Plums anyone?

(...and this is just a 1/3 of them)

Anyone have any good recipes? We're gonna have a real plum situation on our hands in just a few days.

Seen in DC

"Exceptionally fine"

This was our wave's key word during Sally Edwards' starting line pep talk. Apparently they'd run out of adjectives for the 30 previous waves...things like "fantastic" and "bodacious." Nope, our wave was "exceptionally fine."

Actually, I think this phrase captures the triathlon experience. It was really a lot of fun with no real "what the hell am I doing!" moments. I think I was too numb (especially my left foot during the last two miles) to have an opinion about the less-fine parts. All in all, great fun and a big rush.

Fully exhausted, and probably less than lucid, I'm trying to pack for our trip to DC. This is a challenge for two tired people. I caught Ray mumbling, "I wonder if I'll need any pants?" Hmmm, what kind of conference are you attending?

Pearls? of Wisdom

A few gems from the past week or so...

Professor: "Never deep fat fry in the nude."

Sticker: "'Stressed' is 'desserts' spelled backwards."

Bumper sticker: "Bush is Poopy"

Sorry that's all I got. It's finals week.

Rewriting the formula

Though rationally I knew otherwise, I've been fooling myself in thinking that in most cases...

event/activity = pleasure/enjoyment

...when in reality it's more like...

anticipation + event/activity + recollection = maximal pleasure/enjoyment

I think for most activities with a relatively long lead-time, like planning for a trip or vacation...

anticipation 35% + event itself 30% + recollection 35% = 100 maximal pleasure

Spontaneous activities, however, are different for me: anticipation time is short to non-existent as is its total pleasure percentage, but the during and post-activity rewards are great.

anticipation 0 + event 50% + recollection 50%

Training for the triathlon has helped me understand these three base components of the pleasure formula, but also that pleasure derived from long-awaited sporting activities is still more complex...

50%? training activity (anticipation 10 + activity 40 + post activity 50) + 50%? sporting event (anticipation 10 + activity x + post activity y)

This time next week I will have solved for x and y, and they will be directly impacted by whether or not I get into a bike crash. Meanwhile, I'm grateful I've finally figured out my own formula. And after all, isn't the last part of the formula why blogs exists for lots of us?

Real Madrid vs. DC United

Chicken reconnaissance

By September 25

I have been fixated on and off (can a fixation be periodic?) a long-distance swim ever since this triathlon training started. So here's me, throwing down the gauntlet: On or before Monday, Sept 25, my birthday, I will do at least a 1 mile open water swim. There's an opportunity for an organized 1-mile swim on Sept 10, or I could do a solo swim. If it turns out to be the latter, does anyone have a rowboat for loan? Anyone want to swim along with me?

I'm meeting Susie at the crack of dawn tomorrow to time myself on a 1/2 mile. This swimming stuff is really interferring with my plan to overcome run-hating.