Grab baggier than thou

I went through old records to see how I've done at the Ron Daws 25K in past years. I ran 1:38:25 in 2005; given the course, that's about like a 2:50 marathon. Don't expect a repeat this year! I'll be under 2:00, if I stay on the course, unlike last year. Back in 2005, that same day I had my only ride (so far) in an ambulance; I really don't want a repeat of that day, even if I was fast!

Perils of blogworld

Someone pointed out to me that I'll never date again, as I occasionally post details here and women will be afraid they'll be given a name like "Walrus Girl."

So...

I ran into Supermodel Diva again (hard not to, she's a neighbor). She had to cash her paycheck to pay for getting her hair done, as she had less than $100 in her bank account. Then she went out for the evening. Pretty girls only have the one expense! Guys pay for everything else.

Do I contradict myself?

After posting a rant against bucket lists, I posted lifetime reading lists. Someone called me on it. The point, apparently lost, was that one shouldn't do things for the sake of being able to tell people one did them. Doing them because you want to do them is fine by me.

Yet more TV show possibilities

2 good, 11 bad (the premise is wearing thin after doing this six times).

Law and Otter - Tim Matheson reprises his role from Animal House. It took 30 years, but he's passed the bar!

Celebrity Fart Club - Team Lact-Aid vs. Team Beano

Sinister - left-handed Dexter.

AV - From the makers of Glee and ER. 30 minutes of 1970's film strips. "Advance frame at the tone."

Gossypol Girl - (This is really an in-joke)

Barn - House for veterinarians. "Barn! You can't shoot or flush every patient after diagnosis!"

Disparate Housewives - "That rich plastic middle-aged woman's nothing like me! I wear Manolos, not Jimmy Choo!"

Jersey's Whore - Jersey Shore spin-off

Two and a Half Million Men - Jersey's Whore spin-off

The Real Housewives of Hanna-Barbera

Big Bong Theory - Four geeky grad students scheme to make Matthew McConaughey governor to "legalize it." Plans go awry when - dude, you know what would be cool...

Pole Dancing With the Stars

Abbot - From the makers of Monk. The little-known detective career of Bud Abbott (yeah, even the spelling doesn't work)






Stuff you don't need #2: amino acids

A number of products for endurance athletes contain added single amino acids. Here's the skinny:

Branched chain amino acids: leucing, isoleucine, valine. There's a special active transport system to import these into muscle cells, so some have thought that these are ergogenic. The transport only works in the presence of insulin, which doesn't happen during exercise.

Alanine: There's a huge amount of alanine in the bloodstream during exercise, as opposed to when resting. This is due to pyruvate being degraded anaerobically; it gets converted to lactic acid and pyruvate. You wouldn't drink lactic acid; you shouldn't eat alanine.

Glutamine: This one's really complicated. After intense exercise, the amount of glutamine in the blood and within cells is lowered, sometimes for days after an ultramarathon. Simplistic thinking would suggest that one should then replenish it by eating glutamine itself. Glutamine synthase (which regulates the level of glutamine) is affected by the concentrations of glutamine, glutamate, alpha-ketoglutarate, ATP, AMP, UTP, CTP, tryptophan, alanine, glycine, histidine, carbamoyl phosphate, ammonium ion and glucose 6-phosphate. One can't correct this by eating glutamine; one can't even make a dent in the deficit that way. Glutamine levels are simply an indication of whether the body is more actively making or destroying proteins. The solution is to eat, both proteins and carbohydrates, and to rest.

Glycine, Tyrosine: These are added to some products. They're not worth discussion.