Winners All Around

Oh hai there, internet.  Where have I been?  Here it is, Wednesday, and this is my weekend wrap-up, because I suck.  No, more truthfully, my job sucks this week.  Sucks in a good way.  It has topped 80 degrees here for a few days, and I am in the air conditioner business, so I have spent the last 3 days with all 15 of my phone lines lit up nonstop for 9 hours a day.  It's been a little nuts.  I always know this week is coming, I always try to mentally prepare for it, and yet I always want to throw in the towel by Monday at 9 am.  Every night, I go home and watch mindless television and decompress.

So this (last?) weekend was bookended by Blackhawks wins that sent them to the Stanley Cup finals.  I watched Friday's game at a bar with some friends, who sent me to the bathroom every time the game was tied, because the Hawks seemed to always score while I was in the bathroom.  I listened to the first half of Sunday's game on the radio and watched the last half at a bar, and it was fantastic.  Such a young team, so many guys I saw playing for the IceHogs or UND.  Can't wait for the next round.

On Saturday, Dano ran his 4th of 5 marathons in 5 weeks.  This was a trail marathon and Dano was only 16 seconds or so from topping his personal record for 26.2.  Those 16 seconds were spent at an aid station at mile 22, trying to explain to me why he was 20+ minutes ahead of when I was expecting him to arrive there (I almost missed him completely because of my nap important other business elsewhere). 

Our pal ran the ultra at the same event, 50 miles.  It was his first ultra and he finished in 8 hours.  The winner of the ultra was this guy.  I can only somewhat wrap my brain around running for 50 miles, but I'm completely incapable of comprehending running 50 miles at the pace he was running.  He was FLYING.  He finished somewhere around 5.5 hours.

Here's what I think they were talking about when I snapped this picture, but I don't remember for sure:

Dano:  Dude, do you realize how insane we are?

UltraFriend:  Dude.  You know you're going to have to run an ultra too now, right?

Dano:  Duh.

UltraFriend:  It's not so bad.  I mean, I spent 8 solid hours running, my thighs are numb and I'll probably lose all of my toenails, and maybe all of my fingernails, and maybe also my earlobes.

Dano:  As long as we don't lose our long curly hair, we'll be fine, dude.

UltraFriend:  The hair is part of the uniform, dude. 

So what did Dano win for finishing 3rd overall, winning his age bracket, and coming within seconds of his personal marathon record?

A NEW CAR!!!!

Yeah, no.  I took this picture in a grocery store parking lot.  But that would have been pretty cool, right?  I particularly love that it is parked at the far end of the lot, across three spaces, just so somebody doesn't damage that sweet paint job.  Dano actually got a cute little plaque that says "Congratulations, you are one smokin' fast 39 year-old, but good luck next year when you move up an age bracket."  (I think that the car conveys pretty much the same message.)

Saturday night was devoted to deep-dish pizza and sleep.  On Sunday, I got to spend a little bit of time eavesdropping on a Snowsera rehearsal and chatting with Pipes.  There was also Dairy Haus and a going-away party for a favorite barista.

What am I forgetting . . . what am I . . . OH!  This:

So Wrecks travels in this soft-sided fabric and canvas crate.  It's a frame of bars and the whole thing collapses when he's not in it, and it's just perfect for taking him on road trips and when he stays at other people's houses. It has a bunch of mesh windows and two "doors".  One on the front and one on the top.  The one on the front has a lock on the zipper.  The one on the top, not so much.  So this was the sight that greeted me while driving down the road with him on Friday night.  Little bastard figured out how to open the zipper on the top.  I wish I had it on video.  First, one tiny little paw poked out, then his nose, then it just looked like the crate was giving birth to a chihuahua.  A very very pleased chihuahua.  A chihuahua who thinks he just won the lottery.  FML.

This week is pretty low-key outside of the work chaos.  Sushi with Boom tonight, and then some crazy awesome good times scheduled for Memorial Day weekend.

How are yous guys?