Say what?

I just re-read my post from Wednesday. Why in the world would I be running with an umbrella? That's just stupid.

Motivation

I did not want to run three miles yesterday. I tried very hard to procrastinate. I ate a light dinner, threw a load of laundry in the washer and played with my dogs. I even tried to take a nap. But I didn't sleep long, and I didn't sleep well. I felt guilty. It was Thursday, and I was supposed to run. I needed to run.

But even guilt wasn't a good enough motivator to disengage my lazy behind from the couch. It was time to bring out the big guns: ice cream. I love ice cream so much it is almost embarrassing. Ask my husband, he'll tell you. There are days where, if I haven't been able to get to the grocery store that week, we may not have so much as some crumbs in the cupboard and a gallon of milk in the refrigerator teetering on its expiration date. But we always, always have some kind of ice cream or ice cream product in the freezer. Like I said, it's almost embarrassing.

I struck a deal with myself - after my run I could indulge in the frosty, tasty, chocolaty goodness of an ice cream bar in front of the TV. Deal! Fifteen minutes later I was fussing with my I-Pod playlists as I began my first lap around the park. Sometimes I am still just a little kid.

Deep thoughts

And now for a brief message from the Asthmatic Hippo sponsors. Well, one of my supporters anyway. No one would be crazy enough to actually sponsor me or this blog.

I received the following e-mail from my big sister, who recently discovered this blog. As a two time Boston marathon finisher and a fiercely intelligent, sharp teacher, who would have thought big sis' thoughts while running were so much like mine? (I figured I'd wait at least several more weeks until owning up to my mental "Let's Make a Deal" game with landscaping features.) I thought for sure her thoughts would be more substantive and meaningful, like whether it's too late to stop the polar ice caps from melting.


"Great blog!

I find the best thing about running is that I can't really be a thinker at the same time. I don't know what I think about when I run. I never listen to music and somehow my mind just wanders. I can't really keep a train of thought because I always get to focusing on my breathing for awhile and then I don' know what I was thinking about. And sometimes the deepest thoughts are - I will just run to that lamp post over there. Then I get there and think - I will just run to that fire hydrant over there. Those are the days that running is a mental game. And some days I really think about nothing but just enjoy moving. Those are my best running days. I think you will find that the asthma feeling will continue to fade. And as your distance increases you will discover that the first 2-3 miles is just warm-up! It's amazing really - there is this groove you get in sometimes after that 2-3 mile mark.

Happy Running!"

Holy hotness!

I met up with a friend of mine for a 4 mile run yesterday evening (Tuesday), but given the eye-poppingly large number on the temperature gauge - 105 degrees - we decided that walking it might be a better idea.

About midway through our route, the sky got all dark and scary. Dead leaves and debris started to come whipping in circles out of the tree tops, and images of Auntie Em and Toto started coming to mind. (I later came to find out that my vision wasn't all that off base -- a funnel cloud was spotted just a few miles away from where we were.)

Did either one of us bother to check the weather forecast before we left that day? Nah. Why bother? For the last two weeks it has been one of three temperatures: hot and sticky, hotter and stickier, and Africa humidity hot.

Then it started to rain. Big, fat, blessed drops of rain! When you haven't seen rain in several weeks, you don't care if you still have two miles to go and no umbrella. We thoroughly enjoyed getting soaked to the bone on the rest of our walk. I didn't even care when I discovered that I'd left the driver side window open on my car. After the rain storm, the outside temperature gauge on my dashboard displayed a beautiful number, the same number as the last world series won by the Mets - 86. Ahhh....

Cross training

Because the hippo is a semi-aquatic mammal, I decided it was only fitting to do some swimming this weekend as my cross training exercise.

According to my buddy Hal Higdon and his training program, I only had to do 30 minutes of cross training. I mostly did alternating laps of freestyle and breaststroke, but I'll admit I cheated once or twice with the sidestroke and the backstroke. Every time I get in the pool I'm reminded of how much I enjoy swimming, especially in the summer heat. My muscles seem to "get in the zone" a little more quickly when I swim compared to when I run.

Mondays are "stretch and strengthen" days according to Hal. I intended to attend a yoga class at my gym tonight, but ended up having to stay late at the office. I am very bummed about missing the class, mostly because I feel about as flexible as a cement statue these days.

I'm meeting up with a friend for a 3-4 mile run on Tuesday night. It's supposed to hit 101 degrees, so we'll see how it goes. Having been born and raised a northerner, I'm still not used to summer in the South. It has been in the very high 90s and low 100s nearly every day for the past two weeks. As a kid I always marveled at people who said they hated summer. Now, after spending more than a few Augusts below the Mason Dixon line, I think I'm beginning to understand.