BUDDY 6 years of sunshine - rest in peace My parent's dog, Buddy, was killed today by a loose dog. My father was walking him when he approached a loose husky. The husky grabbed Buddy. Dad carried Buddy home and got in the car with my Mom to head to the vet. On the way, they spotted the loose dog and followed it to a man in a car who told them that the dog was his and he had escaped from his place of business. He, of course, said that his dog was friendly and had never done anything like this before. He said he would take care of the vet bills and gave my parents his card. Buddy was given a total going over at the vet's, who found three puncture wounds but said that everything else looked fine. He loaded him up with antibiotics and gave him a painkiller. Mom called me around lunchtime to tell me about the attack. Buddy was still bleeding some and seemed to be traumatized. When I got home from work this evening there was a message on my answering machine to call my Mom when I got in. I called her and she told me that Buddy was dead. He just fell over and died. My Mom and Dad are in shock, the vet was shocked. The vet feels that his heart might not have been able to take the stress and gave out. My pup has been feeling under the weather for the last week and now I'm petrified that something might happen to her, as well. It's not logical, but I almost feel like she might 'catch' Buddy's death. We're going to miss the little 'Bud-man'.
The title will be explained later. Two great race weekends. Last weekend was my club's race - Alley Pond 5 Mile Challenge. Woke up early to get to the park around 7:30am. Greeted my fellow Striders who were there setting up. Spent a few hours helping with stuff...line control, questions regarding the race. Spotted quite a few familiar faces. All the local clubs had people there--Forest Park RR, Hellgate RR, New Hyde Park, Long Island RR,
and quite a few others. I spotted a familiar face in a Forest Park singlet--Alex, a fellow blogger came with his family. It was great to meet him. He did a nice write up of our race over on his blog. I ran well. The first mile was a little slow - 8:50, probably because of the big hill in the first quarter of a mile. The second and third mile went in a speedy 8:25 and 8:13. But then I got to the 4th mile. There are some rolling hills that climb right up to the 4 mile marker. I really felt like I was slogging and the time reflects it - 9:10. Right at about the 4 mile marker, though, there is a big downhill. I used it to gain some speed and felt a second wind coming on. I managed a mile in 8:11, for a total time for the 5 miles of 42:50 - a new PR! I hung around the finish line and cheered on some of the later finishers. We had a great turnout. 276 people finished the race. That's at least a recent high total, if not the highest ever. The prez wanted to get a big number and we really pushed the promo on the race this year. I plastered it all over the internet and applications were left at every race site. That combined with the good luck of having the NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon moved from the day before to the weekend after helped immensely. Today was another race, the Riker's Island 5k. Riker's Island is an unusual place for a race, because Riker's Island is a prison. The New York City Department of Corrections operates this detention facility for approx. 15000 inmates. I had to do this one. I met some fellow Striders at the Park in the morning so that we could carpool over to the race. The race starts on the 'mainland' in Queens. Spectators and our baggage had to be brought over by bus and everyone had to get their hand stamped so we would be allowed back out of the facility. I'm guessing they don't really care if you want to go over and stay there, they're just making sure that only non-prisoners can get back out. There was a large group from the Striders at the race. The shorter distance brings out the walkers and a lot of runners who don't often race were there, as well. The first mile of the race is over the bridge onto the island. This is the biggest hill in the course. I managed to get the first mile in 8:37. I was loosening up -- really need to warm up before these short races! The weather was cool and the wind was brisk. I probably could have managed a faster time for this race if I hadn't been fighting the wind for most of it. By the second mile, I found a couple of Striders and settled in with them. Clipped off the second mile in a faster 8:24. The course winds through the prison. You are surrounded by fenced in yard areas bristling with barbed wire. It's surreal. Towards the end of mile 3 you pass this large building that is about 30 feet from the course. Apparently, the inmates can see you running by at this point. I had been told that the prisoners call out to you during the race. There were a few guys running in front of me who got a lot of shouts of encouragement from inside. Well, since it was in Spanish, I'm assuming it was encouragement. As I ran into view, I started to hear some shouts directed at me. That is when I heard my title phrase. Let me tell you, I thought for a moment of stopping and lifting my shirt, but it passed really quickly and I continued by without acknowledging the supportive cheers. My finish time was 26:20--another PR for me! They had a really nice finisher's medal, with moving parts! and a barbecue set up by the Correction Officers. I stood on line for the first hotdog I've had in some time and socialized with some of the other runners. Once the results were posted I found my name--I had also finished 2nd in my age group! I got a trophy! When they presented the trophies, they actually had one of those step podiums like at the big races. So I got a trophy and I got to stand up with the 1st place and 3rd place ladies in my age group and get our picture taken. It was kind of cool. Alley Pond managed to get quite a few awards, including sweeping the Men's 70+ age group. Congrats to my fellow Striders.
Name: DebbieJRT Home: Bellerose, New York, United States About Me: crotchety cross stitcher, trying to channel my inner athlete See my complete profile
