Ironman it's not, but it's a start...

I never wrote it down, but I suppose that one of my goals for the year is somewhat official, with my registration for a triathlon in June of this year.

We've got a group of guys in the neighborhood that are committed to training together (as much as possible anyway with crazy work schedules, church assignments, etc...) and we're all registering for the Sprint Triathlon, one of the events in the 2008 Utah Summer Games.

And now the fun begins. I've been an on-again-off-again exerciser for ages. The most consistent I've ever been was back in High School, but lately it's been more of weekly pickup basketball or an occasional early morning/late night jog around the neighborhood. That's going to need to change. The Sprint Triathlon for the USG is a 750m swim/14mi ride/5k run. Taken individually, I could probably go out tomorrow and do any of these (but not win any awards except the least-fit person to finish...), but put all three together and it's a pretty daunting task.

So I'm planning out my training regimen and it's looking to be pretty full. 2-3 sessions of each part for training every week. I've found a nice training program that is set for a couch-to-sprint (i.e. I've never done any of these things before) in 22 weeks. I only have 18 weeks or so, but since I'm not exactly coming off the couch, I think I'll be able to pull it off. Here's my checklist of things (besides train) that I need to get in order before then:

1. Get my iPod playlist up to date with my best music. This is obviously the first step in my preparation. Highest of priorities.
2. Start at least paying attention to what I eat, how I sleep, how much I weigh, etc. I'm not thinking of making any real changes to any of these things just yet, mostly because I haven't assessed the situation yet. So I need to assess.
3. Buy lots of cool clothing items that will help me be the best triathlete I can be. Like a speedo. No, scratch that--that's a horrible idea. Let's go with lots of loose-fitting exercise-ish type clothings. Yes that sounds better.
4. Get a pass to some location that sports an indoor swimming pool. I'm pretty sure that I'll not be able to practice my swimming techniques in the girls' froggy pool.

In all seriousness though, I will need to get my bike in ridable condition, make sure my running shoes will still cut the mustard, and get a few important things (spare tires for the bike, some sort of triathlon suit, etc...). Looks like I found something to spend that government rebate on after all. Too bad, really. That island in Fiji was looking good.

Time to do my job

Well, now that the economic stimulus plan has passed the House, the only obstacle left is that stingy Senate. Let's hope our elected officials of the 'Sen.' prefix don't mess up what our 'Rep.' representatives have fixed. After all, last time this happened, some reports showed that 75% of American who received their 'economic stimulus rebate' used it to pay down consumer debt, and not spend it to bolster the economy. But I'm probably mincing words there, aren't I?

The New York Times had a decent writeup in their news posted today. Strangely enough, my favorite quote from their story has gone missing. An earlier version of the story has Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) quoted as saying: "The sooner we get this relief in the hands of the American people, the sooner they can begin to do their job of being good consumers." Well now, since my responsibility as an American person has been spelled out for me, I suppose it's time to start shopping. Here's a few ideas on what I could get with my Federal Government Subsidy Rebate Loan Free Handout:

A New Camera



A New Puppy


A New Fence


Some New Real Estate


That's probably enough to be getting on with. I wonder what the rest of the American people are planning to spend the money on in order for us to fulfill our roles as consumers...

Oy Vey

Once in a long while, all the planets mis-align in such a way as to create a cosmic event of such magnitude that it disrupts the space-time continuum and creates havoc for all of humankind (or at least for me). One such even happened just this morning.

I'm scheduled to teach a lesson this coming week in Sunday School. No big news there. It happens every other week, so I'm prepared for it. This morning, though, we got an email from our Bishop asking us to speak in our ward's sacrament meeting service on the same day. I began to feel bad for my class members, who now have to endure two hours of me in one day. That kind of punishment is usually reserved for people who must have done something really bad, like my family and coworkers. Enter the mis-alignment of the planets, when I checked my voicemail and found a message from my priesthood quorum's secretary. "Just wanted to remind you that you're teaching the lesson this week in priesthood meeting, from the signup sheet that we passed out several months ago. The lesson is ..."


Romanians have a phrase for this type of thing: 'vai de mine'. I've never thought that it translated very well into English, at least not to convey the feeling that it does in Romanian. The direct English would be something like 'Woe to me' or 'Woe is me', but the feeling is more along the lines of something that happens to make me say 'Unbelievable' or 'You've got to be kidding me' or 'Oy vey'.