This week had plenty of highs and lows. On Tuesday, I had a ridiculously good workout - I was expecting to be slow, due to my hard 20 miler a few days before, but the splits were surprisingly fast. And I felt good for most of the rest of the week. The one exception was Sunday's half-marathon. Of course.
But all of that was balanced out by some heartbreak on Saturday. I hadn't mentioned it on the blog before, but Brian and I were in the process of adopting a new kitten. We hadn't been looking for an addition to the family, but my sister had contacted me a few weeks ago with a sympathy case. There was a blind kitten in a feral cat community that my sister was helping treat. The kitten, 12 weeks old, had been handled a good deal since her eyes needed to be medicated, and so was semi-feral - timid, but affectionate. Due to her blindness, she wasn't doing well in her current situation - she was being bullied by the other cats, and outdoors is no place for a blind cat.
After some discussion, Brian and I decided to give her a home. Since she was over two hours away by car, we'd wait a few weeks until she was spayed (and I was back from a scheduled business trip) and then I'd drive over and bring her home. In the meantime, my sister sent me photos and described her to me, and I kitten-prepped the house. And researched blind cats.
It's actually fairly interesting - blind cats are able to adapt to their condition in a way that humans can't. Their senses of sound and smell are stronger and more finely tuned then ours, and their whiskers help them navigate, both by touching objects and walls, and by reading the air currents that move around objects, believe it or not. And their very sensitive sense of smell means that it's very rare to have an accident outside of the litter box.
In the hierarchy of special needs cats, blind kitties are VERY easy to manage. Just a few simple rules - don't move the litter box, food, or water around; don't pick them up one place and drop them another (it disorients them), and toys that make a sound are best.
Thus prepared, with oh so many toys with bells, I was ready for her. But it wasn't to be.
On Saturday afternoon, she passed away while being spayed. This is NOT at all a common thing - nobody should read this and consider NOT spaying or neutering their pets. In her case, it indicated that there was probably some other undiscovered serious health issue that would have resulted in future pain and suffering - dying while under anaesthesia was likely a kindness. But the fact that she wasn't hurting didn't stop me from hurting. There's a reason that I never went into veterinary medicine or animal rescue. Or human medicine, for that matter. I get attached very easily, especially to tough luck cases, and those jobs are way too hard for me.
Next week's blog was going to be off-topic, all about Ms. Kit-Kat Obviously, that's no longer the plan. So I'll just indulge myself with one photo here.
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| I have a cuter photo, but it's unfortunately where she's being held by a child, so I don't want to share it. |
If you ever have the opportunity and the resources to adopt a special needs cat - one of those sweet, loving, but "unadoptable" kitties, like our Isabella, and like Ms. Kit-Kat, please do. You won't regret it.
Dailies
Monday: 3.5 miles very easy to yoga (9:04), yoga and 5 miles very easy (8:35) home plus drills and two strides. 2 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling at night.
Tuesday: 10.5 miles, including a track workout of 1600, 1200, 2x800, 400 (6:09, 4:27, 2:53, 2:51, 77), followed by injury prevention work and 1200 yards recovery swimming.
Wednesday: 7 miles very easy (9:03) to the gym, then upper body weights. Later did 2 miles very easy (8:53) plus drills and strides. Massage in the evening.
Thursday: 8 "miles" pool-running in the morning; 3 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling at night
Friday: 6 miles, mostly easy, but with a mile pick-up in 6:31. Followed with drills and two hill sprints. Foam rolling later.
Saturday: 3 miles easy (8:46), plus drills and strides. Foam rolling in the afternoon.
Sunday: 3 mile warm-up and then a half-marathon in 1:33:13. 4 "miles" pool-running with the belt and foam rolling in afternoon.
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