My ankle recovered marvelously, and I’ve been back running about 25 miles/week. I’m eyeing the Royal Victoria Marathon, so long as my body holds up. I think it’ll be a big family affair: my Dad always runs it, and this year my older sister is signed up too. Gina’s talking about it, and my brother’s done it in the past. And it’s a nice flat course at a cool time of year, perfect for a first-timer like me.

I used to race road bikes, back in 1991, 92, and 93. So I always follow the Tour de France each year. But I’ve never had cable, and for the last 3 years, I haven’t even had a TV. This year that all changes. I ordered full cable on June 28th, and had Mike get a TV from his roommate, who’s always rescuing them from the trash. On July 2nd at 6am, I started my morning ritual for the next 23 days: I tuned in to OLN and watched stage 1 of the 2005 Tour de France. Go Zabriskie! Go CSC! Go Basso!

I just had my first can of Red Bull energy drink. My sleeps have been lousy because of sick kids, but I need to stay up tonight to jam on a strategy I’m presenting tomorrow. Well guess what, Red Bull works. I’m so wired I don’t know if I’ll sleep til Friday. What is this 1000mg of tourine, anyway? Every heard of glucuronolactone? Ah, caffeine, I know what that is. How ’bout pantothenic acid? Why is there a warning that pregnant women shouldn’t drink this? Should I have a guilty conscience?

My two kids are throwing up, my wife is nauseous, and I stubbed my big toe.

In the week since I sprained my ankle, I’ve downed 42 Ibuprofens, sucked 49 Arnica pellets, and given myself 18 Arnica cream rubs. I’ve gained 3 pounds and gone for one deep water running session. It’s a little early to tell, but I’m hoping to try going for an easy run on the weekend. Meanwhile, my dad and brother are doing the Edge-to-Edge Marathon on Sunday in Tofino. I’m a bit jealous.

My brother-in-law is always having interesting things happen to him. He’s an earthy, low-impact type of fellow who hates spending money. The vegetable garden he was trying to grow on his porch wasn’t doing so well, and he was almost thinking he was going to have to go out and buy some fertilizer. The next day, 12 police cars showed up at the garage next door and busted a major grow-op. They hauled off 300 plants. His wheeling-and-dealing roommate made a deal with the unfortunate landlord of the grow-op building to clean the place up for a tidy sum. Among the hyrdoponics and lighting systems was 15 bags of fertilizer. My brother-in-a-law got a free bag from his roomie, and his porchtop vegetable garden is doing much better.

My Olympic ambitions were dashed to pieces today when I twisted my ankle on a training run. I was running along, thinking to myself, “Boy, you’re pretty fast. Yeah. Maybe you can get a personal best in the 10K this weekend. Yeah. I’m quick. Yeah. AAAARRRRRGGHHHH!!!!! MY ANKLE!” I seem to do this every two years or so. Same ankle. If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll be able to run again in 10 days or so. Last time, I was out for 3 months. Maybe it’s time to switch to rollerblading.

Sam is officially weaned from nighttime feedings. Last night Gina and I had the most amazing sleep in about a year. 11:00pm to 8:30am! 9 and a half hours! It was so great. And then Gina had an afternoon nap. This evening she said she hasn’t felt so awake in months. In other news, I went for a two-hour run today. That’s the longest I’ve run since last October. Things are shaping up well for the half marathon.

Can you believe that a tech guy like me still doesn’t own a digital camera? (Unless you count the one Blast Radius sent me as a ‘valued customer’ when I was with Playground. Made in China. Worth $20. Could never make the thing work.) Especially considering that I’ve had this web site to maintain for 6 years. So anyway, I might be ready to break down and get one. Gina and I are seriously considering getting ourselves a Nikon D70s. I’ll use my existing Nikkor lenses (a 20/2.8, 50/1.8 and 80-200/3.5-4.2). Anybody think this is a bad idea?

We’re working on weaning Sam from his nighttime feedings. So if I’m cranky, it’s because I spent last night trying to convince Sam that he doesn’t need to eat every hour. Hopefully he’ll get the drift in another few days.