Friday, June 28, 2019

I'm Shrinking! and Other Runfessions

Wow, June is coming to an end! It's so hard to believe because the cool weather has lingered so long--it hasn't felt like summer. The heat is on now and just in time for the start of July. The end of the month can only mean one thing...that it's time to runfess. Marcia hosts this sole clearing linkup where we can share all our transgressions from the month. Go ahead and open up. It feels good!



It's school physical season and some of my teenaged patients were complaining that they hadn't grown since last year. I had concerns about our stadiometer, the device attached to the wall that measures height. So I tested it out on myself. I measured 5'4 1/2 instead of 5'5, which is the height I've been since I stopped growing in my teens. Am I shrinking? One of my colleagues measured herself and she was her usual height. I runfess this has bothered me since that day. Getting older is just one fun surprise after another.

As much as I love summer and the heat, I runfess that I don't love running in summer. It's finally warm here and I ran in the heat for the first time this week. The run was hard and for this runner who is already struggling with slowing down, it was a reminder of how humbling running really is.


Speaking of summer, now that's it's warmer, I've been doing lots of planting. This year, I bought some new pots and filled them with succulents. Did you know Home Depot has a huge selection of succulents? After I paid for my plants, the cashier put them back in the shopping basket. I carried the basket to my car and I runfess that instead of unloading each of the 9 plants, I put the basket with the plants in my car. I mean they should have offered me a bag or a box, right? I told myself I'd bring the basket back. It's still in my house.


There's a summer challenge going on at Crossfit and I runfess that I rescheduled my dentist appointment so I could do this week's challenge. Keeping my priorities straight. Everyone from the box has been posting their workouts on social media and I was having all the FOMO. Sled pulls and kip swings, done.


I guess there's a holiday for everything. I received an email asking me to promote National Naked Hiking Day on my blog. The official day was 6/21. The PR promoter supplied a link to an article titled: You Won't Believe Your Eyes (NSFW). Was it the real deal or clickbait? I runfess that it took every ounce of control not to click on it. But I did Google the event and found this informative (and safe) article. And no, I did not participate. No FOMO here. 


What are you runfessing? Are you shrinking? Is it hot enough for you? Does the heat affect your runs? Is going home from the store with a shopping basket stealing? Even if they didn't bag your items? Workout or dentist? Naked hiking, yay or nay?


I'm shrinking and other runfessions /via @oldrunningmom #runchat #running #teamarcia

I'm linking up with Marcia for Runfessions and with Fridays with Fairytales and Fitness.




48 comments :

  1. So thaaaat's what the naked hiking pics were all about on IG. Eeeew! I am not shrinking....yet. I'd think your hanging CF workouts would help on that front. I had a little run-in with a Home Depot cashier who clearly could not count. She overcharged me for 2 extra shrubs then could not do the refund. Color me pissed.

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    1. So are you absolving me for going home with the shopping basket? LOL It sits in my kitchen, taunting me. I need to move it to the garage.

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  2. OMG, I just had a physical and they measured me at 5 even instead of 5'1". Maybe I am shrinking. As someone who gets lots of bug bites, I say hell no to naked hiking! I'd think guys would fear the poison ivy ....

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    1. I just don't like the idea of walking around naked. Ewww. Really, clothes don't bother me!

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  3. Our local race timing company has a race at a nudist colony that coincided with National Naked Hiking Day. They call it "The Bouncing Buns". It's a clothing-optional race. I have never worked up the courage (desire?) to do it! :D

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  4. Wait you are not celebrating naked hiking day?! I always kind of forget how much the humidity zaps me. I am also dealing with slowing down a lot the last year and now boom the heat. Whew it's a struggle!

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    1. Seriously, boom! We've had that cool weather until this week and then we're in the 90s? It's tough and it's real. Ugh!

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  5. Do you remember the milk crate decor of your college years? The were the best for holding record albums, and I'm prettttty sure they came from some dairy. So your Home Depot pilferage is the 2000's version. I'd absolve you. ;)

    As for the shrinking, I measured half an inch shorter a year ago. After dealing with my herniated disc and learning OH SO MUCH about them, that's where we are shrinking - the discs become smaller between the vertebrae. It's normal and it happens to everyone, my doctor told me. Irritating that it's happening while you're living such a healthy lifestyle, isn't it?!

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    1. Oh, Shelley, you so get me. I mean, what is the point if we're just going to fade away?

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  6. If an extra succulent slipped into the basket without being purchased, then yes, you be a royal their. But the basket, no worries. As a frequent HD shopper, I often pick up a few of those little plants to give away. Those cuties will brighten anybodies day.

    We experienced such a pleasant Spring this year. The heat wave is on its way but I really don't mind. Summer always helps me appreciate the Fall. As for Naked Hiking, I would prefer National Body Paint Hiking.

    Cheers

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    1. I've seen some of that Naked Body Painting and it's almost as frightening as Naked Hiking. I think it's best to leave it up to the imagination.

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  7. So for my height hasn't changed, but I'm sure it's coming. My mom used to be 5' 2". She is 90 years old and is now 4' 8" !!! The heat and humidity have been oppressive these past few days. Why can't we find balance?

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    1. I thought I was just too awesome for all of this aging stuff. So far I've gone through menopause, my neck is sagging, and now I'm shrinking. I won't ask what's next because I'm afraid to find out.

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  8. Love that you rescheduled your dentist appointment to be able to go to CrossFit!!! Yes! I love succulents too. They are so pretty!

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  9. Happy Friday! So many questions about so many topics...

    Still 5'2". We had a week of triple digits in early June, but it's been nice since. The heat doesn't affect my running as much as it use to (Hawaii running in the winter changed that.) I've never taken a basket home with me - a bagger at Costco put stuff in a box for me once - the box was so big I had to take half the stuff out of it before I could lift it out of the cart, so helpful! No on the naked hiking, not gonna do it, definitely don't want to see it!

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    1. I would not have gone home with the basket had they given me a box!

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  10. I complained at my annual gyn apt a few years ago about thinking/feeling shorter so he ordered a dexa scan and sure enough I was half a inch shorter and showed the beginnings of osteopenia this while being very active with both cardio and weight lifting. I found out osteoporosis runs in my maternal family.

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    1. I had that Dexa scan last fall! I'm really interested in seeing what I'll learn at my next one.

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  11. National Naked Hiking Day?? Never heard of it. But I would not have gotten FOMO on that one either. Guess there is a day for everything.

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  12. I don't love running in summer too and every year it is always harder. Just now I'am slowing down and I will decide day by day what to do until fall. Moreover I am very upset because I cannot do anymore those long swims in open sea as in the past.

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    1. What happens when you swim? I'm not a swimmer and open water swimming scares me.

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    2. I have a prosthesis inside my right shoulder (see the x-ray on my last post), so the movement is limited and if I swim for more than 10/15 minutes my back hurts because both my shoulders are not in line.

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    3. Oh--right! I saw the X-ray on your last post. I didn't realize the prosthesis affected your swimming.

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  13. A definite NO on the naked hiking! No one needs to see that! All my appointments are made with my workout schedule in mind.

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  14. True story--I'm actually 5' 4 and 3/4 inches tall. Been that way since I was 19 but I got tired of saying it so I've rounded up for decades.

    A couple of years ago at my physical, they asked my height, I said 5'5" and there was a pause.

    "Are you sure?"

    Oh crap, that's right, I round up. I'm still 5 feet 4 and 3/4 inches (thankfully) and now I tell them that, and that I round up. Since I do have osteopenia, I've got to be accurate at those appointments.

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    1. Maybe I was always rounding up and I never knew? I hope that it's it!

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  15. That is too funny about the basket at home depot! I confess that I've take those little dishes that have sauce in them when I've taken "to go" boxes from restaurants like Red Lobster or Applebees!

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  16. Ignorance is bliss. I am going to say that I am 5'4 but I doubt I really am.

    I ran today before work for the first time in eons. Gee heat humidity. Should have started earlier. Weather amnesia.

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    1. I'm going to have to push myself out the door tomorrow! It's a sauna here!

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  17. Seriously...naked hiking?! No thanks!

    The heat and humidity are an on again off again thing here so it's a bust trying to acclimate. Probably doesn't matter - since I crossed the 50 year mark running in the heat has been turtle slow.

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  18. OMG, having just done a very buggy hike . . . a very defnite NO to naked hiking! And please God may I never see a naked hiker, either.

    No idea if I'm shrinking or not, but probably. It happens. My mom used to be taller than me . . . I tower over her now. And of course I don't tower over many people to begin with.

    I really do wish the heat had held off until after the 4th, but you can't change weather so I guess I just have to roll with it.

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  19. Hiking naked...not happening in my world. We've seen a show (haven't actually watched it) called "Naked and Afraid," or something like that. Couples are paired up and have to go on an expedition of sorts, naked. Kind of like Surviver, but just two people in the buff. EEEWWWWWW.

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    1. I have never understood Naked and Afraid. Like why and how does that even happen? Double EEEWWWWW!

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  20. It's true. We really do get shorter as we age. I've been 5'2" since forever, and now I'm 5' 1/2". Good grief. How much shorter do you want me to get?

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  21. Oh my gosh! I don't want to shrink! I love my height! I would totally take another inch or three.

    So there's a 5K in Florida that is held at a nudist colony. I have a lot of questions that I don't necessarily need or want answered, but hey. To each his own? It reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Jerry is dating the girl who is always naked, and we learn that there is good naked (lounging) and bad naked (doing bike maintenance and opening a sealed jar of pickles). Seinfeld wasn't my favorite show but it did always address these kinds of burning topics.

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    1. Ha! Everything in life is a Seinfeld episode, isn't it? I would not want to witness a nude road race. All that stuff flapping around...I know I wouldn't want to run without all my stuff secured!

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  22. The heat is my least favorite temperature for running, but I still run all year. I'm just a lot slower and probably more cranky about it. I'm only 28, so I have not shrunk yet that I know of, but I'm only 5'0" — so I'd like to hold off on that a bit!

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    1. I just hate the idea of shrinking. My dad was 5/11 and now he's barely taller than me!

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  23. Yes, I am shrinking (used to be 5'9-3/4" and now about not quite 5'9".
    The naked thing cracks me up...my husband and I went to an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica a few years ago. It had a naked beach that was separate from the rest of the resort. We planned to go there, but on the first-day tour of the resort, I caught a glimpse through the wooden fence of someone naked, and it was not a youthful, fit person...NOPE, nobody needs to see that so not going there. Since neither my hub nor are are youthful nor particularly fit, we decided we are just not "naked people"!

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    1. I'm pretty sure nudists aren't concerned about how they look naked--they just want to be naked. I don't get it and I guess that's why naked events aren't for me!

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