Has high blood pressure got a hold on me
Or is this the way love's supposed to be?
It's like a heat wave
Burnin' in my heart ...

I think I speak for us all when I say that it takes a heart of stone to not be moved by the wondrous testifying to the glorious power of love by Ms. Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. But, clearly, we live in a world of stony hearts.

I took another stab at Motown Monday at my gym, thanks to the kindness of Carrie. Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Marvelettes and Gladys Knight and the Pips ...

PIPS, PEOPLE, THERE WERE PIPS.

But even the magical power of Pips was not enough. I endured so much eye rolling. Mass quantities of eye rolling.

Barbarians. I work out amongst barbarians. Clearly, none of these muscular young men has ever held a hair brush up before his lips as if it was a microphone and pretended to be Diana Ross. Can you BELIEVE that?

I'm telling you, some days it takes all my inner strength to soldier on. And speaking of soldiering on ...

Just over three months ago I mentioned that I'd started taking a somewhat controversial supplement called creatine. Since the long term effects of it are not known, I took a very low dose and a week ago began a creatine wash -- for one month I won't take the supplement to make sure that I don't impair my body's ability to make its own creatine.

My reaction to having to stop the creatine?

WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Creatine, even at half a teaspoon a day, did for me exactly what the weight lifting sites said it would do, much to my amazement. It helped me work out longer and harder, gave me more stamina, and helped my body convert fat into muscle. The most amazing part of it was that no matter how hard I worked out, I did not have muscle ache the next day. Not ever.

Well, today, for the first time in three months, I have post-workout muscle ache. Lots of muscle ache.

WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Wait, it gets worse. My trainer is so impressed by what it did for me that she's started the supplement herself to see if it does the same thing for her. So now she'll be doing the 10K training program turbo-charged with creatine and I'll be in the middle of my washout period.

WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Wait, it gets worse. I just checked this week's portion of the 10K training program and it involves a long 25 minute jog followed by 100 meter fast runs. Creatine is a proven sprinting aid. I am going off creatine right when I have to dig a bit deeper and find some speed.

WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

The light at the end of the tunnel is that first week in February I can start taking it again. My aching muscles and I can hardly wait.

I just peered over my monitor to see what the spousal unit was watching on the tee vee. Believe it or not, Mr. Carpenter Guy has it tuned to the Women's Network and is watching some sort of chick flick. Meanwhile, here I am discussing the vicissitudes of weight lifting supplements.

Um, remind me ... which one of us is supposed to be the girl?

--Marn

Mileage on the Marnometer: 27.7 piddling miles
Goal for 2004: 1,000 miles - 1609 kilometers