Blood Counts on the Rise

Yes, Will and Dori essentially have the same hair right now ... short. Dori's hair has changed from black to almost her former brown, with some reddish gold streaks. Doesn't Dori look good?

She's had a great week after vanquishing last week's stomach virus. Her red blood cell and platelet counts rose, so they removed her PICC line. Let me say that again ... they removed her PICC line! Even her white blood cell count rose, which is good news after battling the stomach bug. Dr. Jagasia mentioned Dori might be two to three months away from doing some things she likes, like walking at Radnor Lake. She might even be work-ready on a part-time basis by the summer, if she chooses to go back.

Will's basketball team, shown above, won their first game, 29-24 in a thriller in their final game of the year. This year was Will's first to play, but apparently his team didn't win a game last year; so this was the boys' first victory in two years. The kids maxed out, in effort and performance. Will ran a fast break, leading his buddy MacGregor, who made a great shot, for the play of the game. Will also had two buckets, along with several steals and rebounds. When the horn sounded, it was like the end of the movie, "Hoosiers." The kids could not contain themselves or stop celebrating.

After Sunday's nine miler and Monday's six miler, I ran 3.5 miles early Wednesday and again on the treadmill on the road on Thursday. So with one day left, my mileage stood at 22 miles. I decided I would get in another long run early this morning. The smiling weather lady on TV said it was 31 degrees with a 3 MPH north wind. As I turned out of the driveway, I thought, "Sugar pie, that's a 10 MPH north wind." My hands hurt the first mile ... like little needles were pricking. My fingernails also hurt, a phenomenon I'd never felt.

Knowing I would warm up, I ran down to the Gulch, about five miles from the house, where I fueled. I turned to the Music Row roundabout, ran down Music Row and fueled again at the Athlete's House, where I later bought another pair of wonderful Brooks Dyads. The humidity was high this morning, and I was also congested, so I took about 90 seconds to fuel (Vanilla Bean GU and Gatorade) and refill with water. The last 3.5 miles went well, even up that steep hill at 9.5 miles. I had another mile or two in me today because I took my time. Final time and distance: 10.42 miles at 1:45:16, a 10:06 pace with those two stops. My actual running pace on the moderately hilly course was probably 9:45 per mile.

Yes, my friends (McCain speak), I ran 32.5 miles this week. The body feels fine. I think I ran a little slower than I would have liked today because I was a bad puttytat on Wednesday when I ate some fast food. Sometimes, you slip, but a boy needs his Pizza Hut every few months or so. I am weak for cheese, ice cream and beer, though I've cut down significantly on the latter two in recent years.

If I recall correctly, 32.5 miles is my third best weekly tally. I'll run one more high mileage week, then begin the taper to March 15. This will be a good week to break in the new shoes (my purchase, not the 80s band ... That would be Nu Shooz, the one-hit wonder that belted out "I Can't Wait"). That one was for you, Annie B.