AWESOME DAY

This is long; I've highlighted the main points in different colors, which will give you the short version if you want it.

This has been such a good day.

Started out with doing some research online for godly counsel on a question of theology/scripture/personal morals/faithfulness that's been bugging me. I found the results of this search very reassuring and comforting. Last night I was talking to my psychiatrist (yeah, I see a psychiatist a few times a year, take some meds) about why I feel spiritually dead lately, and he suggested that it wouldn't hurt to "tithe" 10% of my time to God. I asked... "You mean 10% of 24 hours or 10% of my WAKING hours?" He just laughed. This is like asking, "10% of my gross income or 10% of my bring-home?" Right now I'm going with waking hours. But he and I both hit on the fact that 10% of 24 hours is 2.4 hours, a number which has great significance to me right now, and we pondered whether that means something. Probably not. I asked how I'm going to find roughly 1.6 hours in the schedule that's already coming out my ears and we both said at the same time: "Seek first the kingdom of God and all else shall be given unto you besides." Well, I was given a lot today.

Took both pets (Journey and kitty Annie) to the vet to update shots and the cost for both of them was HALF what I had been expecting.

Went to the bike/sport shop for new swim goggles and got great TYR race goggles for $10. I looked at streamlined red Camelbaks, asked the cashier if there's a layaway plan, and she said, "Actually those are going to be on sale Labor Day Weekend." Cool!!! I looked for red bike gloves but they didn't have any, only gray and black. Their Trek gloves were all $24.95.

Went for a swim in my wetsuit and new goggles, an hour and 10 minutes scheduled, but I kept going a little more, 3450 yards in 1:17 (1.96 miles), which if my calculations (including the length of the lake swim area) are correct, works out to 2:23/100 yds. My time is definitely coming down, even though the wind came up and I had to fight some chop, the kind that slaps you in the face, makes you take in a mouthful of water instead of air, makes you have to sight over the waves. I was thrilled with this swim.

While eating lunch, I looked on eBay for gloves. Holy smoke, there were the same brand-new red Trek gloves, size small, $5.95, auction ending in 2 hours 45 minutes, 1 bid so far. Are you serious??? I decided to wait; usually I wait till the last few minutes to bid. This way my bid doesn't just push the price up, and it helps me decide whether or not to jump in, since by then probably the other bidder(s) have gone as high as they're going, and if I decide to go that high I can easily outbid by a less than a dollar, and they won't have time to retaliate.

Since I felt so good and had a couple hours left for the gloves, I went for a bike ride. The ending auction gave me incentive to push a little to get back in time. I also had the chance to try out my latest homemade energy gel (recipe below). Bike ride stats: 20 miles, 1:14, average pace 16.3mph; 16 minutes faster than when I rode this route about 6 weeks ago. This day is going so incredibly well.

Back home, I had some supper while I watched the auction. No further action. So I put in my bid with 4 minutes to go and got the red Trek gloves, sold in the bike shop for $24.95, for $6.06. Totally unbelievable. The only possible catch is, they're coming from Great Britain, hope the shipping isn't out of sight. But this day is going so well, it can't go wrong. Even if shipping is $10, I've still saved $8 or $9 (with tax), and they didn't have any red ones in the store.

I can tell I've worked out but I'm still feeling good, and may even go out for a short run, making the day a triple. I can't believe how much difference it makes taking every other day off.

FOOD DISCOVERIES:

Dollar General Store has just about all the canned and packaged foods I buy, at about half what they cost at Wal-Mart. Brand-name cosmetics and toiletries cost next to nothing, too.

If you mix peanut butter with an equal amount of mashed garbanzo beans, it cuts the fat in half and still tastes like peanut butter.

NEW ENERGY GEL RECIPE:

• 3 tablespoons jelly (I used grape, $1 for quart jar at the Dollar Store
• 1/2 cup maltodextrin ($2 for a pound in the liquor store's "moonshining" section)
• About a teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (270mg sodium)
• 1 tablespoon liquid -- water, juice, Gatorade, whatever

Microwave the jelly 20-30 seconds to melt it. Stir in the liquid. Stir in salt and maltodextrin Yes, it will all fit in there. You can use Carbo-Pro but it's $20-$24 or so for, I think, a 2 or 3 pound can. Stir in vanilla. This made enough to just fill my 4.5oz gel flask. I didn't use the liquid, and after the jelly jelled back up, I couldn't squeeze the stuff out of my flask. By then I was on the ride. I stopped and squoze some Gatorade into it from my Camelback and shook it like crazy. That worked. So put in that extra tablespoon of liquid.

By my figures, this should have about 350 calories, as slightly less than 90 grams of carbohydrate. I couldn't find the exact calorie content of plain maltodextrin, but a product called Carbo Gain lists maltodextrin as just about its only ingredient, and states that 1/2 cup is 190 calories. Carbo-Pro gave information per oz or 28.5 grams, but I don't have any way to measure or translate ounces or grams.

To me it tastes really good, about the same texture as Power Gel but way better tasting, and look at my ride stats. I drank a quart of Gatorade as well, with 1/4 tsp. salt added (540 mg. sodium).

Now that I've sat for a while, I don't think I'll run after all. I did a long, fast (for me) swim and short intense ride (long hills), and now that that's all settling I do realize I'm tired. So I'm going to call it a day.

A very, very good day.