The letter 'R'

Today's blog post is brought to you by the letter 'R' as in Rain and Ringworm!  It's pouring in Los Angeles today and after staring at pictures of kittens to motivate me, I actually went out into the rain and ran my 3 miles today.  It actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting.  The rain was just a minor annoyance and I think my left foot really enjoys stepping in puddles because it stepped in EVERY SINGLE PUDDLE on my run.  I think the rain overall cooled me off to the point where 3 miles was a piece of cake.  My pace was about 10 min and 14 sec/mile and yes, my back hurt a bit, but actually it hasn't gotten worse so I take that as a good sign.  This time I ran down Overland, which is a very flat road.  I think I'll run that way from now on.  It gets me to the Ballona Creek bike path which is also relatively flat.  Maybe when my back heals up completely, I'll incorporate some hilly runs into my schedule for variety.

Oh, so for the second word 'Ringworm'.  My kitty with ringworm has gotten worse.  I thought I could try to control it with some topical ointment, but a second scaly spot appeared on her last night.  She's now isolated in a rabbit cage I have so that she doesn't spread anymore ringworm infected hairs around the apartment.  We vacuumed last night and changed the couch cover.  *sigh*....of course we get ringworm now, right around the corner from my qualifying exams.  It's still a giant mystery how the ringworm fungus got in our apartment.  From what I've read, ringworm infections in indoor cats is 'EXTREMELY RARE'....unless you're me, and have super shitty luck.

Resuming training and water bottle contest!

This morning I attempted to resume my marathon training schedule.  Luckily the increases in mileage is very gradual so I can just basically jump back in after missing a week.  I ran what I felt was ridiculously slow and on flat surfaces to not irritate my lower back, but alas, my lower back started hurting about halfway in my 2 mile run.  I finished with minimal pain and a 10 min 41 sec/mile pace.  I stretched especially well after the run and iced my back down, took a hot shower, and iced it down again afterwards.  The pain is mostly gone now a few hours after my run, but I'm a little worried it won't go away. 

October officially kicked off fundraising for our team.  The contest prize today is the first five people to donate EXACTLY $19 will win an official Kitten Rescue Team water bottle!!!!  See below for example of water bottle*:

*foster cat not included!

Here's the link to my fundraising page in case you can't find the link elsewhere:
http://www.crowdrise.com/TeamKittenRescueLAMarathon2012/fundraiser/JoyceKao