Cool Runnings

Note to self: no more days off running. At least, no more four days in a row off running.

It was that damn pedicure. If I had not been so anxious to have pretty toes for Saturday’s wine tasting tour, I could have run on Wednesday. And it was that damn wine tasting tour. If I had stayed home, I could have run Saturday and felt better Sunday and Monday. But it’s useless to repine. We can’t go back and change things, and if we could go back there’s no guarantee we would make the right changes.

All this by way of saying, I did not enjoy Tuesday’s run as much as I had hoped. I felt better Tuesday than I had on Monday, and I thought the temperature was a little warmer. Not as warm as it could be. I recall at my last difficult run wondering if the difficulty stemmed from the warm humidity or from running after a 10 hour work day. Tuesday I had the chance to find out. Nice 40 degree weather. Good temperature to run in, right?

When I walked out of work in Ilion, it seemed colder than expected. I thought, maybe leggings and a long-sleeved t-shirt. But it was sunny; my truck cab was warm. And Herkimer is often warmer than Ilion. By the time I got home, I thought I could rock the shorts and short sleeves. I do hate getting overheated, which I find can happen when it’s over 40 degrees. I had a slight delay while Steven helped me find a headband. My ears can still get cold while my body overheats. Finally Steven located one.

Apparently the temperature had dropped and/or the wind picked up during my slight delay. Oh dear. But I was not about to go back and change, so I trusted to sunny spots and my own efforts to overcome the cold.

I right away started looking for things to put in a blog post. Different things, so my blog does not become monotonous. I did not notice anything right away, but I remembered two things. The Boilermaker organizers this year are allowing people to give their registration to somebody else if they decide not to run. One of my nieces would like to run the Boilermaker but did not register. Hmmm…. I could give her my registration and go back to leading a sedentary lifestyle. I considered that for maybe half a block. My body sure liked the sound of “sedentary lifestyle.” But I have had the foresight to mention to a good many people that I intend to run the Boilermaker. No easy way out for me! I kept running.

I had turned right onto German Street and managed to cross both Main and Washington Streets despite heavy traffic (I came as close as I can get to a sprint at this point). I made it all the way down to the old factory-looking building that is now owned (I think) by H.A.R.C and houses the Herkimer County Chamber of Commerce (I meant to go to their open house when they first opened and blog about it). I always liked that building, because it makes me think of an army building. When it was vacant I used to run through the parking lot and behind it, till I noticed the No Trespassing sign. I decided to try it again, to see if the sign was still there.

As I entered the parking lot, I saw a sign that said rental space was available, for office or manufacturing purposes. I wondered what kind of business I could start. I noticed a couple of disused loading docks and one that was completely cinder-blocked up. I didn’t see a No Trespassing sign, so I continued around the building and came out on a residential street.

I ran down it, noting as I like to screened-in porches I admire. I saw buds on some trees, a welcome sight. I never reached the “I can rock this” stage, but I got to a neutral point where my body seemed reasonably content to keep going. I did not begin to feel warm. As I ran down Prospect Street, I met a two pedestrians wearing winter coats.

“Makes me feel even colder!” the lady said, looking at me.

“I thought it was warmer when I started out,” I said. “I was wrong!”

I saw a girl running with a pit-bull-looking dog trotting beside her. She sensibly had on long pants, long sleeves and even boots. Running in boots? When she got to the park she slowed to a walk as the dog started sniffing trees, so perhaps they had merely been hustling to a business meeting.

As I neared home I got past the neutral stage and back to the “I want to stop NOW” stage. I did not stop, however, till I had run my intended time. I threw on a sweatshirt before Tabby and I walked my cool down, but it didn’t help much. The wind had picked up so much, it was making a whistling noise over the top of my water bottle. When we got back to the house, I thanked Steven again for finding the headband, because my ears were the only parts of me that weren’t cold.

I had actually written more observations and happenings from the run, but I see that I am over 800 words. I like to keep my posts short, or at least short-ish. That may be a challenge as my runs get longer, but I’ll see what I can do.