Friday Leftovers (Aug. 27)

Just wanted to let you guys know (once again) that Mrs. LB's guest post will appear on Monday so please come back for that.

Now, on to the Leftovers.

Word Association

Play here.

1. Leads :: United
2. Concierge :: Service
3. Thousand :: Island
4. Engines :: Motor
5. Argument :: Anger
6. 2006 :: World Cup
7. Knot :: Tied
8. F___ :: That
9. Handsome :: Devil
10. Ridge :: Crest

Explanations: Let me see, Leads :: United is after a soccer club from Leeds, England. Leads is spelled differently, of course, but that's what popped into my mind first. Thousand :: Island is awesome, my favorite dressing

Five Question Friday

Here is the weekly Five Question Friday. Yay for 5QF!

1. How many pets do you have?

Three. Our cat is named Matsui after baseball player Hideki Matsui, who I thought was pretty cool back when we got the cat (late '03). We have two dogs named Rooney and Tevez, after soccer players Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez. Our dogs are small and we wanted to name them after small soccer players.

2. If you could switch places with anyone in the world for one day, who would it be?

I would probably switch places with an ultramarathoner on an ultramarathon race day. Scott Jurek would be pretty cool. I'd like to see what it would be like to have the ability to run 100 miles without dying.

3. What is your favorite money-saving tip?

This one's kind of hard but one thing I do to save money is to check the day-old bread rack or whatever at the grocery store. They'll often have good deals on bread. The bad thing is, of course, since it's on the verge of going bad you have to use it up right away. Sometimes, though, I will buy day-old bread and freeze it if I'm not going to use it that day. Or I will store the bread in the microwave. The microwave is airtight so it really slows down the aging process on bread. The bad thing is when you actually have to use the microwave you have to take a bunch of crap out of there, but oh well.

4. What do you want your kids to be when they grow up?

I want them to be happy. That's it. I want to encourage them to pursue their interests, and as long as they have a passion for learning, and a passion for something that makes them happy, I'll be quite content.

5. What is your favorite quote?

I read this in a Runners World magazine earlier this year. This is from Gary Muhrcke, the winner of the first-ever New York City Marathon, held in 1970.

"So many people crossing the finish line of a marathon look as happy as when I won. They have tears in their eyes. This sport is full of winners."

That's why I love to run. I'm not going to win a marathon, but finishing a marathon is a monumental challenge, each and every time. And while I didn't have tears in my eyes at the finish line of San Francisco, I may have had some tears around mile 18, when I thought about what I was on my way towards doing, and I may have had some tears after the race when I thought about what I'd just done.