confession

most of my friends and family know of my attitude towards cleanliness. i'm famous for sleeping in my clothes when visiting other people's homes. it isn't related directly to dirt itself, i have no trouble heading off on a muddy trail or getting grimy while repairing a bike or something. it's more about human residue. i can't stand thrift stores much longer than two minutes and seeing steph try on unwashed thrift items deeply disturbs me.

it also has nothing to do with maintaining order. a person's belongings may be strewn willy-nilly around the house and as long as they look new and don't smell funny, i could eat off of them. on the other hand, if the most meticulously organized space in the world feels overused and unkempt, it will give me the heebie-jeebies somethin' fierce. couches, beds, carpets, pillows and (strangely enough) dishes appear in my mind as sponges for the hideous slime of human beings.

here comes the confession: i have recently gotten into the habit of cleaning up public restrooms. certainly not washing the facilities or anything like that, but picking up paper towels strewn about the place and wiping up counters.

i wash my hands when i'm done, of course...

hooked

the five previous posts were sent during the race. i thought they had been lost in the ether forever but they suddenly appeared today, hooray technology.

as the title of this post suggests, i am now rather keen on competitive running races. for more on these developments, we go to an excerpt from an email sent out to the team i ran with:

i had myself so psyched out about leg 20 that the experience of finally running it was nearly mystical. starting in pitch black, no one ahead, no one behind for at least the first mile - just the sound of my feet and the sight of the fog of my own breath in the headlight - gives one a moment to clear one's head... then, as the sun cracks the sky, turning up a gravel road and starting to make a few roadkills. finally, full sunlight, barreling downhill into the mayhem of the exchange point to pass it off to my little brother (i say "little," is anyone else blessed with two younger brothers nearly twice their size?). that was one run i will never forget.

it's goofy, but HTC was truly a life-changing experience, i'm pretty sure i'll be running in a marathon sooner rather than later. you may now click on the images below in order to view:

scenes from a relay race:



and my niece susannah:

finish well

Just had the best beer of my entire life after completing my first
competitive running race. Aside from the overwhelming pain, all is
right in the world.

2/3 done

Jon and I smoked our second legs, feeling pretty strong!

1 down

First leg down, 6 minutes under expected. Waiting for Jon to pass it
off.

more sweet van decoration

HTC

The all-important van decoration.

hood to coasting

it is upon us: my first race. updates to follow periodically from the road.



click here for a course map. i have legs 8, 20 and 32. my brother jonathan has 9, 21 and 33.

¡VAMONOS!

see-saw

DOWN: waking up at 6:30AM on sunday to go on a business trip.

UP: upgrade to business class on the first leg.

DOWN: no air conditioning on the second plane with a good, long wait on the tarmac after they bent the tow bar during push back.

UP: lady at the rental car counter hooking me up with a red mustang.

FINAL SCORE: pretty close to equilibrium.

no commode for claustrophobes

united flight 7134.