Day 2, Week 1: Just a little Q&A

And on the blog today - a quick little Q&A:

Q: Why a Q&A today?

Because I'm not into writing paragraphs today.

Q: What's up with the title of the post?  Are you officially marathon training again?

Yep.  I'm officially training for Twin Cities this year, and away we go!

Q: The title of your blog says "Day 2."  Where the heck is Day 1?

Day 1s are so lame, I decided to skip it this time.  Not really.  Obviously, Day 1 was yesterday.  Also obviously, I completely forgot about putting it in the title.

Q: So, on this Day #2...what did you do?

Ran 2 miles on a very hot and humid 5:30 AM morning with large dog.  And stopped to take selfies.

ZOMG HEAT....and corn.

derp derp....DERP

Q: Only 2 miles?  Are you a wimp or something?

I am a total wimp about spiders and the sight of my own blood.  But I am not a running wimp - the My Run Plan app made me do it.  And I do what the app tells me to do.  Maybe the app is wimpy.  You'd really have to ask the app about that.

Q: Maybe I will.  Anyway, how's the eating today?  Still healthy?

Yep.  And DELICIOUS.

nom nom nom nom

Q: Any news on the weight loss-front?  Is the eating working?

Well, I haven't weighed myself in a while because I keep forgetting in the rush to get my workout in and getting ready for work.  But I was at the doctor today and after they weighed me I used the following equation to calculate my weight loss:

Weight on scale - Estimated pounds of clothes I'm wearing - Hey I ate food today so of course I weigh more - Normally I weigh myself in the morning so of course I weight more - Oh wait I forgot I was wearing my shoes when I got on the scale = Hey I think I lost a few pounds.

Feel free to use that math equation for your weight whenever you'd like.

Q: Anything else interesting happen at the doctor?

I fell asleep in the waiting room (I had to wait for half an hour) and then when they took my blood pressure it was on the low side...which sparked a LOT of concern and ended with me saying loudly I JUST WOKE UP FROM A NAP IN YOUR WAITING ROOM GEEEEEZ I'M ALRIGHT

Q: I think we're at the end of the post now.  Do you have a logical ending for once?

Nope.  Instead I have a gratuitous and nonsensical animal picture for you.  Enjoy.

Go away.  Post is over.

Q: Are you going to do that stupid "learnings" thing you normally do at the end?

Oh yes - most definitely.

• This week is actually kind of a recovery week..the app won't let me run more than two miles at a time.  I hope that changes before the marathon.
• That meal was freaking awesome.  BBQ pulled chicken over a baked potato with butter and sour cream.  UH-MAY-ZING
• I was at the doctor for a check-up.  No freakouts, please.
• Why doctors gotta weigh you all the time?  They should just trust you and take your word for whatever weight you write down.
• It was super hot at 5:30 AM.  Like it has  every right to be hot because it's summer or something.

Tomorrow's workout: Weights!  Probably upper body of some kind with some abs thrown in for fun.

Tips for running in the heat. Not really.

If you're in the northern hemisphere, it's summer (if you didn't know that, SPOILER ALERT).  That means we crazy runners have to get used to running outside in what's known as "heat."  To help you through summer running, below are some of my best tips for running.  And by "tips" I mean "things I just thought of off the top of my head that are useless."

Tip #1: Get out of bed early on a Saturday morning so you can get out the door before the heat gets too bad.  I don't care what you did Friday night - get up and get out there.

Tip #2: Always be sure to run with a large dog so he can share in your suffering. (Just be sure to bring water with you and run where there's shade.)

We were ready to run...but not in the heat at 7 AM.

Tip #3: Be sure to take pre-run selfies; this will cool you off before you even start running.  Oh, and always be sure to dress appropriately for the temperature and the humidity of the run, too.  That will also keep you cooler.

Jazz hands cool you off EVEN MORE.

Tip #4: Make sure your large dog mega-derps throughout the run so he can stay cool, too.  And make sure he drinks the water you put out for him.

Tip #5: You know large dog is sufficiently cooled off when even his shadow mega-derps.

shadow derpity-derp

Tip #6: Finish the run and enjoy your air-conditioned house.  And put ice cubes in large dog's water.

And from these tips we have learned...

...large dog derps a lot

...I hate running in the heat

...I couldn't think of anything interesting to blog about

...not much.

Tomrrow's workout: A small bike-to-run brick in a tri suit without holes in it.

4 pictures, 4 sentences: Yep, it's another one of *those* posts

Picture #1: Simon and I headed outside around 5 am-ish this morning to do some speed work called for by the Runner's World Run Plan app.  We took a post-run picture to commemorate the run for all eternity as "The first morning run we've done where it was pretty much light out the whole time" in 2018.

Confession: My face is holding his head so he's
looking somewhere in the direction of the camera.

Picture #2: Here's the workout that the RW app mailed to me on Sunday that I was supposed to do and actually did today.  Please note that this is kind of a lot of freaking miles to run in the morning before for for someone who is already "getting to work on time challenged." And if you're not noting it, I have helpfully noted it for you in the picture.  

Picture #3: After doing the workout, I was fiddling around in the app and found this hidden away in the app as the workout I was really supposed to do today.  As you can see, it's juuuuuust a little different from the one I did.  And by "different" I mean "a whole heck of a lot shorter."

Totally angry-face justified.

Picture #4: Large dog didn't care at all about the messed up workouts.  He was too busy mega-derping all over the road.

MEGA DERP

No mega-derping in these learnings, that's for sure:

• Large dog doesn't get the concept of "slowing down" during the recovery intervals of speed work.  At all.
• Even though I did the wrong workout, the workout I did was refreshingly new to me.
• Although that feeling of refreshment could have just been due to the ability to see the road without a headlamp for once.
• That RW app has been harder to figure out than I anticipated.  I must be reaching the age where I need a younger person to do things for me to make me feel older than not being able to figure out an app on my own does.  More frustrated blog posting on this tomorrow with more badly marked-up screenshots coming your way.

Tomorrow's workout (I finally found it in the app!): A 50-minute bike ride!  Partially in the dark.