What if...

I had a stereotactic biopsy done on my right breast. It was a highly unpleasant experience because of the depth and the fact that the doctor didn't wait long enough for the lidocaine to take effect. But it made me wonder...what if it had been the left side where my ICD is? Could it have been done? Would it have hurt more? What happens if the needle hits a lead?

Vegetable Broth

Vegetable Broth, a photo by pjbishop93 on Flickr.

It's a rainy day and I need to clean out the pantry so I'm making vegetable broth. I've also been throwing vegetable scraps and peelings into a container in the freezer so I throw those in, too. I plan to use some of the broth in a vegan shepherd's pie recipe I found today. I'll freeze the rest for use in soups and stews later.

Being efficient and thrifty makes me happy. Just like getting a good report from the EP cardio yesterday--3.11 volts left on my ICD battery so it should last a good bit longer. I am not looking forward to the surgery to replace the battery because I keloid. My scar looks horrible and only gets worse every time they open me up. So here's to efficient battery usage!

Lost Roads

I went out for a run today that included roads I haven't run before. It's all part of my quest to run every road in Foxboro. Because one section of the map was hard to read, I double checked with Google Maps. A-OK. Turn right on Clarendon, left on Johnson, left on Arlington, back to Pleasant and off towards the center of town. You have to zoom in on the map below to see the spot I'm talking about.


View Larger Map

I was moseying along nicely, singing my tunes. I turned right on Clarendon. It was a cul-de-sac. So I backtracked and continued on Pleasant. I turned down Arlington. It, too, was a cul-de-sac. There was no Johnson to be seen.

I could easily have been in an unfamiliar area (on vacation or a business trip). Lost roads would be much more of a problem under those conditions.

So caution, all my runner friends. Google Maps are not perfect. Always carry ID and your phone (both of which I forgot today because I was rushing to get out of the car). In fact, get a Road ID band and put on your shoe.

The upside to today's adventure was that I got back to my car just minutes before another rainstorm started.

Testing out posting from my phone.

Testing out posting from my phone.

Always pick a winner

The New York Time reported today about the problems with removing the defective ICD leads that around 150,000 people in the United States still have in them. The lead removal is tricky and if you must have it done, choose a doctor who has done it numerous times. One of the top lead-removal doctors in the country is Dr. Epstein at Brigham and Women's. He's the one who did mine. Mine wasn't defective, but it needed to be repositioned and that necessitated removing it and placing a new one.

Journeying around the 'boro

Last year I decided that I should run every road in my little town, Foxboro. I called the highway department and they told me there were approximately 90 miles of town-owned streets. I assume that number doesn't include Interstates 95 or 495 and possibly not even the state-owned routes, such as 106 and 140. Ninety miles is nothing if you're running 20-40 a week, right? I should be able to finish this quest in a couple of weeks.

Next I asked for a map. Dead silence. Finally the person on the phone said, "We don't have one. But you might try town hall." Huh?

So I went to town hall. They didn't have one, either, but they did scrounge up the one you see in the picture above. It may have been produced some years ago by one of the real estate agents. Good enough.

Armed with my map and MapMyRun.com I started mapping out routes every weekend that included new (to me) streets. My two running partners have not been particularly keen on this idea so I restrict my little adventures to my solo runs.

A year later, I have not completed as many streets as I had hoped to. In fact, I've been on a hiatus since about September. This morning, though, I finally got a chance to run solo and without having to contend with snow or ice or extreme cold. I took off and decided it was going to be a goofy running day where I would try to map out 5 or 6 miles in my head as I ran but be open to various possibilities as I progressed. The result was 5.43 miles and two new roads. I feel like I'm back in the game and I can't wait for my next opportunity to add to my "collection"!

For anyone who feel stagnant in their running/walking/biking routine, I highly recommend devising strange challenges such as this. Maybe I'm weird, but I feel so re-energized about my whole running life right now that I can't wait until the next time I strap on my Asics and pound the pavement!