eye problems...and heart issues?

I had to take my poor love bug(aka Stuart) to the vet this afternoon because he's had a goopy & gunky eye for about a month now.  It's something that gets better than gets worse again...and it always seemed to be the worst right after we picked him up from boarding.  (we've had to board Stu about 3 times over the last month because of various travel/etc)  I decided it was time to get it checked out after some self diagnosing from the good 'ole web.

Vet visit was fine - nothing serious, gave me some cream stuff to put in his eye and an anti-itch pill.  While the vet was checking out Stu, she listened to his heart and said..."his heart beat is really slow and sounds a little abnormal."  Kirsten- "Umm...what?"  She took another listen, for longer this time, and indicating his heart rate was 56 beats per minute and was fairly irregular.  She indicated dogs, in general, have a heart beat between 90-160 beats depending on the type of dog and the size.  She recommended we get him an ultrasound and EKG to check it out further.  She said as he gets older he could need a pacemaker depending on the seriousness.  Seriously??!!

You'll be surprised to hear that I did not breakdown in tears at the vet...but I did start crying when explaining it all to Mike.  Just news I certainly don't want to hear about my bambino.  In all Stu's checkups, no one has ever mentioned this(he probably goes to the vet about twice a year) so at this point I'm not going to panic.  He's been a little lethargic lately anyway so maybe he was extra relaxed at the vet...I'm going to give his eye time to heal and then see how he's acting.

A pacemaker for a dog?  Doesn't that make you laugh out loud a little bit?...in spite of the seriousness of a slow/irregular heart beat.

a birthday in Sedona

We spent my birthday in Sedona, AZ in early May.  We also ventured on a day trip to the Grand Canyon but the GRAND CANYON most definitely deserves a GRAND post of its own so more to later on that.

Welcome to Sedona, AZ ~ red rock country

We arrived on my actual birthday, settled into our cottage, enjoyed a dinner out, and a few cocktails.

We did A LOT of hiking so we got a lot of great pictures of the amazingly beautiful landscape.

So lovely!  I wish I could post every picture we took ~ so amazing.

~ Chapel of the Holy Cross ~

View from the entry area of the Chapel of the Holy Cross

One day we took a longer hike of 6 miles in a nicely shaded trail that crossed a creek bed about 10 times.  It was a fairly easy hike and fun to see all the wildlife and, once again, the beautiful red rocks.

We visited Slide Rock State Park where there is a natural rock slide that you can actually slide down.  It was incredibly slippery/slimey anywhere that water hit the rocks...it's a "you should be on all fours" type of slippery because you have no grip whatsoever.  Right when we got there a 70 year old gentleman slipped and hit his head on the rocks and wouldn't come too.  The woman he was with started screaming and I starting freaking and Mike took off running back toward the Ranger station because no one had cell service.  Luckily the gentleman did eventually "awaken" and Mike brought the ranger back and the ambulance showed up shortly after.  What a scary and helpless feeling!

Here is the slide.

Sliding down the slide ~ it was SO cold so I only ended up going twice.

Mike's turn.

Enjoying the day at Slide Rock.

More hiking and wonderful views.

I'll post again to relive the Grand Canyon and Bearizona...such a great trip full of adventure and beauty! 

The warm weather in April really got me thinking again about running another half-marathon and I've decided to go for it.  The race is 9/16 here in Santa Fe ~ anyone want to join me?

Here is the schedule I'm using - this is sort of a combination of various training schedules I've used in the past.  Besides strength training (which I've really never done in the past while training and I now know is way more important than plain 'ole cardio, so I hope to be consistent with 2-3 days of strength each week), Thursday's are going to be a "mix it up" day so I don't get bored.

Throughout the training:

• Wednesday's and Friday's are strength days - I'm going to do my best to achieve my strength days!!
• Thursday's are HIIT/Cross/Downhill days - HIIT=High Intensity Interval Training which means I'll use the treadmill and do something like 30 second sprints/30 second rest for 30-45 minutes(which includes a 5 min warmup and 5 min cooldown).  If I don't do HIIT, cross-train, or downhills, I'll run 3-5 miles, depending on where I am in my schedule.  I've been doing some HIIT and am really enjoying it!
• Sunday's are Rest/Strength/Yoga days - depending on what I accomplish during the week will determine what I do on Sunday's. 

I started a few weeks earlier this year and have incorporated some catch-up weeks.  When I travel, I usually don't follow my schedule very well, if at all, which is why I incorporated some extra weeks.  I also didn't have the best "base" of miles prior to starting so the first few weeks are pretty light.  If I jump into lengthy runs without a good base, I usually end up having IT band problems so I'm hoping to steer clear of those issues by adding a few extra weeks.  :)

Week of 6/4:
Mon - 3
Tues - 3
Sat - 4

6/11:
repeat week of 6/4

6/18:
repeat week of 6/4

6/25:
Mon - 3.5
Tues - 3.5
Sat - 5

7/2:
repeat previous week / catch-up

7/9:
repeat week of 6/25

7/16:
Mon - 4
Tues - 4
Sat - 6

7/23:
Mon - 4
Tues - 4
Sat - 7

7/30:
Mon - 5
Tues - 4-4.5
Sat - 8

8/6:
Mon - 5
Tues - 4.5
Sat - 10

8/13:
repeat previous week / catch - up

8/20:
Mon - 5
Tues - 5
Sat - 10

8/27:
Mon - 6
Tues - 5
Sat - 12

9/3:
Mon - 6
Tues - 5
Sat - 8

9/10:
Mon - 4
Thurs - 3
Fri - 2-3
Sun - RACE!!!

I have my schedule in an easy to read excel doc posted on my refrigerator but wasn't able to get that format imported into the blog.  Hopefully you can follow the plan ok.

Let me know if you'd like to join me on 9/16!!  :)  I ran this race last year and starting at mile 3, it is a slight downhill all the way to the finish line so it's a fairly "easy" course.