Oh hi there! I have several things to share on this coffee date, so get out your mug of coffee, or Earl Grey tea, and we’ll chat.
The first thing I would tell you is- I did my 20 mile long run!!! The hay is in the barn, although the horses may be a little hungry this year. Because of the weird timing (spraining my ankle, DNF’ing my race, and then frantically finding a “replacement” race) I didn’t do as many long runs as one would normally do for a 50K. But that’s okay! I’ll still be able to complete the race and have an interesting experience.
Remember how I was dreading this run because the forecast showed a VERY hot day? Well, I decided to follow the advice, “If you can’t get out of it, get into it.” I packed up my cooler with lots of ice, water, LMNT, and snacks (Lara bars, gels, and Tailwind.) I even made a special playlist for this run (which I titled “98 Degrees,” ha.) And… I wish I could say I enjoyed it, but it was SUPER HARD. Here’s me at the start looking optimistic and jaunty:
… and here’s me at the end.
You might notice a couple wardrobe changes! Even though my shirt was a crop top, I had to take it off. It was just this soaking wet…. thing against my skin, and it bothered me SO MUCH as the run went on. And I switched to wearing my ice hat around mile 14- the hat with little pockets for ice cubes. So, note to self- don’t even think about wearing a shirt for this race, and wear the ice hat. Anyway, I’m glad that’s over.
The next thing I would tell you is, my son is coming home! He’s on his way from Waco, driving- he’s going to stop in Tampa to visit a friend, and he’ll be here Saturday! HOORAY! We need an infusion of joy right about now, and my son will be just that.
The last- and possibly most important- thing I have to share is, I solved my email problem. I was getting so many junk emails that I was missing real emails from actual people. At one point I took the time to unsubscribe to each and every one, and the problem just got WORSE.
I was literally getting about 100 emails a day about “Biden’s bombshell,” “Russia’s terrifying new weapon,” and “Bank accounts frozen! Yours could be next!” And on and on. I was getting at least ten emails a day trying to get me to purchase a “Trumpinator bobblehead.” I mean, how stupid do these people think I am? How did they get my email address, anyway???
Then I heard on the Happier podcast that Elizabeth had the same problem- and the solution is to block the senders. She said if you unsubscribe, it just makes the problem worse, because then they know there’s an actual person dealing with the emails (only unsubscribe if it’s something you originally signed up for.) It turns out it’s REALLY easy to “block senders”- just mess around a bit with the options and you’ll find it- and it works! All the annoying emails have disappeared. Of course a couple new ones crop up every day, but I just block the senders and that’s that.
What would you tell me over coffee? How was your week? Do you get annoying emails?
32 Responses
Yay for the end of the school year and your son coming home!!!
I did consider getting a cup of Earl Gray tea when I met Engie for coffee last week – but I ended up getting coffee. I had a few jitters in the afternoon but slept well that night so I got away with exceeding my daily caffeine limit – that one time. I know that if I duplicated the 2x coffee per day that it would cost me some sleep.
Your horses might be a little hungry but I’d put money on them having a great race! I know that it’s getting close.
The funny thing about spam is that I use my “blog” email for anything that I think might be spamy – and it hardly ever gets spam! My “real” personal email account gets more spam that the blog email, but nothing terrible. My work email is really horrible for getting spam, ever after using a spam filter. And the industry that I work for is…wait for it…cybersecurity. I’ll be interested to see how my new job which is in technology but not cybersecurity compares for spam.
Ha, so it seems to be totally random? I don’t get much spam at all for my blog email, but it was my personal email that was a HUGE mess. Not anyore, thanks to the Happier podcast.
I find most spam gets filtered out on my accounts but I do need to remember to check that folder occasionally because sometimes real emails go in there. My biggest problem is the email lists that are for places I’ve shopped etc and I generally schedule some time every few months to unsubscribe from them, but obvious spam ones I just mark as spam and gmail does the rest.
I’m so excited for you, getting your final long run done. The race is almost here! Such a gutsy effort from you to pick yourself up and get prepared for this one.
Thank you Melissa! Yes, the race is next weekend. I’m getting excited about it.
I think I’m just going to hope no real email goes to spam- I just can’t deal with checking the spam folder!
Well done on that 20-miler! You are better prepared than you think! Were there any aches or pains?
I guess I have a good filter because I hardly ever get spam. On the contrary, just yesterday I found an important e-mail with race information for an upcoming trail race in my spam folder. I am very minimalistic with my mails – on a daily basis, I get perhaps five mails, two of them being news summaries from Switzerland and South Africa.
Thank you Catrina!!! The only thing that was sore was my right foot, the one that just recently developed PF. I think it’s going to need a little “rest” when this race is over.
WOW! That long run sounds brutal in the heat, but your advice for dealing is great and so wildly applicable. Excellent email hack– I love that show still for those kinds of relatable, usable tips. Yay for college kids coming home!!
Yes Sarah- you will soon see how hard it is to say goodbye to Harry, but how incredibly exciting it is when he comes home again!
Ugh, the email spam! I get so much stuff, especially political emails that are so annoying. I’ve been unsubscribing from them as much as I can, but good to know that it’s better to just block the email.
I don’t know HOW anyone runs in Florida past from May to, like, November. It’s so hot and humid! Good job at getting out there and preparing yourself with lots of hydration/ice/etc. You’ve got this!!
Thank you Stephany! The key to running in the summer is to do it REALLY early in the morning, which didn’t work for this run unfortunately.
And for your emails- yes, stop unsubscribing and just block them. The political ones are SO annoying.
Oh, yay for getting through that run and YAY for your son coming home! What a lovely burst of joy for the weekend. My week has been all over the place with work and a head cold and now our final dance comp of the year on Sunday; I’m definitely ready for a couple of weeks off from hair/makeup/snack/driving duty before recital June hits. I get so overwhelmed by emails recently – they are just so constant and there’s so much to wade through. Each week, I take 30 minutes to go block senders and sort which has helped significantly (as does pausing to think before I enter my email anywhere, haha – I know I’m part of the problem!)…
Yes, now that I’ve started blocking the senders of the really annoying ones, next I have to take the time to unsubscribe from the ones I actually, foolishly signed up for on purpose. I’ve definitely learned my lesson about giving out my address for ANYTHING.
Good luck this weekend! Those comps sound exhausting- you definitely need a break.
Well done on your long run, Jenny!!
I am excited for you that your son is coming home for the summer! It will be nice to have a full house!
Block senders – this is great advice. I have so much junk too, and gmail is pretty good about separating it out, but not great. I am on so many lists too and I have no idea how.
Yes, I would LOVE to know how I got on some of these lists (particularly the pro- Trump ones?????????). The account that got so bad was Yahoo- they definitely did NOT do a good job of separating it out.
I got on a list recently, somehow, not something I ever would have signed up for, and though GMail is catching the messages and marking them as spam, I still got three yesterday! Three! In one day! The list of people I want three messages from in a single day is about four people long, and there isn’t a company in the world on that list. So annoying.
Yes- now imagine that times, oh about 30. I mean it was literally about 100 emails a day. What I’m gleaning from these comments is that gmail does a much better job of filtering spam than Yahoo.
I don’t seem to get much SPAM, but I’m also on very few mailing lists? But great to know the tip about blocking senders.
I am SO EXCITED PAUL IS EN ROUTE. That’s wonderful. I know he brings so much joy into your life. You’ll have a gym buddy for a while, too!!
That heat sounds awful. I would melt into a puddle of distress. Go you!!!! You are so strong and resilient!
Thank you Elisabeth! After my race where I almost froze, I though I would never be too hot again. I was wrong.
Yes, I’m excited for so many reasons to have my son home- and having a gym buddy is one of them.
Yay for finishing your final long run of this training cycle! I think you’ll be more than ready for your 50K — even with your ankle injury, you had a longer buildup to this race so that should help, and hopefully the weather will be cooler on race day. I’m no stranger to 98 degree runs but we don’t have to deal with the awful humidity here!
I don’t really get many spam emails but I do get a lot of marketing emails from companies that I signed up for at one point to get a discount or something and now I get them forever ugh. I guess I could unsubscribe from a lot of them but that seems like more work than just deleting them as they come in!
Yes, I don’t think it will actually be this hot on race day. But it will still be hot. But there will be aid stations with lots of ice!
I have a bunch of emails that I stupidly signed up for that I just keep deleting. That was okay- it was the political ones that started to drive me crazy.
You know what is interesting? I think that our Paul’s have a lot in common. Paul is our ray of sunshine, too. He’s just a naturally happy kid. He wakes up just thrilled to greet the day and is just so very very positive. I’ve seen him around his peers at T-ball and at an art event at school and he seems to be so well liked. Everyone is like – HI PAUL – and not just his kinder classmates. Older kids seem to like him, too. What a gift to have that kind of personality. I need to ask my mom if I was like that. I don’t know that I was, although I was always very very good at talking to adults from a young age and his after school teachers have told us he is like a little old soul that loves to chat with them. So he gets some of that from me for sure. But I’m not sure where the ray of sunshine aspect comes from.
I am glad you long run is behind you! I remember some tough training runs from my previous marathons. I parked my car at this park at the start of a trail that would circle some lakes and also take you along a creek. At the end of the runs, I would sometimes like lay in the fetal position in the grass and I would think – wow I am so not a poster child/advertisement for distance running. Lol. Sometimes I would do long runs at the lake and my parents would be like – why are you doing this? You seem so miserable at the end of your runs! And that wasn’t in the FL heat/humidity, although it can get quite hot/humid here in the summer, too.
If we were having coffee today I’d tell you that I’m excited to have a date night with Phil tomorrow night. We celebrate 7 years of marriage on Sunday. It’s coming at a good time as I have had quite an intense period of travel this spring so I feel like we are very much in need of some time out of the house to really connect. It’s hard to connect at home when we are managing the boys. By the time both kids are in bed I’m pretty tanked and Phil is too so we are kind of like 2 zombies on the couch. I’d also tell you that I am excited to have almost a month without travel. I really really really need this break and Phil needs it, too.
First of all, yes- that sounds like my Paul as a kid. Well, he was actually kind of quiet but everyone always liked him. Then I had my daughter, ha ha… well, it takes all kinds.
I didn’t lie in a fetal position after my run- I sat in my car with the AC blasting!!!
Yay for a date night. Yes, I’m sure you guys need it! I hope you have a great time- and also yay for a month without travel. That will be nice for you (and Phil, I’m sure!)
Great job on gtting that 20M done!! And YAY for your son heading home – hope he has a safe trip!
Thank you Michelle! He’s almost here- i always worry about him while he’s traveling but everything is going just fine.
oh those pictures make SO MUCH SENSE, and i run HOURS before you in the morning! This week has been BRUTAL. Today’s high is 97 but I actually thought this morning was the tiniest bit better . . . dare i hope the trend continues!?!? I am SO GLAD to have you in the blog world and living nearby IRL to commiserate with because I really feel validated by your weather posts!!!
Shu, I feel the same way about you! A couple times I’ve thought “I hope people are reading Shu’s blog so they know I’m not exaggerating!” And yes- never again will I start a long run that late. Well, at least I hope I won’t…
Great job on your run! When is your race? That is a lot of junk email. Wow! Glad you found a solution.
Thank you Zenaida! My run is next Sunday, the 26th. Gulp!!!
You’re a rockstar for doing this long run in the heat!
I can imagine how excited you are that your son is coming home. I am so glad you’re getting a long so well with him. 🙂
Junk/Spam Emails are so weird… I don’t get why they exist.
San, I know what you mean about those emails- what exactly are they trying to accomplish? Do they think I’m going to believe anything they say? Or is it just a scam to get me click on a link (would I really be that stupid?) and then cause all sorts of problems. Whatever- it was REALLY annoying.
I’m impressed you figured out a solution to your email issue. Outlook does a nice job of sending junk into an “other” folder and I just delete it all every few days.
But can we talk about spam phone calls? On Friday, I got FOURTEEN phone calls from the same spam number and each time they would leave a 1-second voicemail. I have blocked this number, so it doesn’t ring, but they do get to leave voicemails and that means my voicemail box is full a lot because I can’t spend my entire day deleting 1-second voicemails. I’m so frustrated with it. Today (Saturday) there have only been five calls, but it’s the same number!! Why do they keep calling?!
That long run is mind blowing. I did not even know they made hats with places for ice cubes.
I am also thrilled to have my college kids home. I am almost done babysitting and I look forward to the summer off. I’m working on a video for Reg’s graduation party. I wont relax until it’s done because sometimes my computer decides to be difficult and will boycott burning it to a CD.