I had meant to go to a fish fry last night, so I would have something to blog about today other than this morning’s run. In fact, I had not meant to run this morning but thought to leave it for this afternoon. I don’t know why I ever “mean to” do anything. It almost never works out for me.
Our schnoodle, Tabby, was ill last night and we did not like to leave her alone. So no fish fry. This morning, we thought we might be calling the vet at 8 a.m. when the office opens, so I thought it might be a good idea to get out and run when I had the chance.
Quite frankly, it wasn’t a good chance. It had snowed and was still snowing. It was cold and windy. There is every chance the weather will improve to excellent running conditions this afternoon. Nonetheless, there I was, looking for my long-sleeved ARMY t-shirt and winter running socks.
I had walked around the block with Tabby earlier for her first business meeting of the day. I had observed that the sidewalks were snow covered but not necessarily icy. Well, I run at kind of a shuffling pace anyways. I’ll just shuffle a little more so, in case of ice. So far so good. Actually, I thought, this might work out. Look how little traffic is to be found at 6:30ish on a Saturday morning. I easily crossed German Street and headed for the hill out Main Street.
I intend to run up the hill to Herkimer County Community College on Sunday, so it behooved me to run a good hill today. The hill out Main Street is divided into kind of sort of thirds by the right hand turns available. I made it through the first two thirds. Excellent, I told myself. There was some definite ice on the roads, at a section where there is no sidewalk. Due to the lack of traffic I felt comfortable to move more toward the center of the road. Then I had to run back down.
In general, downhill is a beautiful thing when you’re running. All you have to do is lift your feet a little and let gravity do the rest. On an icy road, however, I don’t find it so much fun. I exercised caution. Then I got to a more main road which the sanders had been down. Ahh! Better! I still didn’t want to be too far onto the shoulder, so I kept an eye and ear open for traffic. One truck behind me. No worries. Back to the snow covered sidewalk when I had the chance.
That interlude had not taken up too much of my intended run time, so I got back to my own side of German and tried to decide which side streets to run down. I made one detour when I realized a truck up ahead of me was a paper deliverer. I figured with all his starts and stops we would pretty much keep pace at least for a little while, and I wasn’t feeling particularly sociable.
My sweatshirt started to feel a little warm. I thought of taking it off and tying it around my waist. This would have the advantage of covering my butt. Not that I’m too worried about people staring at my butt when I run, although it is a little unsightly. Eventually I moved the shirt. Now my butt was warm and my arms were cold. Never mind, I was more than half way through the run. I can’t be bothered getting dressed and undressed a dozen times.
I came to a street which some people I know live on. I don’t want them to think I’m stalking them, but I also thought it was unlikely that they would just happen to look out the window at the precise moment I was shuffling by. They might even still be in bed, like normal people on a Saturday morning (hey, with my hours, 5:30 is sleeping in for me).
Eventually I looked at my watch and realized I had eleven minutes left on my intended time and I was at approximately the same place I had been earlier in the week with nine minutes to go. The snow was slowing me down, so I thought I could head for home. At worst I could always go past my house and back track. I hit some definitely icy sidewalks as I went through the downtown area. Yikes! Then I went through where some snow had drifted (still not very deep; it hadn’t snowed that much) and “Over the River and Through the Woods” started playing in my head. That was actually pretty good. I ran in time to the music and thought about Grandma’s house.
I ran by my own house. I considered running for less time than I had intended. After all, I was being virtuous enough, getting out this early and running in the cold and the snow. Then I remembered that tomorrow is when I planned to bump up my time by the weekly ten percent recommended to me by the guys at the Sneaker Store. I kept running.
I made my intended time, and Tabby, who seemed to be feeling a little better, graciously walked my cool down with me. As we walked, I realized “Over the River” was still playing in my head and I was walking in time to the music. Dear me, do I walk at the same rate I run? I do shuffle, don’t I?
Mohawk Valley Girl 