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By kilax, June 5, 2018 5:43 am

Yeah, that’s not a typo. That’s me combining “Data” and “updates.”

When I talked to the veterinarian last week, he told me Data’s cobalamin (B12*) test came back really low, showing he’s not absorbing it. And most of the time, that is a sign of inflammatory bowel disease or GI lymphoma.

Ugh. Huge sad face.

Our choices were to do an ultrasound to see if Data has lymphoma, or start treating his symptoms. You can’t start the treatment, then do an ultrasound, because it changes the cell structure (or something like that – going off of my notes from the veterinarian, here!).

We decided to treat Data, and the vet wanted to see him right away, so on Friday he had his first treatment of cobalamin and prednisolone (steroids) at the vet. Once we get these meds at home, we will be giving him the cobalamin via injection (!!!), and the prednisolone orally. The cobalamin is for his vitamin deficiency, and the prednisolone is for his inflammation.

So far, he’s acting the same, and his poo has gone from straight up liquid, to more of a soft serve. We’re hopeful he will get better, and put on some of the weight he’s lost. Fingers crossed!

*Funny thing – that is what vegans are usually low in too – B12.

While I was at the vet Friday, they asked me if I wanted to see the kittens (!!!!!!) and told me we get first pick! Ha. With how much I call them to ask questions about our cats, I think they know a kitten(s??) would be going to a loving home. Of course, we would not adopt if the timing was not right with Data’s health.

View this post on Instagram

Mama and kittens got their dewormer today ❤️3 weeks old and have their own exam room to roam around in today with mom ❤️

A post shared by Animal Hospital of Lake Villa (@a_h_l_v) on May 31, 2018 at 11:15am PDT

On Friday night Steven and I started brainstorming kitten names. We’d have to learn their personalities a bit before picking their permanent names, but my top choices are all Battlestar Gallactica themed, and Steven’s are all Star Trek themed (of course).

And what about Khaleesi?! She did VERY well with Bobbi checking in on her this weekend! She observed Bobbi from the bedroom entrance instead of hiding under the bed, and even came out to eat around Bobbi. Yay! She’s slowly becoming less of a scaredy cat!

Still much judgement though.

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By kilax, June 4, 2018 6:07 am

This was our weekend of seeing ALL THE FAMILY! We had a great time, but boy, was I exhausted getting up today!

FRIDAY!

On Friday we drove to Guttenberg, Iowa in the late afternoon. We stopped for dinner and split “fajitas for two” at Los Aztecas, which was really sides for two and fajitas for four. Or six. We had A LOT leftover!

SATURDAY!

On Saturday I woke up to an amazing sunrise over the Mississippi River.

I ran, then we checked out the farmers market, and visited my mom’s mom!

After our visit, we changed in to our wedding clothes and headed to the wedding. We stopped for lunch in Decorah, Iowa, and after lunch, I had an amazing house blend chai at Magpie Coffeehouse. If you ever find yourself there, try it!

The wedding was at a barn in Chatfield, Minnesota. We drove in to Chatfield and were surprised Google Maps was telling us the wedding was still twenty minutes away. Ha, that was because we had some zig-zagging to do on paved country roads, then had to drive on dirt roads for about five minutes to get to the barn back in the woods!

It was a gorgeous location out in the country! This barn exists because the owner’s daughter wanted to have a barn wedding and renting one seemed more expensive to him than building one, so he just built it! And now they rent it out a few times a year. The bride and groom found out about it through the groom’s sister attending an event there.

The wedding was for my dad’s cousin’s daughter, so… my second cousin’s daughter. We’re close with this particular second cousin because he lives near us, but also because he’s awesome. We love spending time with him and his two siblings and their spouses for the same reason, so we were excited to catch up with everyone!

Gene (Grandma’s brother), Grandma, Larry (second cousin Denise’s husband), Denise, Doug (second cousin), Jill (Doug’s wife), Steven, me, Ian (second cousin Drew’s son), Drew (father of the bride), and Diana (mother of the bride)

And I got to see my mom because she was my grandma’s plus one! Yay!

They had planned to have the wedding outdoors but set up inside in case it rained – good thing they did – there were two downpours during the wedding! That’s good luck, right?

It was a pleasant evening to be outside, and a neat venue! We had fun chatting with everyone, and lasted until almost ten o’clock! Woot!

We got to our hotel and it was pretty noisy and I was worried I wasn’t going to sleep. Um, nope. I was exhausted and got just over eight hours! Woo hoo!

SUNDAY!

On Sunday I went for a short run in Rochester, Minnesota. Props to Rochester for having their trail system so well marked out!

We met Steven’s cousin Jana and her family for lunch at Forager (a brewery and restaurant), then visited their house. They bought their home about four years ago and had to completely gut it, so of course, a lot of lunch talk was home construction stories, which we always enjoy!

We can’t even remember the last time we saw Jana and her family, so it was great to catch up and see how they are doing, and to see their beautiful home!

After visiting them, we briefly stopped by my college friend Allison’s house to say hello before heading out of town. She saw I was in town on social media, and commented on how she lived nearby. I had completely forgotten she lived there and was glad she said something so we could say hello! I haven’t seen her since a classmate’s wedding several years ago. Cliché, but time sure does fly!

We headed straight home, and didn’t stop once during the four and a half hour drive. The drive is mostly through Wisconsin, and, ugh. It’s a pretty drive, that’s for sure, but it’s four lane highway (two lanes each side) and drivers just don’t seem to know that the left lane is for passing. It was a stressful, unnecessarily congested drive. I felt stressed out when I got home, and I didn’t even drive!

We spent our few hours before bed doing some chores, and I tried to get ready for the week – I have some extra office days this week that required, well, extra prep. And yeah. Exhausted today! But grateful we got to see so many loved ones this weekend. Although I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling a bit quiet now!

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By kilax, June 3, 2018 8:11 pm

Highlight of the Week: Having a good tempo workout / cool running weather Friday – Sunday / getting to run in Iowa and Minnesota!

Monday | May 28, 2018: 16 m run (incl. 12 tempo MP)
Loc: Lake Andrea/Outlet Mall Loop, Temp: 67°/74°, Time: 2:22:39, Pace: 8:55 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: fantastic
Tuesday | May 29, 2018: 12 m run + 20 mins strength + 10 m ride
Loc: Kilbourne/DPRT Loop, Temp: 66°/63°, Time: 1:58:34, Pace: 9:53 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, legs tired to start!
Indoor Ride Time: 38:27, Pace: 15.6 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, arms shaky from strength workout!
Wednesday | May 30, 2018: 40 min walk
Thursday | May 31, 2018: 22 m run
Loc: DPRT/Delaney&Kilbourne, Temp: 69°/74°, Time: 3:39:12, Pace: 9:58 avg, Difficulty: medium/hard, Felt: good, but a bit out of it
Friday | June 1, 2018: teaching strength class + 1,008 yd swim + 3 m run
Strength: resistance bands & cards, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: FitNation, Time: 20:51, Pace: 2:04 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 59°/59°, Time: 26:50, Pace: 8:55, Difficulty: easy, Felt: so good!
Saturday | June 2, 2018: 10 m run
Loc: Guttenberg, Temp: 57°/55°, Time: 1:31:59, Pace: 9:12 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great, a bit tired (legs) at times
Sunday | June 3, 2018: 4 m run
Loc: Bear Creek Trail, Temp: 58°/58°, Time: 35:47, Pace: 8:56 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great

Notes:

• I was anxious about doing Monday’s tempo run with our hot weather, but I was able to hold all the miles (and get it done WELL before we hit the day’s high of 90°!). Woot!
• Thursday’s long run was also in warmer (than I’d like, ha!) weather, but I survived! I ran out of water and was so glad I had brought cash and could stop at a gas station and buy more fluids. Good to know if I ever do that route again (miles 14-17 were new route to me).
• And let’s continue on this weather discussion roll – the temps dropped to the glorious 50s on Friday and I very much enjoyed how easy my Friday, Saturday, and Sunday runs felt with those cool temps! On Sunday I got to run on a new-to-me trail in Rochester, Minnesota. Yay!
• Monthly recap time. In May I ran 243.2 miles (25 runs), cycled 87 miles (5 indoor rides, 1 outdoor rides) and swam 4,284 yards (4 swims). My coldest run was 42°F and my warmest was 85°F. I did 2 hill workouts, and 4 tempo workouts. I taught 7 strength classes and 2 fitness boxing classes. I did 1 strength workout at home. I ran two races, the Wisconsin Half Marathon, and the Chocoholic 5K.

Link to Training Week 449

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By kilax, June 2, 2018 7:00 am

I passed 1,000 miles run for the year (with 1,008.2) during my Thursday, May 31st long run! Yay!

That’s the earliest I’ve ever hit that arbitrary number, by about fourteen days. I wasn’t planning on passing it in May, but I signed up to run Grandma’s Marathon in two weeks, so I’ve been running a freaking lot. My 6 weeks to a Marathon plan* has looked like:

Inception: Gina suggests I run Grandma’s Marathon when I see her in April. Hmm, that could be fun.
Week 0: Run Half Marathon, and PR. Get excited about maybe running full.
Week 1: Test out legs on 18 miler. Feeling good, should I do it?
Week 2: Eh, better try a marathon pace tempo. That felt great! So did a 20-miler! I’m signing up!
Week 3: 10 mile marathon pace tempo, yasssssssss. And a 19 mile long run too!
Week 4: 12 mile marathon pace tempo and I didn’t want to die, winning! 22-miler in the books!
Week 5: Week one of taper, wah. 12 mile long run, separate short marathon pace tempo.
Week 6: Race week! Just have to get through taper boredom!

I don’t foresee maintaining this running load. I am registered for a 70-mile bike ride at the end of July that I need to train for! Expect to see a huge increase in cycling, at least in the end of June and in July.

But I will miss running all these miles… until the horribly hot humid days are here to stay. Ha!

*Note, I was trained up to 16 mile long runs and had been running 50 mile weeks already.

Comments (12)

By kilax, June 1, 2018 4:18 am

June is NUTSO this year, but it’s going to be a lot of fun! Here is what I am excited about!

• Seeing all the family! In one weekend!
  • Grandma Pete* (Mom’s mom)
  • Grandma Tiger* (Dad’s mom) and her side of the family at a wedding in Minnesota
  • Steven’s cousin
• Mom and Dad visiting
  • Celebrating Mom’s Birthday
  • The boys doing some projects (oh boy)
  • Working out with Dad
  • Going to NeoCon with Mom
• Grandma’s Marathon!
  • Getting a pre-race massage
  • Roadtrippin’ with Bobbi and Riyanti
  • Seeing Gina and her friends (who are my friends by association, ha!)
  • Seeing a friend from college in Duluth
  • Going for a marathon PR!
• Visiting Rachel and Kevin at the cottage they go to in central Wisconsin
• A dentist appointment (I love having my teeth cleaned)
• Seeing the Royals play the Brewers with Bobbi and John
• Bowling
• Collapsing at the end of the month

What’s on your list?!

*These are the pet names we’ve had for our grandparents since childhood, and we still call them that.