Resurrection

I have discovered an unexpected benefit from suffering through a cold.

After feeling crummy for two entire weeks, I am positively euphoric about being healthy again. Just being normal feels wonderful.

It's almost as if I have a whole new enthusiasm for life, including workouts, socialization, and even mundane chores. Whatever slump I was in before (and during) the illness has been left behind. I am really looking forward to each day, and to the entire year. I expect the rest of 2014 to be full of major accomplishments and continuous delight.

[Note: The photos at the top of the page are always relevant to the topic in some way. Were you able to deduce today's connection? It's a metaphor for personal dichotomy; Bill Bixby represents the way I feel when under the weather, and Louie epitomizes the glorious feeling of empowerment that accompanies good health and fitness.]

I had a good track workout last night, despite patches of ice in the running lanes. That was after a tough plyometrics workout in the morning, and a productive day at the office. I ran a bit on the treadmill this morning, and then totally enjoyed the main set of our swim workout. It was 20 x 100s on the fastest sendoff you can hold (FSYCH), which might be my favorite set to do. My lane did them on 1:30, which was probably a bit too much rest, but I didn't attempt to persuade anyone to change it. It was still a good pace work set.

For some reason, very few other folks on the team seemed to enjoy that set. But I managed to leave the pool feeling fantastic, despite the anger and hatred directed my way by the other swimmers. After all, I consider cruelty and lack of human empathy to be positive attributes for a swim coach to possess.

But enough of that. Let's talk trivia.

Your challenge in today's quiz is to first figure out what the following folks have in common:

Sam Etic
Ponsonby Britt
John Jay Smith
Alan Smithee
Ralph the Wonder Llama

Then, for extra credit, let's see if you can find a relationship between each of those names and one of the faces in this picture:



That should present a decent mental challenge. But if you want EXTRA extra credit, you'll have to tell me which name is associated with heavyweight detective Frank Cannon (pictured above), and what relationship Mr. Cannon shares with the giant unkillable carrot monster in the movie "The Thing from Another World". I'll have the answers in the next post. In the meantime, I hope you can release your inner Ferrigno and storm through any obstacles you encounter with unlimited energy. Have a great day!