Did I mention the most interesting thing I do these days is run?
I mentioned on Facebook that I thought I’d run up the hill to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC). That gave me a little motivation. Of course, that is one of my favorite Sunday runs. The road to the college is less traveled on a Sunday. Also, I haven’t been to work (usually) and don’t have much I have to do after the run, so an extra strenuous run is in order.
I had previously gone to breakfast and gone shopping. I was just picking up a few things but it annoyingly necessitated three stops. Still, that meant it was about an hour since I’d eaten by the time I got home. The clouds looked threatening, so I thought I’d get while the gettin’ was good, as the saying goes.
As I ran down German Street toward the college, I thought I saw a dog I know named Nicky. I should have known it wasn’t him, because he’s usually out walking much earlier. In my defense, my running glasses are a good three prescriptions ago (how well do you need to see while running? Stuff I might run into is usually pretty big). I ran across the street in hopes of petting a friend, quickly saw it was not the same dog or owner, thought I might pet a cute strange dog, but only succeeded in upsetting the pooch. He jumped, barked and growled; the owner pulled on the leash and told him to behave. I apologized and kept running. I felt really stupid as I re-crossed the street, because it must have looked as if I had crossed the street specifically to upset a dog. Oh dear.
Now I was running faster than I’m used to, as a result of crossing the street twice in rapid succession. I thought I ought to slow down to an easier pace, but I am really not that good at pace. My body tends to run at the speed it wants to run. Usually, I admit, not very fast. As soon as I started up the hill, the slow pace came naturally. I did the trick of looking at my feet, so I wouldn’t notice how big the hill was. That worked great; I barely noticed the gradient. Then, of course, being human, I had to look up to see where I was. Yikes! But I have run that hill many times now and made it to the top every time. I had confidence.
The problem with putting a major hill right in the middle of your run is, you get to the top of the hill and you’re tired, but you have to keep running. I looked at the view of Herkimer to distract myself. Gorgeous. Was it just Herkimer I was seeing, or could I see Ilion and/or Mohawk? I looked for landmarks I might recognize even at the distance, realized I was drifting out into the road and stopped looking. Once the gradient evened out, I didn’t even feel too tired. This running is all right.
I turned toward the back road to go back down into town and added a few steps by going down a little stretch past a Do Not Enter sign. I know, they are talking about cars, not middle aged ladies running slowly, but I like to pretend I’m a rebel. Soon I was going downhill and life was sweet.
The back road to HCCC is longer, twistier and a little less steep than the front way. I must run up that way next time. The back way is the way down on the DARE 5K. I saw the little path the DARE run takes, with the gate closed and locked as it usually is. That was a big motivation for me to run the DARE 5K, to see where that little path went. I saw where a runner could easily get around the gate and go down the path, but I refrained. It’s one thing to be a rebel, but running down a closed path is just dumb. Suppose something stupid happened like a sprained ankle or a heart attack (I am 48 years old)? Would I be likely to encounter a kind stranger to help me? I had another rebel opportunity a block later anyways, when I defied a No Left Turn sign.
So my run was pretty OK. I encountered a couple of other runners and told them, “Looking good!” I said “Good morning,” to a some pedestrians. My dog was very happy to see me when I got home and graciously walked my cool down with me. I hope to find other Mohawk Valley adventures sometime, but for now I highly recommend running in Herkimer, NY.
Mohawk Valley Girl 