I think a Running Commentary post is good on a Tired Tuesday. At least it gives me a good excuse for being tired. I definitely planned on running today but was not sure if I would run outside or inside on the mini-tramp. One minute it was pouring rain, the next minute the sun came out. I reminded myself of one of my favorite sayings, “I ain’t sugar; I won’t melt.” As I walked out of my place of employment with my friend Karl, I pointed at the bi-polar sky.
“Look at that, dark clouds over there, bright sunshine over there.”
“Run in that direction,” he advised.
As I got ready to head out the door, I could hear rain on the tin roof of the back porch but could not tell if it was still raining or just blowing off the trees. When I left the house, it was not raining. I checked the sky, trying to decide which direction to run in. As I reached German Street, neither direction looked threatening. Even the road was bare for the moment, so I darted across. Now what did I do that for, I asked myself. I was just going to have to cross back later, and now I felt obligated to run one of the hills on that side of the street.
I headed towards Main Street, considering my options. I could, rather that going up the hill on Main, cut over and run on the nice little path over what used to be the Hydraulic Canal. I started up Main, thinking to do just that. Then right when it was time for me to cross the street to cut over to the path, a car was coming. You know how I hate to backtrack. I said to myself, “Do you want to challenge yourself or not?” I did not answer but by this time I could see the hill and it really did not look too bad. Up I went.
And it wasn’t fun. However, once I start up a hill, I usually make it to the top, and today was no exception. I thought the rest of the run would probably be easier and congratulated myself on meeting a challenge. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I plodded along, feeling heavier and older with each step.
The point is, I kept plodding. I had not completely decided how long I intended to run for, but I went farther than the minimum I had in mind. It was in the last quarter of the run that I started to feel not too bad. This is how it is, I told myself. Every run sucks until it doesn’t suck any more. I was at that point tired enough that the thought struck me as profound. I see now that it isn’t, but it is closely aligned to a thought that has often given me comfort: Sometimes you just have to feel that way until you don’t feel that way any more.
So on this run, I felt old, tired and thunky. And then I felt not too bad. During my cool-down walk, I got rained on. Then I felt wet and cold. However, as I predicted in the first paragraph, I didn’t melt. Now I feel pleased that I ran and moderately pleased with my blog post about it. Now I’m wondering what I can possibly come up with for Wuss-out Wednesday.
Mohawk Valley Girl 