Yesterday began what is supposed to be a stretch of warmer weather in the Mohawk Valley, so I threw caution to the wind (which had died down) and went running for the first time in months. I didn’t really throw caution to the wind; I just thought it would be funny if I added the parenthetical comment, since it has been so horridly windy lately. In fact, I dressed appropriately, stretched a little before I ran, and ran at a pace suited to conditions.
I ran in the road, although in general I prefer sidewalks. You just can’t count on people driving to notice little old ladies like me. OK, I’m not so little, but I may go on the South Beach Diet, and with that and running, I may shrink. Not Incredibly, like the guy in the movie, but somewhat. Anyways, the roads were pretty much bare, and I tried to stick to the quiet ones.
I didn’t Map My Run but relied on my Garmin, which I tended to look at a lot, hoping for encouragement. It really didn’t feel too bad to begin with. The frisson of virtue that I was finally running and the delight of almost springlike weather helped. I had it in my head to run for 20 minutes. As my body started to get a little tired, I thought I would at least do a mile, because that would probably be 15 minutes. YES, that is a damn slow mile; one has to start somewhere!
At one point, I saw a lady walking down the sidewalk toward me. When she got closer I asked, “Can you tell I’m running or am I too slow?”
She laughed and assured me I was doing great. My first mile was indeed over 15 minutes. By that time I was still at least five minutes from my house, so my 20 minute goal worked out fine.
Me feeling good about myself.
Since I had not Mapped My Run to share on Facebook, I took a selfie for my Facebook Friends’ entertainment. Naturally I had to share my triumph on Facebook.
And now I have shared my triumph with my blog readers. I plan to run again today. I feel more Running Commentary Posts are in my future!
Mohawk Valley Girl 