Warning: expect updates to be sketchy or nonexistent next week, as I’ll be at a conference, and I’m not sure I’ll have access to a computer. I think I’m going to buy a laptop one of these days, but I don’t know how likely that is to happen before next week.
I want to write about the gym here, but I wonder how interesting all this about my workouts really is to anyone but me (and yes, this did occur to me even before reading Phelp’s entry today -- a bit of synchronicity). This is one reason I usually try to mark the end of the rowing comments. I’m also more inclined to dwell on the interpersonal parts than the mechanics, because they’re more interesting anyway.
Anyway, skip this paragraph if gym rats bore you. Today was a weightlifting day, arms. I used the erg (rowing machine) to warm up and was quite pleased to find that my times have gone down. That is, this morning it took me the same effort to maintain a 2:30 split as it did last month to do a 2:40 (a split being the time it takes to row 500 meters). At this rate, maybe one of these days I will manage 2000 meters in under 9:00, which is a goal of mine, in a nebulous sort of way. I was also feeling good about the weights I was lifting, and was able to notice more definition when doing upright rows in front of a mirror. Always nice to see some results. I’ve lost about 2 lbs in the 2 weeks since coming home, but some of this is normal cyclical variation.
One of the very bad things about my schedule is not usually having enough time to read. I don’t survive well without reading time. Having this past lazy weekend was nice, though; on Sunday I reread all of Have His Carcase, by Dorothy Sayers, for my discussion group. As usual, I found myself concentrating less on the actual mystery than on the Harriet/Peter relationship. The thorns in CARC are an interesting contrast to the relationship’s blooming in the next book, Gaudy Night, yet from my memory of GAUD, Sayers is able to manage the transition without making any sudden unwarranted changes. I tend to disagree with a lot of the people in the group who think that Lord Peter is being terribly obnoxious here -- he is being obnoxious, but I think it’s warranted and natural, given the way Harriet treats him, only because she’s still so unsure of herself.
You may see my banner ad around here this week; I took a long time deciding to become a gold member, and the deciding factor was realizing that I could do so, and support D-land, without necessarily having to advertise. I took a still longer time deciding to post a banner after all. One of the factors in my decision was learning that they only run for about a week -- if you find banners obnoxious, you won’t have to see mine for long. I’m quite curious to see whether it brings in a lot more hits (the one I created isn’t very informative) and even more curious to see whether any of those people stay around. I haven’t gotten any Google hits, and I think I’m just not indexed there at all yet (not to mention the fact that I rarely write about lesbian pancakes, Nicole Kidman naked, interracial blowjobs, or other likely search topics). Anyway, I’m now officially advertised, and I’m still ambivalent about that.
Posted by dichroic at April 17, 2001 09:31 AM