I was thinking it would be all right to go All DARE 5K All The Time for the next week or so. I’ve used that All (whatever) All The Time a few times now, but it is a misnomer. It’s really just A Lot Of Posts About (whatever). I may have already made the observation as well. Oh, what do you want from me on a Sunday?
When Steven and I first got out of bed shortly after six this morning, I said maybe I’d wait till nine, when he went to work, to run. It would be better practice for the DARE run, since that starts at nine. Then I thought better of that decision and got on my running gear.
Steven had not heard me say I would so go running and had already poured me a cup of coffee. That was OK. I would drink coffee and then run. Many athletes like a little caffeine before a work out. I’ve even been advised to do so in a couple women’s magazines. Actually, the women’s magazines usually recommend green tea. Green tea tends to have a better reputation than coffee. Well, I like that too, but today I drank coffee.
One reason I wanted to run early was that all during the week my best time to run will be 4 p.m. I’ll get plenty of practice running in the heat. The other reason was that I wanted to run out a street that has no sidewalks and I hoped to run during the time of least possible traffic.
This was Main Street. The street has a Dead End sign on it, but a pedestrian can run or walk through (I run). I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but I have not run that way in a while. I hoped it would be the same. After all, if they want to make it a permanent dead end, they may entirely block it off. They hadn’t yet, though, so up I went.
The upward trend continues for quite a while. That was why I wanted to run that way. I think it is steeper and I know it is longer than the hill on the DARE run. I thought, if I can do this, I’m gold.
Of course I’m not gold. I’m not gold plated. I don’t know that I even have a cheap coat of gold spray paint. How’s that for drawing out a metaphor? At any rate, I did the best I could. After all, as I repeatedly tell myself, there is no shame in running slow. The staring at my feet trick wasn’t working well, so I looked around at houses. That worked a little better, since this isn’t a way I run very often. I always like to look at something new.
I heard a loud bark and saw a large dog in a backyard. No fence. No chain that I could see. Well, perhaps his person was right there at the back door and had just let Fido out for a business meeting. Probably Fido would stay in the back taking care of business. He came out front and barked. I told him he was a good dog and I was just leaving. He was either well trained, had invisible fencing or was just not that into chasing a middle-aged runner, because he stayed in his lawn and merely barked.
The effect of this was now I was not inclined to turn around and run back the way I came, which I had assured myself I could do if the run seemed like it was too far to keep going uphill. I looked at my watch. I hadn’t been running that long. Anyways, the hill had settled into a mild upslope. I could rock this. I could see that the end of the road was steeper. That was OK, too, I told myself. I was training for the DARE run. I needed hills.
I saw something on the road ahead that may have been a leaf with the sun hitting it, may have been shiny garbage or may have been an extra small road kill. I hate seeing road kill. I look the other way. But first I have to keep looking at it to make sure it’s road kill. After all, how silly would I feel if I suddenly realized I was averting my eyes in horror over a few leaves? Then again, who would know? Oh yeah, you guys. Tell me again why I decided to write this blog?
I was going pretty good by the time I reached the end of the road, which was now Highland, not Main. I’m not clear on when it changes. I’ll have to run it again and check. I turned onto Steuben, and it was downhill all the way. I got back to German Street much farther from my house than Main Street. That was good. I needed to keep running so the 5K wouldn’t seem too long to me.
Was that my friend Nicky with his person up ahead? I wasn’t sure, but I picked up the pace to see if I could catch up. I love to stop running briefly to pet a cute dog. They were on the other side of the street, but traffic wasn’t bad. If it was them I could easily cross. Nicky’s lady thinks it’s cool when I cross the street specifically to pet Nicky. Before I got to them, they crossed back so Nicky’s lady could talk to a lady with two shih-tzus (I think they’re shih-tzus). I got to pet all three dogs. I found out the shih-tzus were named Chunk and Chelsea.
It was really a good run, in spite of not being gold on the hill. I suppose gravity will always have its say. I’m not sure if the coffee helped or not, but it certainly tasted good, and I always like to have a cuppa with my hubby. We’ll definitely celebrate over some java after I run the DARE 5K. It’s less than a week away!
Mohawk Valley Girl 