Under pressure

I’m getting really nervous about tomorrow.
One of the things is that, for the entire time I’ve been awake today, so far, I will be running tomorrow. When I put it in those terms, I can wrap my brain around it and it doesn’t sound encouraging.
In my head I’ve just been picturing it as a regular marathon. An easily manageable four hours. But this is 100km in 14 hours. I HAVE to be done by 7:00 PM or I fail! And my entire year plan is based off of making it.
So, some pressure is happening.
I hope I can sleep tonight.

Health and safety

I’ve found out about a new contraband substance: Salt tablets. Which surprises me, because I didn’t think they were illegal. I’ll admit they probably aren’t good for you, but I can’t buy them anywhere. (I’m probably just going to grab some salt packets from a diner and try using those on a run.)
While out searching though I discovered Atkins bars. I assume these are bars made by the Atkins people for people who just want protein. These would probably be perfect for the next time I need to do the no carbohydrates thing.
No.
That would be an understandable mistake. I looked at the ingredients. Each bar had 19-21g of carbohydrates. Surprised me. Way more than I want.

Stealth carbohydrates

I met some friends at O’Byrne’s yesterday evening. I still have to do this stupid Atkins thing, so it limited my menu selection. I thought the pub wings would be a good, all meat selection. When asked for the flavor, I should have taken salt and pepper. Instead I took lemon and pepper; It sounded harmless enough.
I should have been suspicious when I tasted the best chicken wings ever.
There must have been carbs in them, because I was feeling fairly good that evening. Today has also been pretty good. I should be feeling horribly cranky.
But it is hard to believe there were that many carbs in those wings. Maybe the vitamin pills I’ve been taking have been keeping me normal?
Still, I felt the need to burn some more carbs. When no one showed up for movie night tonight I went and did a 7.5km run. I still feel good.
Tomorrow is freedom to eat though.

A better runner

Next Saturday I have my 100km race. I don’t think there is any running I can do anymore to improve myself. So I’m reduced to focusing on nutrition.
Carb-loading.
The key here is to eat a lot of carbohydrates before the race. They provide the energy you burn when running. So for three days I will eat as much of those as possible. However, you need to prime your body to be very accepting of carbs. And the way to do that is to not eat any for three days.
Carbs are in a lot of things.
Today was the first day. I’ve been eating eggs, meat and cheese. It has been hell. The biggest problem is that meat without any carbohydrates is somewhat hard to make. So I’m not sure if I’m always hungry because I haven’t been eating enough, or if my body is just craving carbs.
I have been dreaming about vegetables.
At eye level in my fridge is a cupcake leftover from yesterday’s party.

Annual barbecue

I had my annual barbecue today. I think it went well. One of the biggest problems seems to be too much food. We never even got near the chicken. I also had the problem of too much beer as well. I brought some yesterday, but so did other people. I think i have more beer in my fridge now than when the party started.
And I don’t drink beer.
Actually the most popular drink seems to have been the big 4L bottle of chocolate milk.
When I was asking people what they wanted to drink, someone mockingly asked for schnapps. The joke was on them though, as I brought out the pair of bottles I had purchased in Austria. The evening ended with them finally being opened. I even tried.
The pear one in the headless, limbless, naked woman bottle was the most popular. It got referred to as the “boobage” one. Although at one point Beth remarked that it didn’t smell like her boobies. Which brought the question, “How would you know?” So people tried to see if they could do some yogic poses that would let them sniff their breasts. Alcohol was going to our heads.
The blue schnapps was the more dangerous. The bottle indicated that it should be lit on fire and included matches to help with the process. Robert started and lit his for a few seconds, then covered the glass with his hand; The vacuum sucked his palm in. He then tried it and decreed that it tasted like mouthwash. When I tried it, I followed the directions on the bottle and let it stay lit for a few minutes; I figured it would burn off some of the bad taste. It glowed nicely, especially when the lights were turned off.
Unfortunately, I tried to do the hand covering trick. The glass was a lot hotter and even broke after I pulled my hand away. I now have a nice, circular burn on the palm of my hand.
Chicks did scars, right?
Smeared it with aloe vera.


IMG_7377
Originally uploaded by ad_havoc

At least, if an accident was going to happen, it happened then and not when we were cutting the watermelon with a large machete.

Email flame war

Actually, looking at the last email she sent, I don’t think she even read my explanation; Attributing to malice or stupidity what can be chalked up as ignorance. I really want to email her back and defend myself. Should I be?

Exactly three months after Valentine’s day. How appropriate.

It’s amazing how important it is to me to be liked. I never felt liked in school and so I constantly want approval, even now. I’ve noted in another person the same trait, not recognizing it in myself. They got really upset when a person, that didn’t seem to be worth their time, got into a fight with them and would no longer be their friend. I felt that you shouldn’t try to make everyone happy.
And now I’ve done the same thing.
When I’m on vacation, I take pictures. And I want to be a nice, liked, person, so I go out of my way to get copies of the pictures to the people that are in them. I’ve done this in Jamaica and I did it when I was in L.A. I was actually an official photographer for the event organizer. I collect email addresses and try and be diligent at getting the photos to the respective parties as quickly as possible. And afterwards, when I send the event organizer the copies, I don’t include the ones people would prefer were kept private.
And I don’t play favorites; If you are in a picture, I assume you should get a copy.
However, this last time someone said that they didn’t like a picture I had taken; They didn’t like the person that they were in it with, and I should delete it. Note: This was not a photo that was taken surreptitiously; This was a photo that they posed for together. Of course I was only told this after they had seen the picture. i.e. After I had sent the picture to all the people in it.
She is now very upset with me; I have caused drama for her and I have screwed her. I can understand this, but since I was only told not to release it after the fact, there was nothing I could do. I’ve explained my side, and I don’t think she is going to accept my apology. Yes, I did something wrong, but I didn’t know it at the time.
I really want to reply to her last email, to make her understand. I am sure though that this would be a mistake; There is nothing I can say that would calm her down.
So I’ve been feeling horrible lately because a person I barely know, in a different country, hates me for something that I was trying to be nice about.
In a (barely) related topic, I have been waking up in the past two mornings with a lot of pain in my neck. Fortunately I had a therapeutic massage scheduled for this morning, and it looks like the push-ups I do before bed have been too much for me.

Big bike

I did the Heart and Stroke Big Bike today. I hadn’t planned on it, but my company needed the extra person. Basically, you get donations and then you get to ride the 31 person bike. I don’t know if it is a reward or punishment, especially on a day like today. (Nearly freezing temperatures.)
I didn’t know I needed to get donations when I agreed to replace someone. They kept giving me hints on how to raise the money though, mostly by asking friends and family. That thought actually made me sick to my stomach. I have spent so long hating spam, the idea of sending it out was anathema to me.
I donated money myself, and then got the rest from the person I was replacing.
There was a nice BBQ after.