Um, yeah. Racing. Sure.

Tomorrow is the Belwood Triathlon. I said after last year that this year I might just get drunk for my birthday weekend instead.

Then they moved the race so it's the week before my birthday, and like a sucker, I signed up again.

The score going in is thus:

- I've not managed more than 5hrs of sleep any night this week.

- I'm still injured.

- I'm still running anyway, because summer. And trails.

Way easier to accept "can't run for awhile" in January than when this is calling to you.

And just to make it extra special, I had to say goodbye to a friend who has been with me for over 15 years. Whisper came to me as a tiny ball of fluff while I was still in a damaging relationship with my ex, then moved halfway across the country with me once I met Tanker and got the hell out of Edmonton. She had a grand adventure when she jumped out a window one Halloween night and disappeared, only to wander into the backyard (slightly chubbier than when she left) a week later - just hours after we adopted another cat. 

Beautiful girl

She had an amazing coat with fine, downy fur under the silky outer strands, all black except for the star on her chest, wisps of white in her armpits, and a heart-shaped white spot on her lower belly. Her tail would curl into a corkscrew when she was tickled just right, but a strike from her front paw was like being hit with a length of rebar. She was named for her funny way of looking at you and opening her mouth to meow without making a sound, and she was always, always there for me.

Helping me recover from a race

Sharing my pillow

All she ever really wanted was to be loved, and I did so with all my heart. She was sweet, affectionate, and didn't have a malicious bone in her pretty little body. She had grown old and tired, though, and was having trouble getting around. She couldn't even make the leap to her favourite spots anymore.

Back of the LazyBoy chair

The pillow under the office window

It all came to a head on Tuesday night, when she hurt her front leg quite badly while trying to jump up on a chair. She had been declining pretty rapidly in the week prior, and now she couldn't even get comfortable while laying in her favourite laundry basket. After a last meal of her favourite treats, the time had come to end her pain.

Enjoying a sunbeam on Sunday afternoon

She went peacefully at the end while I stroked her, and has left her paw print forever on my heart.

Rest easy, pretty girl. I hope you've found a windowsill where the sun always shines.