I luv weekends.

WEEKEND UPDATE
Yeah, so it rained Saturday and we didn't do the cup&cone tour. But we went to a really fun party for a friend of mine that evening and ate up all the calories we would have burned on the bike, so I guess that makes it all even.

And now it's Tuesday, and it's a beautiful day outside. I took a longer route to work this morning on the bike and almost ran over a herd of high-school girls from runner's camp in the park. They run kind of like buffalo.

IF YOU THINK READING ABOUT TRAINING REGIMENS IS BORING, SKIP THIS PART
On my mind this morning is whether I will have the nerve to actually participate in the next triathlon I'm registered for. It's called Bandit's Challenge, and it's notorious for being really tough. It's olympic distance. It's in the mountains. It has 2 infamously steep hils on the bike and on the run, which you actually have to cross multiple times. But you know, I don't mind hills so much. That'll be slow, but do-able. What I'm concerned about is that it's an open-water swim. We learned this year that I don't actually know how to swim in open water, unless you count dogpaddle or backstroke. And a mile is a long way to dogpaddle or backstroke.

Before today, I had already decided not to do it. The last one was just so tough, and competing in a field of athletes who are that much more experienced and faster was discouraging. This one will be worse, as I'm sure that the only people who will show up will be people who seriously gluttons for pain. Present company included, it seems. So why the change of heart? Two things. First, even though I've gained a few pounds in the last couple of months (OK, more than a few-- about 8 pounds!) I think I'm starting to get it off again. It was mostly just vacation weight from all that cheese and maple sugar and poutine. Now, this doesn't so much matter in a flat race, but Heavy + Hills = PAIN. Light + Hills = FAST. If I do manage to drop a few lbs, then I could make some decent time on the bike. Second, I've been swimming almost every day lately and I'm actually getting faster! Yesterday I swam a mile in 34 minutes, which was either a miscalculation on my part or a new (non-wetsuit) record for me, breaking the previous record by over 3 minutes! If I can just learn to swim in open water, then I think I'd be able to finish in a respectable time. Nowhere near winning, and probably not even near the middle of my age group, but at least within the time limit of 4hr15min. And hopefully not dead-last. Or dead.

BACK TO OTHER STUFF
SNG send me the funniest link- It's a plea to recognize the great spaghetti monster theory of creation in science programs in Kansas schools. If you haven't already seen it, check it out.