Running When You Gotta Go

I heard it was supposed to get cold and rain on Saturday, so I set out early, well, early-ish to run. Since it was prior to 8 a.m., I thought I could get away with running a little ways up Route 28. I intended to drive that way later, in search of Mohawk Valley adventures, so I thought I could set my mileage thingy and see how far I had gone.

Right away I could tell it was still a good temperature for running. Aaah! Less than two blocks into the run, I had to go to the bathroom. “No way,” I told myself. “You just peed! This is habit bladder!” Then I pondered further and realized, I had forgotten to go. Let’s see, brushed teeth, decided to get dressed and then pee, got dressed, started running. Damn! How could I forget something that basic?

Now what? I hadn’t gone that far; I could turn around and go back. It might upset the dog. When she sees me after I leave to run, she expects to walk a cool down with me. Anyways, once I start running, I want to run, I don’t want to stop. Oh, I could wait. I intended to run 40 minutes. Could I wait 40 minutes? “Fight habit bladder, fight habit bladder,” I urged myself. After all, I obviously hadn’t really had to go before I left or I wouldn’t have forgotten. I just like to go before I leave the house. A habit my mother taught me.

I thought briefly of running in a different direction, like maybe to McDonald’s and using their bathroom. Then I thought, I’m running out Route 28. Isn’t that out of town? Doesn’t it get rural and woodsy? Maybe I could find a friendly tree. I don’t run out that way very often, so I couldn’t say for sure I would find such a tree, but I thought the odds seemed good. Then I thought, I could also run the other way on 28 and come to Hannaford. They opened at seven and have a perfectly nice bathroom. It would mess up my mileage checking plan, but still.

Friendly tree or respectable grocery store? Friendly tree or respectable grocery store? I pondered as I ran. Waiting a full 40 minutes seemed an increasingly less viable option. Then I considered, I’ll probably blog about this (as you see). I think it is not quite legal to pee behind a tree, however friendly, within village limits. Might not be the sort of thing to put out on the internet for all to see (um, I mean to read about; I did not intend to take a picture or anything).

Then I got to the H.A.R.C building at the end of German Street and I saw it! A porta potty, apparently for whoever was doing all the work on the building and grounds. They don’t lock those things, do they? I sprinted towards it and hoped for the best. Success! It was open and not too dirty. There was plenty of toilet paper (I even managed to blow my nose, which usually needs it). Oh, I was happy.

As I continued my run out Route 28, I was extremely grateful for the porta potty. There were trees, but they did not look very friendly and they certainly did not look discreet. There were more houses that way than I remembered. In short, there was no handy place for a tinkle.

I did not run very far out the highway, though, because traffic was heavier than I like. It wasn’t horrible, but enough cars were zooming by me that I was not comfortable. When I drove out that way later I found I had gone more than a mile but less than a mile and a half. I had still run for my forty minutes, though, by dint of following other streets.

I felt pretty happy about my run: beat the rain, beat the cold. It was important to me to get the run in, because I only ran once since Sunday. I had intended to run on Friday, but came home from work with the most debilitating headache. You know, the kind of headache where, when you realize your head has finally stopped hurting, you want to weep with gratitude. Maybe some people can run with such a headache. I cannot.

On the Boilermaker route, there are porta potties. There are usually lines for them. 14,000 runners, I guess there would be. I shall plan to get to the starting line early enough to wait in line for a pre-run tinkle. Just another thing to think about as I train.