I read somewhere that wintertime running is about maintenance, not necessarily improvement. I told myself this as I finished a fairly short run this morning. “It’s about maintenance,” I thought. Then I thought, “My runs are about blog posts, weight-loss goals, health, and my own entertainment, not necessarily in that order.” I had thought doing a Sunday Running Commentary as I set out on my run. I last ran a week ago and quite frankly did not feel like running today, but, as I said to Steven as I went out the door, “One must begin again.” Then I thought, “That would be a good title for a blog post.” So here we are.
We had a couple of days of spring-like weather last week, but I, perhaps foolishly, did not run then. For one reason, my body was in its final throes of rebellion against 10-hour days. I know, other people work longer days at more difficult jobs, and they don’t even complain. All I can say is, that is them, this is me. I was dead tired all week and not up to running through all the puddles which were the inevitable result of the warmer temperatures. Today was cold, and it had been snowing. Snow offers traction, so I thought.
Turns out I shouldn’t think so much. I tried to run on the sidewalk and soon found there was a LOT of ice under the snow. After my trailing foot zooped out from underneath me for the third time (luckily my weight was already established on my leading foot at the time), I went into the road, which was a little better. And a little worse, because of traffic. Sunday mornings are usually pretty tame traffic-wise, but I had waited till after eleven to run, hoping for a warmer temperature. Well, the cars would just have to watch out for me; I was staying where I was.
I did not spend much time on German Street, which is one of the busier streets, but soon turned down Margaret. That was quieter, which was good, because it was also pretty snow-covered. I went for the barest part of the road and did now worry too much about staying close to the curb, except when I saw or heard a car coming. It did not feel too bad, running along at my usual shuffling pace. The air was cold, but you’ll have that.
My deal with myself was that I only had to run 20 minutes. I can worry about building up when the weather is better. If I worry about it at all. I mean, why should I worry? Worry doesn’t burn calories or build muscle mass. It is a quite useless activity. I ran, I wrote a blog post. Let’s leave it at that. Happy Sunday, folks.
Mohawk Valley Girl 