Red-Headed Run

Not to be confused with red-headed stepchild, which is actually an expression I have never used. I say bastard stepchild in those situations, but that’s neither here nor there (I like that expression).

So I mentioned yesterday in passing that I dyed my hair. The box calls it auburn, but I think most people use the term red. Yes, I used a box. No doubt it would have been a good idea to go to a professional, but this was more in my budget. I’ve had good luck with boxes before, back in the ’90s, when I dyed for entertainment and didn’t have much grey. For the past few years I have embraced the grey, but then I thought, “Oh, what the hell.”

That is not what I meant to write about. I meant to do my usual Saturday Morning Running Commentary (I just suddenly decided to capitalize it, like it’s a Thing like Middle-aged Musings Monday or Lame Post Friday). The title Red-Headed Run came to me while I was running, so here we are.

I’ve mentioned in previous running commentaries how I think other people are looking at me and thinking this or that about “that old lady running.” Well, here I was with no grey hair. Surely I looked less old. No doubt I flatter myself. Probably nobody was looking at me this morning and thinking, “What a great hair color!” I’m not so sure anybody noticed me running with the grey hair either, but at least it makes for something to think about while running.

In fact, I started my run early enough that the streets were pretty bare. I did see a group of young people walking toward me on the opposite side of the street. They looked like 20-somethings, but I can never accurately guess ages. I wondered what they were doing out so early. Then as we crossed paths I heard one of the girls say, “Some people have slept already,” and I got it. They were not out early, they were out late. Ah, youth.

The run was actually a pretty good one. Regular readers know I started running again last weekend after a two week hiatus. Then, typical me, I didn’t run on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. In my defense, it was quite hot and humid, and I had auditions for Dirty Work at the Crossroads to worry about (I got cast). I have a number of things I ought to be getting done this morning, but I decided running (and writing a blog post about it) would be a priority.

The weather was not too hot. Some humidity, but not enough to effect my breathing. I was over half-way through the time I had set out to run for before I even looked at my watch. It was then that I realized: this run didn’t feel bad. My legs were not complaining at all. My back twinged a couple of times, but nothing too bad. I know running can hurt your back. However, being overweight can hurt your back, too, and running helps keep my weight down. I say, pick your pain and this was really more of a twinge than a pain.

I ran the sidewalks of Herkimer and admired other people’s houses. I saw a few screened in porches to envy, a few flower gardens to imitate next year. I saw one dog, but did not cross the street to pet him. For one thing, his owner was trying to get him to sit and the dog was not cooperating. I did not want to encourage canine insubordination.

I ended up running longer than I had run on Monday, and I must say I felt pretty good about it. As I walked my cool down with Tabby, I felt really good that I had gotten my run done. Whatever else I did not accomplish with the day, at least I had done that. Then I thought, I feel pretty good physically, too. Isn’t that awesome? After all the perseverance runs I write about, I finally write one without a single complaint (unless you count the twinge in the back) (and I don’t). Must be the red hair.