This week has been CRAZY and on a whole new level of crazy that I didn’t even realize existed. It started out so good. 6 weeks to go, great weather, sent out my last email update before the race, and participated in Spin for Hope event for American Cancer Society. I’ll start this little ditty with the good stuff and end on a positive note after the yucky part of the week because it was REALLY yucky.
So, Spin for Hope. What a great event. I rode for 2 hours, some people rode for the full 3 hours, some just for 30 minutes, but everyone was there for the same reason …… to raise money for the American Cancer Society and all the great things they do. People opened up and told their stories and some people just rode in silence remembering loved ones that have passed. It was moving and motivational. I laughed, I cried, and I sweat a lot. I didn’t raise more than the entry fee and my company match, but the team was able to raise almost $5000 together.
Tuesday I got up early and did my favorite 6 mile run while the sun came up. I’m not going to lie, my legs were a little heavy after spinning for 2 hours the night before, but it was gorgeous out and I had to take advantage of the nice weather and enjoy it. I got into my groove after the first 3 miles and cruised home averaging a comfortable pace. Then I headed into Boston for Jury Duty. I really think that Jury duty just needs better marketing. People hear “Jury Duty” and cringe and think it’s like torture, but if they called it something cool like “Law and Order LIVE” everyone would want to do it. It’s really not that bad. I kind of enjoy it.
I got home Tuesday night and threw some laundry in and loaded the dishwasher. Made myself a cup of tea and decided to sit on my porch to enjoy the nice weather and play with a little feral kitten that I leave food out for. I was sitting on my doorstep half in my house and half on the porch, holding the screen door open a crack so I wouldn’t scare the kitten away. Then my neighbor’s porch light came on, he’s not the friendliest guy in the world and everyone pretty much tries to avoid him so I slunk back into my house a little. He poked his head out onto the porch, went into his house and returned with a bottle of antifreeze. He uncapped it and poured a puddle of it on his porch!! I almost threw up. Antifreeze is extremely toxic to pets and they are attracted to it because it tastes sweet. It only takes about a teaspoon of it to kill a small cat, a few licks to kill a small dog. All of my neighbors have pets. I immediately called everyone to warn them. Then I called the police.
There is no rational reason to pour a toxic chemical on your own porch other than to deliberately poison the animals in the neighborhood. I was disgusted and horrified that he would even think to do that. The police came, took a report, interviewed him and made him clean it up. He actually tried to pick a fight with the Lowell PD Officer. Afterwards the police officer came around to the back of my house and came in to talk to me and my other neighbor that came over as soon as I called her. He said that the guy claimed he was just “cleaning out his trunk”, so although he admitted to dumping antifreeze on his porch, it would be difficult to prove that he did it with the intent to kill animals. Animal control was notified and the police will keep an eye on him. It’s just scary that I live next to such a psychopath. The Lowell PD assured me though if he does anything else, I can just call them and he will be arrested.
Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep that night. Shaken up and disturbed, not to mention terrified that my neighbor would now come after me for reporting him to the police. I had nightmares all night that he was trying to break into my house and kill me.
Wednesday, I was exhausted and still sick to my stomach over the events of the night before. Lucky for me, work went by really fast and it was a relatively quiet day. After work, I went to the gym and decided to go for a short run in my DFMC singlet. As soon as I started running I felt better. Fueled by my frustration and motivated by the fact that I’m a lot taller and stronger than my psycho neighbor, I ran FAST. It felt really great. The run was cathartic and refreshing. I got back to the gym and did 30 minutes of strength training, upper body and abs. Looking at myself in the mirror, I had renewed confidence and reassurance that although there are psychos in the world, they are far out numbered by the heroes of the world, like the Lowell Police Department and people like me that stand up to them.
Today is a new day. As I left my house for work, the feral kitten was waiting on my porch to say good morning. The sun is shining and it’s going to be a great night for a run in Boston. I can’t wait.
On the fundraising front, the Lowell PD Officer is going to make a donation to my page and other donations are still coming in. I also started a new opportunity drawing for a US Flag to be flown over the Capital building in D.C. to honor a loved one. I delivered the cheesecake to the winner of the "Winner's Choice" drawing yesterday. He picked the double chocolate cheesecake. I'm still trying to get someone to pledge a dollar per training mile for the month of March, but I don't have any takers yet. I think the fact that I'll be running ~150 miles might be scaring people off, even though I offered to bake cookies for anyone that pledges.
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