was about 30-32 degrees, both Lulu and I were completely drenched in sweat when it was over. But I felt like by the end of the hour she was giving me a much more consistent “on-the-bit” rounded frame than when we started the hour. It was deeply satisfying (even if not as exciting as jumping).

If I can continue with the riding work as I have been doing, I feel like I could possibly be somewhere by late Spring. Maybe not ready for any real competition, but at least more competent and a little happier with my skills on a horse.

So, that's it in a nutshell. Nothing too exciting in my life to write about, but there you have it.

Weekends Fly By Too Fast

It was a busy weekend for me and one that flew by far too fast. Yesterday was Applefest, a local half-marathon held near me that runs through the local roads and apple orchards of a neighboring town. It's a lovely race, at a lovely time of year in a lovely town and I hosted a post-race party for the second year in the afternoon. Again we lucked out with the weather -- although last year the weather was summer-like and thus not very good for running, it was very nice for cooking out and sitting outside. This year the temps were much more seasonable, probably in the 50s for the morning, reaching the low-60s by afternoon, but sunny and just a brilliant Autumn day. I didn't participate in the actual race itself, so I can't speak to that, but the party turned out to be a great time. A smaller group than last year, it was a nice crowd of people and I think we all enjoyed each other. The food turned out well and I had a great time overall. I always get nervous and even a little overwhelmed about entertaining, probably mostly because I don't do it very often. But I think I pretty much remembered everything and it turned out well. Of course I now have a plethora of beer and pie and apple crisp and other tempting stuff left in my house, even after giving tons of stuff away to exiting party goers. So, I'll have to walk a careful line through it all, and will probably just throw at least the pastry away. The beer though, the beer. Not sure what to do about all that. I guess I can try to ration one or two of those a week to myself. If I'm strong.

Today I went up to barn #1 for a trail ride that ended up being about two hours long. It was another completely gorgeous Fall day in New England. Crisp and cool (but still warm enough), the foliage not quite at peak (but getting there) a perfect day to be out on a horse winding through the woods. It was just one of those wonderful times where there was nowhere else on Earth I would rather have been. It was very nice and relaxing and a fun thing to do on a Sunday. But now, of course, I find myself suddenly at the end of a weekend and wondering where the time has gone. Maybe I should have taken an extra vacation day or two (and especially as I have taken very few vacation days this year so far), but the work is already stacking up and I don't think I really can right now. So, at least I can enjoy the bit of weekend that I get and that I did, I have to say.

Busy Weekend

This ended up being a pretty busy social weekend for me. Probably a drop in the bucket for people who are used to lots of social plans or entertaining, but for me it was pretty active. Also, with all the visiting and such, my eating and workout routine was pretty much out the window for a few days which kind of has me feeling a little anxious today.

As I mentioned last week, my friends Carolina & Janos were up in New Hampshire for the weekend staying with Luminita & Paul. I had last seen them about 2.5 years ago, just after I had left NYC, when I was back in Queens to pack up my apartment for the last time (they still live down the road from my old place). We all had a great time getting together for dinner at Luminita & Paul’s both Friday & Saturday nights. It was so much fun to be back with the old crowd again and we all enjoyed telling all the old stories of the days when we were bar hopping maniacs. Of course nowadays they all have children and I had a twenty minute drive home, so the drinking certainly was not up to our old standards. But we had a great time anyway.

On Sunday Ellen & Ken (more friends of mine from NYC) came by to hang out as they were up in New Hampshire to run a half marathon. We spent a good part of the afternoon just sitting out on my deck and drinking beer and gabbing, and then cooking out some steak and veggies and corn. It was a great time and it was wonderful to be able to hang out with them again.

Anyway, with all this visiting and cooking out and beer and whatever, I did not workout all weekend. I also wasn’t too careful about what I was eating. Although, for the most part it was all grilled lean meats and vegetables, there may have been a slice of apple pie and maybe some chips thrown in there too at some stage. So it’s back on the program for me today. I’ve got “Nice Mike’s” scary workout session today and tonight I have my Core / Spin class.

I'm so excited!

My friends, Carolina & Janos, are coming up from NYC for this weekend. I haven't seen them in about 2.5 years! I can't believe it's been so long. It will be lovely to just hang out with them and dish.

Sundry

Party Hardy

It was a busy weekend with Julia’s surprise party and diversion facial activity. Saturday morning, after an appointment first thing to get my hair trimmed up, I drove down to Brookline to meet Julia & Cher for a “girls’” spa day. JoeB had generously given Julia a gift certificate for a local day spa so that the three of us could all go together and be spoiled a bit. It was especially nice as, since we all live in different states, it’s very rare that we get to spend time alone together. It seems that usually when we see each other, it’s around some party or other type of crowded activity. So it was really nice to be able to just hang a little bit.

Of course, the real purpose of the facial afternoon was to divert Julia from what was going on back at her house. Driving down her street on our way back from the facials, it was noted that there were an awful lot of cars parked near her house. “Hmmmm, someone must be having a party or something.” We went to walk in the front door, with Julia in the front, and at first it was total silence, I thought to myself, “where IS everyone???” I knew that they couldn’t be out in the backyard since we had just driven through a severe thunderstorm and it was still raining. But then there was a thunderous, “SURPRISE!!!!!” and a bunch of flashbulbs going off. Well, you could have knocked her over with a feather, she was so shocked, so I’d say it was a job well done by Joe to orchestrate this whole thing and keep it a secret. No easy task when you consider that there were probably about 50 people there and a bunch of other people who knew about the secret.

So it came off wonderfully. There were lots of great people to talk to, people I know both from work and from running and a few interesting people here & there whom I had not previously met. And of course there was wonderful Southern BBQ! Pulled pork, brisket, ribs, BBQed chicken, corn bread (even though I passed on that) and the freshest corn on the cob that I’ve ever tasted. I tried to have a very small portion of each of the meat options and just one rib and one cob of corn to stick to my diet, and I think I did okay. I also had one beer, but it was easy enough to stick to one, since I knew that I had to drive later. So, I think I did pretty well in the food department. Anyway, after a while, all the chit-chat and socializing had pretty much sucked me dry, and it had just overall been a long day for me, so I had to call it quits and go home. I lead such a quiet life that this just exhausted me! I was pretty wiped out by the time I got home and then all day on Sunday. It sure was nice to have people to see and a party to go to, but I’m also very glad that every weekend is not busy like that for me.

Yet another trail run

Since the weekend was pretty much a bust for getting any workouts in, and since I have to go to Rhode Island tomorrow for work (and thus will be driving for over four hours during the day, in addition to working) and I know that it’s unlikely that I’ll get a workout in, I knew that I HAD to run today. It was also a lovely day, the humidity was low, and with all the high humidity we’ve had lately, I’ve got to jump on a low humidity day because I KNOW that it’s not going to last. I took the opportunity today to run down some trails that I had never run on before. I had discovered both when I was walking the trails back in April, before I started bringing my running shoes & clothes to work. Both were wonderful, narrow, pine needle covered tracks that wind softly through the woods. There were plenty of opportunities to run for extended periods of time without running into too many obstacles. One of the trails also took me through the swamp that gave me some interesting opportunities to pick over some wooden bridges, leap over muck & marsh and otherwise find solutions to get through some of the wet areas in some of the sections. I finished the last part of the run by first taking my short trail that I’m able to do now without walking and then running a series of three sprints down the fire road back to the company campus. The overall mileage was around 3 miles.

Plateau City

The scale has been stuck on the same damn number for two weeks now and I’m really beginning to get very frustrated. Frankly, it’s beginning to really PISS ME OFF. I can easily see how people can get frustrated on a weight loss journey and just give up. I think here is where the importance of having some good goals beyond a number on a scale comes into play. I can get mad and frustrated when I don’t see those numbers changing, but beyond that, I still have some running and fitness goals to keep in mind, so I can concentrate on that when the scale isn’t cooperating. Plus, being active just feels so damn good! I can only get so depressed when I’m consistently working out, but it rarely gets too bad. If I was sitting on the couch and obsessing over what the scale is telling me, it’s just too easy to give up and give the pizza delivery man a call. If I’ve had a good run that day, I’ve got the whole endorphin thing going on for hours, I don't want to mess with the good that I've done for myself that day and I’m less likely to fall into the junk food trap. At least, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Still, I wish that scale would start moving downward again, I’m truly getting pissed off about it!

Shelton Kang

Shelton & Linda in November, 2002

I've wanted to write something about the passing of Shelton Kang before now, but I don't really know how much I can add to what Julia wrote, she spoke about him so perfectly and beautifully. I will say that Shelton was a genuinely nice person who always saw the best in people. I never heard an unkind word come out of his mouth. He was a man who, despite his limitations, really knew how to get the most out of life. After losing his wife Linda suddenly and being diagnosed with congestive heart failure himself, he could very easily have just stayed home and used it as an excuse to give up and wallow in misery, but not Shelton. He reinvented himself and started a walking program, ultimately walking four marathons and countless half-marathons and other races of varying distances all over the country. Everywhere he went he made friends and spread actual joy. How many people do you meet in life who spread actual joy? He was just a sweet, sweet man who enjoyed life & people. And he was a total dog lover, which always makes someone pretty great in my book.

The news of his passing struck me particularly hard for some reason and I'm not even that sure why. I knew Shelton, I probably saw him about once or twice a year in a group setting. In fact, I had just seen him a couple of months earlier in Boston. But I didn't see or talk to him often enough to really consider him one of my closest friends. Maybe it was just that buoyant spirit of his, it seemed like he would always be around. Or maybe it was just that he always should be around.