Aaargh, Happy Halloween Maties!

I DID IT!!!!!

Overall time: 1:45:02

123rd out of 155 (women)

AND! I beat 4 guys : )

Gettin' Chilly

One of my favorite bloggers, Crunchy Chicken (see nifty new blog roll at right) has issued a winter challenge to all of her readers: turn that thermostat down, down, down. Seeing as I live in typically toasty Tucson, I reckon this is a challenge I can handle. Moses is on board too. Garion does not have a vote, but I'll let him drink hot chocolate when it's really cold. So, this winter, temperatures in this household will be no higher than 68 when someone is home and awake will be cranked down to 55 at night and when no one is home. Burrrrrr. If you come to visit us, don't forget your sweater.
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In other challenging news, my triathlon is tomorrow and I'm staring to freak out--just a little. I had a bad run on Thursday so of course I'm obsessing about that, along with obsessing about falling off of my bike again in mid-course (thank goodness there are no trolley tracks), and about getting a flat tire, which I would then have to fix without guidance from my bike mechanic/husband. Also still trying to solve the clothing problem (I'll be going from the pool to the bike which means have nice breezes blow past me while I still have on a wet bathing suit.) Ok, not going to think about it anymore.......

The Quarter Inch Disease

I am presently suffering from a severe mental illness in which I am incapable of reading more than about a quarter inch worth of pages in any given book. The last, say, four books on my Library Thing list are all books that I have finished and set aside. I'm currently about 25 pages into State of Fear by Michael Crighton and I have a feeling that I might approach the quarter inch wall there as well. (Moses would say why even give it a quarter inch? He thinks Michael Crighton is deserving of the leave-one-the-shelf-and-don't-bother treatment and rolls his eyes everything time I bring home a Crighton book.) Should I even bother listing it on Library Thing? That seems to be sort of a mis-representation of my actual life in books--looks like I'm an avid reader and powering through all sorts of novels when, in reality, I'm a biblio-slacker floating around in sea of books with bookmarks at approximately a quarter of an inch in. I seriously have about ten books on my nightstand now in that exact state. I really don't know if it's just that I haven't picked up anything that strikes my fancy lately (bookclub stalled out in non-fiction land this month so I didn't even bother), or if I'm suffering a more serious malady. Is there a name for this affliction? Do I need drugs? Therapy? A swift kick in the ass? The situation is desperate. I don't have a TV, and I can't hog the X-box for DVD's every night!! I need to read! I need a book I can finish! Friends, help me! Please send me the titles of your all time favorite page turners, the books you absolutely could not put down because they sucked you in like a speck of dirt in Grumpator's new vacuum. Thank you.

51:36

That is how long it takes me to swim 825 meters and run 3 miles (in minutes and seconds). Yay! I didn't die! Although there were a couple of points on the run when I thought I might. And even though I didn't do the Aquathlon to compete or win or anything like that, I am ridiculously happy to report that I was faster than 14 people (and slower than about 60, but whatever, I'm a glass-is-half-full kinda gal).

Oh, What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

Last summer, in a fit of "yeah-I-can-be-buff-if-I-want," I signed up for the Tinfoilman Triathlon here in Tucson. That would be an 825 meter swim, 12 mile bike ride, and 3 mile run. All on the same day, one right after the other. Um, yeah. This triathlon thingy is only about two weeks away (Oct. 28th is d-day). Although I have been training, I think diligently, I'm now having some doubts about my ability to survive this trifecta of torture. What was I thinking? I'm not worried about the swim, 12 miles on a bike isn't really a big deal (on an extremely flat course), and I hit the 3 mile mark in my running training last week. But, put them together, and oy, WHAT WAS I THINKING? I can't back out now either because everybody and their uncle knows I'm signed up for this thing. I am just going to have to tough it out. Moses might have to peel my poor, limp body off the asphalt to take me home. And then hook me up to an IV of carbs. Maybe an IV of pancakes. Perhaps I can make it through if I focus on what an unbelievably big breakfast I will be justified in eating afterwards.
This weekend I'm doing an "Aquathlon" which is the 825 meter swim followed by a 3 mile run as a sort of dress rehearsal. The Aquathlon happens on the same course as the triathlon. Hopefully this will be an encouraging experience and not a preview of horrors to come. Wish me luck.