“Hey Kristen, 28 new guys are into you!” A fine morning to you as well, chemistry.com! I’m fairly sure that they’ll have no problem making money, purely based on this approach. They could probably just skip the whole matchmaking process and bank on sending similarly ingratiating e-mails to single people.
It is, if absolutely nothing else, wonderful amusement. You see, unlike other dating sites, the database sends you only five new matches every day, and you must make a decision, yes or no, on those matches before they’ll send you more. A bit like Netflix. It makes good practice for anyone who’s a bit lacking in the decision-making department — for if you decide yes, it automatically sends that person an e-mail to inform them that you are indeed interested, and if you select no, they’re thrust into the void from whence their profile will never return. Wu ha ha!
Its’ the second day of post-race recovery and I feel darn near recovered. That could be a result of my having run the slowest race I’ve ever run (not that I’ve ever been a speed demon by any stretch of the imagination), a fact with which I am absolutely content. I felt good for the entirety of the run, which is something I cannot claim about any similar athletic endeavor I have ever undertaken. Remarkably, my stomach also felt good, which has never, ever, ever, happened. I owe this to two factors: 1. No coffee (I had Steaz Diet Energy, which is low-sugar, no artificial ingredients, full of promisingly exotic stuff like yerba mate and acai and insanely addictive) and 2. a breakfast of white rice (yes, white rice!) and egg whites.
white rice! who knew?
Like I said, I didn’t go fast, so I certainly can’t claim any outstanding benefits of such ritual. But I also did not experience the usual horrors brought on by R.G.T. (runner’s gummy tummy) syndrome.
The best part about the whole deal, however, was that I felt humbled. I was surrounded by great athletes, people who commit to training in their free time, running through the capricious weather conditions and the less-than-enticing panorama of Southeastern Michigan. That’s awesome. I didn’t care about how slow I was going or that I probably didn’t look that great or that my boss, who’s my parents’ age, finished ten minutes before me (okay, I cared about that a bit.) I was surrounded by good energy. Furthermore, my ego managed to remain pocket-sized and quiet for the most part and that’s more than I could have accomplished in the past. And that fact is far more inspiring to me than any of the physical factors.
And now, for the real thing, I’m thinking about doing this marathon.
I don’t know why.
It looks weird.
