Week 2 of training

I had a busy weekend. Part of it was finishing up week 2 of official, schedule-driven mini-triathlon training, so I rode my bike most of the way to Mount Vernon and back (sounds a lot more exciting to say it that way instead of saying 10 miles) Saturday morning. Then there was a terribly exciting and quick thunderstorm and Saturday night I went out to play poker.  It was my favorite kind of poker playing -- I managed to leave with exactly what I'd bought in for, which let me not feel guilty for taking other people's money.

Sunday morning was the jogging part of triathlon-izing, and then I went out strawberry picking. This was much more successful than when I went out on the first weekend of the farm and I got like 4 pints without even trying (not counting those that I ate while in the field) and they are beautiful and tasty.

Speaking of strawberries, I'm getting my first CSA delivery this Thursday and it's supposed to have more strawberries, asparagus, kale, spring onions and basil. Yum. I still have 2 pts of strawberries from the weekend and might go out and get more this weekend, so I'm thinking of making some fruit spread of some sort.  I haven't eaten much of the peach and apricot preserves I made last year, but I don't know that that technicality should stop me from preserving more fruit.

Sun, CSA, Woolly

I got sunburned like 1.5 weeks ago and my arms are still peeling. Admittedly, they didn't start peeling until Saturday, but I'm curious to see if I can have a whole week of peeling from a relatively mild burn.

My farm has opened for the season, but I won't get my first box until June 5. In the meantime, I can go out there and pick strawberries on the weekends! Woo!

Also, I went out and saw a play last night, "Measure for Pleasure" which was deliciously British and 18th centuryish. I signed up for season tickets with some friends, so over the next year, I'll get out to see more plays.

History repeats

Friday was bike-to-work day, which I failed at. I realized Thursday that I hadn't thought about my bike for so long that I wasn't even sure if I'd last parked it at work or in the bike room at home (turned out it was at home). With that much neglect, the leaky back tire had had plenty of time to flatten abysmally. Unfortunately, it seems that the pump in the bike room is mostly dead, and I couldn't find my bike pump in my house, so my neglect meant no bike-to-work-day tshirt this year.

This morning, I resolved to be less of a biker-loser. I found my pump (under a book case behind my tall party shoes? thanks cats) and decided that the leak was still slow enough to not try to figure out innertubes today. I took the metro up to somewhere in MD to pick up stuff for a 5k I'm registered to suffer through tomorrow, treated myself to tasty lebanese lunch and rode my bike mostly downhill for about 16 miles.

Part way through the ride, I realized I'd done a very similar thing last year the day before the 5k. As I recall, it sort of made my legs feel like jello for the 5k, but it was such great weather, I just kept riding.

Finally, I got myself to a theater and saw Prince Caspian (which was ok), and rode home after recuperating for two hours.

I think there are a few take-aways from today
1. Fun today is worth suffering tomorrow. Weather like this won't be here much longer and it would've been dumb to waste it by sitting inside watching movies
2. Wear sunscreen on your arms as well as face. It's a sign of how pale I was that my sunburnt arms just look normal, until I pull up my sleeve. But they are stinging
3. I'm apparently an accidental creature of habit. I wonder if I'll go on a long bike ride the day before this 5k again next year.

Finally, finally, Jaxby is laying on my sunburnt arms. aww, oww, aww, oww. makes it hard to type too.

Progress

Last year on Feb 20th I posted about being excited for being able to jog (slowly) two miles. This jogging thing seems destined to be a never-ending trial, but I think I am a little better at it than I was a year ago.

Today I went out on the trail and jogged two miles without stopping, which is loads better than last year's effort that was two miles on the treadmill. Also I'm able to do jog/walk intervals on the treadmill for like 3 miles, which is also better than last year.

I really want to do a sprint distance tri this year, and getting the running to be less of an impossible hurdle is important for that.

Rah for winter being almost over! It was in the 40s today!

Tacos!

Another few things have come up to add to my "San Bernardino is special" file
1. That big meat recall? With the humane society and all? From San Bernardino County
2. Robbery, sure. but stealing tacos?

Robber only wants tacos

Melissa Pinion-Whitt, Staff Writer

Article Launched: 02/18/2008 10:09:40 PM PST

FONTANA - An armed robber who sneaked up on a bicyclist Sunday night didn't want the man's money, wallet or anything else of great value. He wanted tacos.
The victim, a 35-year-old Fontana man, had just bought about $20 in tacos from a stand at San Bernardino and Fontana avenues and was riding home when the bandit confronted him. "He approached him from behind, saying, `Give me your tacos,"' said police Sgt. Jeff Decker. "He grabbed the bag of tacos, punched him in the face and began to flee."
The victim demanded his tacos back when they were taken.
"The suspect then pointed what appeared to be a black handgun at the victim," Decker said.
The taco bandit, standing about five feet from the victim, threatened to kill him, then ran.
Police said the robbery was at 9:15 p.m. on Hawthorne Avenue east of Catawba Avenue.
The suspect is described as a 25- to 30-year-old man, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 190 pounds. He has brown hair and eyes and wore a black hooded sweat shirt. The man also had a long mustache.
Decker said food robberies are not uncommon when the victim is delivering pizzas, but he considered this crime to be odd.
"Doing an armed robbery for tacos, that's a little out there," he said.

Coffee. now.

We got a new coffeemaker; at work. It is trying very hard to solve all possible coffee related problems, but it's a little terrifying.

I went and read the website about it and supposedly "The new ‘funky’ look combines an almost retro feel with modern ergonomics". I think that nothing about this coffeemaker could actually be described as ergonomic.

Also it  "stimulates with a welcoming, easy and fun to use interface". Especially when I want coffee, I do not want to be stimulated with a welcoming and fun interface. I want a coffee button that gives me coffee. now.

I'm also a little freaked out by the "Creamy topping"; pod. Supposedly this enables the machine to make lattes and so on.

However, I find it very satisfying to read the nutrition information they provided and add up the mg's of caffeine I'm consuming throughout the day. zing :)

Stories that start with "we"

This story is perfect in the same way as the one that made me fall in love with public radio Haruki Murakami's On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning

Both fit in some way with how I feel now; and how I feel now is a happier lonely than I've been for a long time. I find myself thinking positively about the simplest pair-wise things, such as someday talking with someone and starting a sentence with "Remember when we...", and these simple one line future stories make me smile like an idiot.