Short couple of miles this morning before daybreak. One stupid horsefly popped me on the back of the head in the pitch black dark!!! Unusual.
Non-running QOTD: Do you have any or many friends who have substance abuse problems or have you struggled with this?
I have a couple, one has battled alcoholism for a very long time, and May 6th had a horrible episode. I was taking him hunting, and when I got to his house at 5:20 AM, he was wasted. Long story short, his parents live next door, and his dad and I had to help him get himself together as best he could. I stayed with him until we got him somewhat functioning. Obviously, we didn't go hunting. Anyway, he called me on Monday, the 8th and was just talking about all sorts of crazy stuff. I managed to calm him down over the phone and called his parents to explain the details and get him to a hospital. He went to medical detox and seems better, but he has really thrown away a great career and wasted a good bit of life. So, yesterday, I was talking with a friend of mine who is an LPC, and I was explaining the situation as best I could to him. This guy is one of the kindest, most compassionate people I have ever known. Anyway, he told me that he has started going to AA meetings. He was drinking up to almost a fifth of vodka a day. I was just shocked. I had no idea. He said he had not been doing that very long, but he has often struggled with his drinking.
LB2
Le professeur de trail
No running yet. I need to get DD out this evening for a run. We signed up for a 5k in 2 weeks and neither of us are properly trained.
QOTD: No. I really don't have many friends let alone ones who have SA issues. I keep my circle of friends small on purpose. But I have worked as a SA counselor as well as led support groups in my church for such issues. It can be draining to try and support this type of thing but it's much needed.
Have a great day!
My favorite day of the week is RUNday
Great run for me last night on my regular 7 mile loop at Coventry Woods. Knee felt sort of normal, I was able to actually navigate the hills and rocks at more than a trog pace, and it was just downright pleasant with steady light rain and mild temps. The woods was greener than green and top of the ridge was covered in fog. Not so much when you were up there, but from a distance. It feels like things are coming around for me the past two weeks, knock on wood. Anyways, figured we had the place to ourselves but saw one over dressed runner approach me on the ridge. Look like he had a trail mapped pinned to his shirt. Odd. Must have been his first time up there.
Today. Planet of fitness routine and if stays dry enough mow the front and back forty. Run is doubtful, but I had this day planned as rest day anyway.
QOTD: I had a friend many years ago who was an alcoholic. I have not seen him in years. My wife said she trusted him more when he was drinking. The last time I saw him he was in bad shape, but he does surprisingly well in life in the business world. We lost a nephew on my wife's side to heroin. I think maybe he had just started looking for a new high and got some of that fentanyl laced stuff. That was really sad.
In dog beers, I've only had one.
running under the BigSky
got a nice 4-ish miles in with Tiny E yesterday evening; I would have bet we would have gotten drenched by the black clouds every where, but we never got a drop!
ditto this evening
qotd: I had a couple of co-workers, not close, but worked some with them- that both threw away law enforcement careers because they couldn’t get a handle on their drinking- sad
2023 goal 2023 miles √
2022 goal- 2022 miles √
2021 goal- 2021 miles √
God I hate this weather. Damp and dreary. Feels like it's still early April.
DW will go to Weight Watchers this afternoon and I'll go along to the gym. Do some walking on the TM and other cardio. Nothing really strenuous. Going to take a nap first. Really feeling tired. Don't think my body has fully recovered from the weekend.
QOTD: I have/had 5 cousins. One is dead. Apparently she got really caught up in alcohol and the New Orleans party scene and ended up dead in a crash. Another cousin has spent most of his adult life in jail for drugs. Started with Valium and progressed to narcotics. His parents were missionaries in Africa for several years and over there you could buy Valium over the counter at the local pharmacy. His mother used it when things got stressful just to "help out with the bad spots in life". One of my co-workers has a lot of drug issues in their family. One kid is on and off drugs. They will get cleaned up and come back home. Problem is they drink with him and after awhile that's not enough so back to drugs the kid goes. A lot of co-workers have problems with substance abuse in their families.
I have a bottle of Valium in the medicine cabinet at all times. It's mostly for back spasms but my Doctor would rather have me use that for an occasional sleep aid rather then have me take something else. I rarely use the stuff. Not because I don't feel like I need it sometimes, but because I don't want the doctor to think I abuse it. When the kids were younger I didn't even want them to know I had it because of the issues with my cousin.
So tell me doctor, have you always been anti-social? Hahahaha. Just kidding.
That is the same career in this case, a very good career too.
Tim
Squeezed in a few road miles between the heavy rain. It was sprinkling, but not the biblical downpour that it had been.
QOTD: I have a cookie addiction, but I'm trying to get help.
Yes, my DD#2 has addiction issues. She did a stint in "celebrity rehab" almost 3 years ago and is doing well. I honestly don't know how she would have done if we had to go the conventional route for rehab, which in our area is very poor as they push for hospitalization in York (not a good hospital). Her care was not cheap, but it's what was needed, and she came our a differetn more confident person. She started with prescription meds for ADHD and anxiety and in college they switched her to two new meds (stimulants) that should not have been given together. When they took them away, she looked for substitutes to create the same feeling. Her BF (she met him in AA) is a 3 year recovered heroine addict, and is doing well. He started with Oxycontin after a botched oral surgery. The oral surgeon gave him a 60 day supply, and he had never had them before. After 60 days, he couldn't get them anymore and slowly went down the path to heroine since he enjoyed how he felt on the meds. Too common a story, I'm afraid.
As far as alcohol, we have a few cousins that have issues. 2 have stopped and are sober, one is in denial and heading towards a broken marriage.
I think we all tend to have addictions, whether mild or not. Running could be seen by others to be my addiction.
“Paralysis-to-50k” training plan is underway!
Thread killer ..
I haven't been running , I decided to let me knee recover for 2 weeks . It's pain free right now but I haven't run .
We do an aid station for our local ultra on Saturday , our location is usually easy to get to but the Forest Service closed the road . Our alternate route was fine on Sunday but yesterday we got a lot of rain . I have a second alternate route that might require using a winch to get our Jeep in . Keeping my fingers crossed we can use alternate 1 , we are going to run out tomorrow and check it with an ATV . Keeping my fingers crossed it held up to the rain and it doesn't rain more ( forecast is 30% today & tomorrow ) .
QOTD: No friends but I grew up with it .
I lost my rama
Ran 7+ last night and felt pretty good. Will go out again tonight.
QOTD: We have addiction in our family too. Luckily, it's been quiet and under control for quite some time. At its worst it was really bad, especially when I was growing up. I think it's a big reason why I run... kind of an escape. No friends with issues thankfully.
3/17 - NYC Half
4/28 - Big Sur Marathon DNS
6/29 - Forbidden Forest 30 Hour
8/29 - A Race for the Ages - will be given 47 hours
lurker popping in for a brief moment ... not much running these days but plenty of walking/hiking.
QOTD: my younger son is an alcoholic ... it's cost him his drivers license, lots of $$ from fines, a marriage, another relationship, and a couple jobs. He's in IT so he's been able to land a job working overnights from home (our home) while he awaits disposition of his last DWI. He did spend two weeks in an inpatient rehab a year ago and came out pretty positive ... we were hopeful at the time. But he soon started to cycle in and out of drinking bouts. Since the DWI he's had pretty intensive outpatient clinical services and continues to see an addictions counselor twice a week. Two and half months of sobriety so far ... but you can never get complacent and expect things to be rosy. One day at a time ... one day at a time.
now I'll return to my lurking ...
Hi all, endless rain here. Everytime it stops and I think I can sneak out for a quick run, it starts pouring. Now we're down to a light drizzle and the forecast (which has been wrong many times already) says it will stop for a few hours. I might get out after I digest this bowl of chili. I'm ok with it raining while runninig, but if it is already raining as I'm trying to leave, it's impossible to get myself out the door.
adkkev-- stop by more. Running with this crowd is definitely not a requirement (says Exhibit A). And I hope things turn out well for your son. It's a tough journey.
qotd: Not friends, family. My brother (in recovery, mostly) and a couple of in-laws. One in-law is highly functioning and the other a bit less so. Both seem to use alcohol to manage anxiety. It would be better of course, if they got managed medical treatment. One is a previous mental health social worker, so you'd think he'd know better. Unfortunately, denial is one of our most powerful drugs.
I am at the trailhead now. Planning 18...hope I can/will do it. Read up on the September race...I have lots of training to do.
Qotd: my DD had a few years where she went Female Athlete Triad, into anorexia then bulemia. She seems to be recovered, but I always worry it could start back up. I think having her two kids quite literally saved her life. It was ugly. Her babies' daddy is a full blown alcoholic with some mental health issues, as iare his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I worry for the DNA of his in my grand kids. They dont see him now...but I do t know how long that will last.
January , 2022 Yankee Springs Winter Challenge 25k
Faster Than Your Couch!
Enjoy your run, moonlight!
No run still, but planning on tomorrow. Just a few miles to get going again.
QOTD: Four of my childhood/early youth friends died from heroin abuse or AIDS resulting from the substance abuse in their twenties. Sadly, even the child of one of these friends died from AIDS as a toddler (contracted from the mother).
When I went to college, one of my neighbors in the house was an alcoholic, really bad. Then he went to rehab and was sober for several years, only to start suddenly again and very quickly get absolutely heavily into the addiction. Eventually he died from carbonmonoxide poisoning because he was not aware of a coal stove heating his room.
One relative on the in-laws side is a recovered alcoholic, and she is doing absolutely phantastic since many years, raising two adorable girls as a single parent. Her husband was also a former alcoholic, and he had been doing fine, until he got a DUI, went in and out of jail a couple times, came into contact with heroin there, and went downhill. Now he is lost in the addiction and is not motivated to change. He says the addiction is too strong to find anything to "beat" it, not even his family.
I am shocked how many people somehow get into an addiction, and how deadly substance abuse really is.
Run for fun.