While I’m baffled and alarmed that it’s already the LAST FRIDAY OF SEPTEMBER (WHAT???), that does mean I’m joining Marcia for her monthly Runfessions! Let’s just see what I might have to runfess and confess this time…
First of all, I’ll runfess that it’s “Angry Running Season” here in Florida. Summer is what it is- it’s hot everywhere. But by late September everyone else is talking about the chill in the air and leaves changing colors. Here, it’s hot, muggy… and rainy.
I think it’s rained every day this month, and when it rains here in September, instead of cooling things down it somehow makes everything even more muggy and steamy. It’s a TERRIBLE month for running! As much as I want to complain about the dark mornings, I’ll runfess that it’s the only “comfortable” time of day to run.
The one thing we do right in Florida, though, is AC. You will never be hot inside! As a matter of fact, it’s usually so cold you need a sweatshirt. The place I appreciate the icy cold AC the most is the gym. I’ve been there several times this week.
I’ll runfess that I haven’t run since Saturday. I wanted to give my cranky hamstring a good rest, so I’ve been walking and getting on the Stairmaster. I’ve also had two lower body strength days this week! But I runfess that I continue to neglect my upper body… sigh. I just can’t seem to make myself care.
Lastly, I’ll confess that I really made my life harder by getting a third cat! Kittens are… rambunctious. The other day my daughter asked where the cats were. I answered “Well, Muffin is in the living room, and Foxy-” we suddenly heard a crash from another room- “er, wherever that crash came from is where Foxy is.” He is into EVERYTHING. I know he’ll settle down as he gets older, but right now… sheesh.
Meanwhile, Muffin is completely better except that she still can’t meow! I feel like we need to give her some sort of tool, like a horn to honk so she can let us know when she needs something. Because she can’t talk, we’ve been referring to her as “Harpo.” This of course makes Charlotte “Groucho” and I guess Foxy is “Zeppo”?
Do you have any silly nicknames for your pets?- I frequently refer to Foxy as “Mr. Fox” or “Baby”, since he’s the baby of our family.
Give me a good reason to work on my upper body strength (I need motivation!)
Do NOT tell me about your weather! – I refuse to listen.
26 Responses
Angry Running Season, ha, I can imagine! At least the gym AC comes to the rescue (love how Florida takes indoor cooling to extremes).
Good call on resting the hamstring – I’m dealing with one myself, and it’s so frustrating. The Stairmaster is a smart alternative, though!
As for upper body strength: it makes carrying all the groceries in one trip way easier – the ultimate cross-training!
Oookay, I’ll try to tell myself that next time I go to the gym! I’m happy to report that I ran this morning and the hamstring was fine- no longer cranky, phew.
Look at the cute kitties! Grouchy is a wonderful nickname for your black coat diva.
My longer haired girl cat has Fluffenutter as a nickname, as she is so soft and fluffy, and has peanut butter coloring on her belly ( tabby brown and on top). Also Angel, pretty girl, and scaredy cat. My boy cat gets called mitten kitten,big cat, and bitey baby. Cats lend themselves to so many nicknames!
My sympathies for you hot, sticky weather. Our September got really hot ( though not humid) and I’m so tired of the A/C at work. I don’t need to be chilled to 68° . Then I walk outside and melt.
I hope the hamstring responds to your tender care!
Ha, yes, cats get a lot of silly nicknames. Harpo, Groucho and Zeppo are only the most recent.
The only thing I’ll say about freezing cold AC is… it makes going outside feel good- for a few minutes at least.
Baby animals are a handful! We love Doggo dearly, but those first few months were ROUGH. She still has plenty of rowdy moments, but nothing like it was at the start. I called both dogs Baby – with Stepdog it was because she was cute, and with Doggo it’s because she was a baby when we got her. My husband gets confused a lot about whether I’m talking to the dog or to him when I say Baby.
Let’s see…a reason to do upper body. I don’t have a why, but maybe a suggestio to pick one exercise and commit to doing it a few times a week? That way you’re doing something for upper body without committing to a full workout and maybe things will take off from there? I do almost no strength training except for pushups (I know you can’t do them because of your wrists, it’s just an example). I had fallen off the wagon with pushups because of a certain baby animal in my house who pounces on me when I’m on the floor, but lately I’ve been in a No Excuses mindset. I did my pushups faithfully every other day while I was in Canada, and now that I’m home I’m back on my normal 3x a week schedule.
I like that suggestion! I think my one exercise could be overhead press- it’s something I can do at home with the weights I have (since I’m so weak, ha.) Okay, I’m doing it!
I call Rex “Baby” all the time! His main nickname is Big Silly or Mr Silly though. I think that’s self-explanatory!
Kyria asked me for a list of strange US customs, as noticed by a Canadian, and one of them is that wow, Americans sure love their AC. Especially in the south! I remember being in Houston and freezing to death going from the heat outside to a walk-in fridge inside. It’s like you need two separate outfits in summer! One for outside, one for inside.
Nicole, it’s absolutely true. If I’m going to sit in Starbucks for a while I need to be wearing long pants and not one, but TWO sweatshirts. Yeah, we US americans are weird.
Like you I can’t believe that it’s almost October!
I hate freezing cold AC. But I’m so sensitive to any temperature extremes so I get overheated easily and too cold easily. I am such a fun person to live with…
I call my husband Baby (and he calls me Baby), but we don’t have any pets to get that confused with, so it’s all good! In my phone he’s listed as My Baby <3 Even though he is nearly 50, haha.
Awww…. that’s sweet! And- I also have a very narrow range of temperatures I’m comfortable in. I’m either too hot or too cold 90% of the time.
Sorry your running weather has been so far sub par. We are in a drought here so could use some of that rain, but I can’t complain. Aww your kitties are so cute, despite all the mischief. Monty is often referred to as Mini, Micro Mini and Minners. Romeo gets called Gnomeo and Snowmeo. Haha! Now get after that upper body strength. It is my favorite!
Hee hee… I like those nicknames.
Okay, I got in two very short upper body strength sessions this week- I’m trying!
Ah your kitten is adorable! Kittens and puppies have SO much energy! I’ve nicknamed our puppy “Rukus” for good reason lol.
I actually don’t mind upper body strength work – comes in handy when I’m working in my garden.
Ha ha… “Ruckus” is a GREAT nickname for any baby animal.
Ok. So it was humid and foggy and muggy here today. You’ll accept that, right???
A third kitty! How fun! Please. I never call the bugs by their real names. I can’t even begin sharing the list of names they go by, that’s how extensive it is!
Upper body workouts are awful. That’s all.
Finally, someone agrees with me! And… why is it so fun to call pets by ridiculous nicknames? I’m realizing that I almost never use their real names either.
I’ll be complaining about sub zero temps and snow and you will be grinning.
Yes my hubby calls Diamond Little Lady or sweetheart and Domino Big Guy. Domino is 2 and still running and destroying…
I almost got a 3rd but I’m afraid of getting another Domino and what if Diamond hates him… Good luck.
When I go to the gym, I only use the upper body and hip machines. I ignore my legs….
Well, hips are important! I think I could ignore legs and focus solely on hips and it would work just fine.
Yes, getting a third cat is definitely a crap shoot- you never know how the other two will react. AND… you’re right, I”ll be happy in January when we finally have the best weather in the country. I have to remind myself of that right now.
haha kittens are the best and the worst!!! we have SO many nicknames for the cats it’s ridiculous. The most ridiculous one is that we all Leo “Bobby” on a daily basis. It’s not his name! I don’t know where it came from!
That reminds me of a cat I had named Albert. For some reason I always called him “Scoopy” and one day my sister said “Why didn’t you just name him that???” Yes… why do we bother picking out names if we’re constantly using nicknames!
Well, I could use encouragement for doing lower-body strength work more consistently! I enjoy upper- body workouts…more for how they make me look than the strength they’ve given me, LOL.
So you’re saying I should focus on upper body and enjoy the aesthetic benefits… you might be onto something there!
I don’t think my weather would make you feel any better! I’m up in northern AZ for my next race tomorrow and it’s been storming on and off since yesterday. There was a lot of hail and close lightning yesterday which makes me nervous for being outside all day so I’m hoping it just rains and isn’t severe weather tomorrow. It is a lot cooler though — only in the 60s which I haven’t experienced since probably April!
I love the nicknames for the cats and Foxy is so cute!
Oh, I hope your race went well. It sounds like the weather could be problematic- let me know what happened!
Foxy! Good thing he’s so cute, right? I remember how rambunctious our sibling kittens were when they first came home with us. There were in to EVERYTHING!
Here’s a reason to for upper body workouts: upper body and core strength are very important for distance runners to help carry them through those final long miles of a race.
Yes, you are RIGHT. If nothing else I should be working on my back- sometimes it gets sore after long runs, which makes me think I need to get stronger.
Ha, you had two kittens at once? That’s double trouble!