June 22, 2000 -- 11:45 PM EST

Mood swings up and down all day today. On the up now. Paul's being sweet, but tiptoe-y. Don't blame him. One second I want him to rub my back and the next I want to sock him. Adrith suggested the pill to make sure I don't have my period on race day, but I have to think about it. I don't know that I want to go back to all that. I also don't want to deal with periods on race day either. I feel crazy.

I can't leave candy alone.

My boobs hurt badly.

I had a migraine this afternoon.

I didn't have a great workout because while wings are great, they also chafe.

This sucks.

However the post this week is stellar! Adrith got me a subscription to Walking magazine. First issue came earlier this week but she also sent a little bag of goodies that got here yesterday. UNH keychain, pen, stickers, etc. The round postcard amuses me. Too funny!

Nothing good in today's post, but my order from Lucy.com was shipped out. I ought to get it soon -- wicking shirts! At LAST! Discovered a major sock sale at PlanetOutdoors and I ran off with half a dozen Thorlos. Slowly but surely I'm working on replacing all my old cotton workout outfits.

With this order, I've got all the wicking socks I could need now. I've got two Frog Bras, three pairs of wicking fitness shorts, one pair of wicking running shorts, one pair of wicking and padded bike shorts, two lined track pants, and two wicking tops. I'm shooting for five head-to-toe wicking gym outfits and two biking ones so I can collect it all week and wash one load on the weekend and not be a crazy woman washing in the middle of the night every other night just to have clean gym clothes!

The two track pants were good enough for the last fake winter here. If it gets colder next season I will worry about more "outdoor winter wear" then. I haven't been rollerblading (fall thing with us mostly) so I'm not worried about capris so my knee pads don't rub against bare skin at the moment. I pretty much just wear the same clothes at the gym regardless of season. It's climate controlled there. So those basic five outfits are the ones I'm trying to replace first!

After I got home from gym I discovered Shawn called me up and left a message on my machine. I gave him a ring and he told me that FedEx is coming to my house tomorrow morning.

"Why?!"

"Because I was lame and a procrastinator and I didn't make you tapes until the last minute. But never fear! They will be there tomorrow!"

"You didn't have to FedEx them! Jeez!"

Shawn has more music than anyone I know. As these longer weekend walks get longer and longer I need music to stave off boredom, and I asked him to send me some tapes a few weeks ago. He's finally sending me some. After he explained his bout of laziness, we talked about Krispy Kreme doughnuts, strip clubs, where he is vacationing the next week or so with this girl, old people driving, weird parents, and convention toys. There was some more in there but I was too busy laughing to remember it all. He ate all the beef jerky I had sent him a while ago and was trying to find some more at his local Asian markets. The Chinese mild, fruity, moist kind done with strawberry jam stuff and not the super hot, spicy, dry kind.

"You went looking for more?" I asked.

"It was a lost cause. I drove to the Asian grocery here, parked, then I went in the store and it was like... (Shawn starts his little monologue)

'Excuse me, where is the beef jerky?' (his I-Am-Lost-Shawn-Help-Me-Voice.)

'What this beef jerky?' (his Crabby-Asian-Grocer-Voice)

'Just...beef jerky. Could you tell me where that is?'

'No beef jerky. You go now. You scaring all the people.'

'No beef jerky at all?'

'What for you want this beef jerky? You go. Stop scaring the people. You go home now.'

... so I just didn't find any."

"I ought to be insulted but you are cracking me up."

"I wasn't trying to be insulting! I just could talk to the guy and it was really weird and awkward. And so there was no beef jerky for Shawn."

"Is that a hint? I'm not sure I ought to mail you any more chinese beef jerky after you ate that whole other box in one sitting."

"And I will do it agaaaain and LIKE it!"

He thinks it's hysterical that Paul mows the lawn wearing his lap dance T-shirt from The Doll House. So American Male.

We're definitely making progress on the relationship front. That is, the relationship after the relationship. It gets easier to be friends.

He wished me good luck on the Three Hour Tour this weekend and told me to quit stressing over the weather. But how can I not stress?! Between heat, fire, rain, hurricane watches, and BUGS --- a nice day for walking outdoors in FL summer is hard to come by!

Weather predicts thunderstorms and temps in the 90's for Saturday. I think I was right on thinking about a split workout for the Three Hour Tour. I just don't trust the weather. I'm going to do 1.5 hrs at the gym to make sure I get at least that. Then I'm taking Paul out on a trail and he plans to rollerblade while I do my own thing. Want to take some pictures on the trail. Hope they turn out. He was gleefully ecstatic to find out we don't have to be out for 3 hours -- just half. I forsee me doing the other long walks solo. Sigh. Walking just isn't his bag, and while he's a good sport, I don't want to take advantage of his good nature.

The next major walking workout is on July 8th for 3.5 hrs. Two week flash forward -- then a 4 hr+, flash forward again and it's 4.5 hrs, then not quite 3 hrs. The other workouts are pretty normal - one hour or so. So I have 4 major walks left and then that's that for the first block of training. (!!!!!)

I sound so casual about it when inside I am feeling all sorts of jumbled up things inside.

~Astrophe