Happy Memorial Day! I have had a long weekend and didn’t do a whole lot of running. I got in a nice 4 miler on Friday and that’s been it. It’s been pretty nice but tonight I gotta get some hills in because I’m feeling like a sloth. In the meantime here’s part 2 of the answers to your burning questions.

Navy Steve had a two parter:

1) On a scale of 1 to 10 – How bad do you have the schmoopy disease? (The schmoopy disease which causes you to forget your friends, do crazy things in the name of love, get all lovey-dovey with another, and eventually move away from your friends)

2) And now for the serious running question: When you get the PCs, and you cannot make it to a regular bathroom and have to go in the woods; how do you handle the “cleansing”? nothing, leaves, sock, etc?

My answers: I have the schmoopy disease pretty bad. However, I will not forget my friends or do crazy things in the name of love. I’m already pretty crazy. I will however gross people out with my lovey-dovey-ness. I’m also staying put for the mean time….

And number two for number two. How appropriate. I admit to having had some PC issues while not near a restroom. (Sorry Schmoop, this is more than you need to know, please look away.) After one bad episode, I have decided to start carrying baby wipes on long runs. Nuff said there, don’t you think?

Moving on.

Leanne wanted to know about speed. Well, Leanne, I have progressed pretty naturally in that department. For my first two marathons I didn’t do a lot of speed work. For my third one I did mostly tempo runs due to Old Wonky. I’d have to say that I’m a firm believer that speed follows distance. Focus on getting your mileage up and the speed will follow. Don’t get me wrong, speed work helps, but I believe increased mileage makes the most difference starting out. Don’t worry, you’ll get faster.

To JP Comedy: No I don’t only date runners. It’s my gig. Doesn’t have to be theirs. I have never dated a Bob, although that would be funny. When I’m not running I’m blogging, schmooping, reading, working, and going to the beach or pool. I’ve also never run to the ocean but I think some guy named Forrest did.

Scott Brown wanted to know what got me into running and if I see things differently. Great question! I started running a while ago. I just did 5K’s and such, but wasn’t too competitive until I began training for my first marathon. That one was a flop so I figured I’d have to do another one to prove to myself I could do better. And the rest is history. I fell in love with it. I do see things a bit differently now with regards to it. I know it makes me feel better physically and emotionally and I know I need to be careful to not obsess too much about it.

To Lisa: If I could run any race in the world it would have to be the Greece Marathon. It’s just one of those things that I think would be amazing. Running at the birthplace of this crazy sport would be awe inspiring. Don’t you think?

Run Jess Run, my favorite running item is my Gu. Specifically the caffeinated vanilla bean. It gives me the pep I need and tastes muy delicioso.

And I’ll finish out this super long post with Lindsay’s request for an embarrassing story. Gee thanks Lindsay. Here goes:

I used to work in sales. I don’t anymore because the sector of sales that I worked in tanked (yeah, that sector). During my time I had several clients who were doctors. I also had some clients who weren’t. I would talk with all of them multiple times a week to discuss their properties and let them know what was going on with their tenants.

Well, one week I came down with an odd lump in my throat. I couldn’t see it but it felt like I had a perpetual lump in my throat whenever I swallowed. I couldn’t figure out if I was getting sick or I got food stuck and it was driving me crazy.

The day I was going to schedule an appointment for it, the receptionist told me I had a call. I picked up the phone and it was one of my clients. I thought, “Oh this is perfect. I’ll ask my doctor client about it.”

Me: “Hey how are you?”

Him: “Great. How are you?”

Me: “Not too good. I have to ask for some advice. I have this weird lump in my throat that won’t go away. Any idea what it could be?”

Him: “Hm. Ok. Uh, well does it hurt when you swallow?”

Me: “Yeah totally. It’s like when you get food or a pill stuck. Should I got get it checked or do you think it’ll go away?”

Him: “Probably. It could just be something scraped your throat and that’s what it feels like.”

Me: “Ok, thanks. Everything looks good with your properties….”

Well, we finish up our phone conversation and I go in to talk with the receptionist. She tells me that this client wanted us to send out an invoice for his property on blah blah blah street. What? That’s not his property….wait a minute….

Yup. I had asked a non-doctor client all about my weird throat problem. I mean, his voice sounded like the other guy’s and our conversation didn’t give away a clue that he was not in fact the doctor, but the guy who owns an auto body shop.

The entire office had a laugh riot when I told them about my snafu. Fortunately the non-doctor client thought it was pretty funny when I called him back to explain. We called him Doctor from that day forward.

Have a great Memorial Day everyone. Remember those who have served and are currently serving our country.