Category Archives: personal

I Got My Mojo Back

Posted on August 10, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, it is either Wrist to Forehead Sunday or another edition of All DARE 5K All The Time. I say DARE. For one reason, I ran today and it went pretty well. As I type this, my wrist is inclined to be on my forehead or at least my head in my hands, but I prefer not to dwell on my ills.

I almost did not run today. I apologize in advance if this gives you an unfortunate mental image, but my sports bras have rubbed the skin on my left side raw. I know, I need some new sports bras. In the meantime I have been putting lots of Medicated Power (generic Goldbaum’s) on my skin before I run. After yesterday’s long run, I had some major sore spots. I thought taking a day to heal might be a good thing.

After two cups of coffee and pondering my shower plans, I thought, oh, a short, easy run would not be bad. I could give myself a preview of running NOT up the hill to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC), which will be my reward for completing the DARE 5K. So I ran.

It was eight in the morning when I finally set out. Not too warm yet. My ideal running temperature is upper 40s/lower 50s, but I can rock 61 degrees, which is what my thermostat told me the outside temperature was. This would be fine. I might even experience some of those endorphins or whatever it was yesterday that made me feel so good.

It felt pretty fine to start running. I had put a large band-aid (purchased for just such a purpose) over the sore area with lots of powder. I tried to run without too much arm movement. This would work. Maybe I could even run up to HCCC. Maybe the back way.

As I ran, however, I began to ponder my time constraints. I needed to be back home before Steven left for work at 8:50. For one reason, I couldn’t count on him remembering to leave the door unlocked. And I had to figure in my 10 to 12 minuted cool-down walk. This could be tricky. Then I remembered it was to be a short, easy run. Twenty minutes would be OK, 30 minutes tops.

I turned into Brookfield Park, which I used to refer to as the Unknown Park. That begins with a nice little hill. Nothing to worry about. The path is kind of worn out pavement/gravel with lots of rocks. I like to run on uneven surfaces. It adds interest to my run.

With my time constraints in mind, I only ran to the end of the park then back out the way I came and back home. As I ran back down German Street, I felt the same surge of happiness I had felt towards the end of yesterday’s run. “I LOVE running!” I thought. “Running is the BEST exercise EVER!” Oh, it is so nice to have my mojo back. I know there will still be runs when all I can do is persevere, but I so enjoy the runs that go well.

I ended up running 22 minutes. 22 is my favorite number, so that was nice. When Tabby graciously walked my cool-down walk with me, we met a neighbor and his little dog. I’ve seen the dog only from a distance. Tabby quickly made friends. Other dogs usually love Tabby.

Later on, Tabby and I took a walk to the Herkimer Police Department so I could register for the run. When I got home I started to feel ill with that lightheaded, sinusy crap that’s been bothering me for the last week and more. Oh well, I ran, I felt pretty good, and now it’s Wrist to Forehead Sunday. I tell you, never a dull moment for Mohawk Valley Girl.

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What Do Those Crickets Know?

Posted on August 10, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’m afraid the blog will be veering into All DARE 5K All The Time as I begin to obsess over the event in a most unbecoming fashion. The good thing is that I don’t just obsess, I also run. And I do like to write about my runs.

Steven had to get up at four this morning. I had one cup of coffee with him then got on the road about a quarter till five. I put on my reflective vest and LED light, because it was still completely dark. I remembered there were streetlights up the hill to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC), so I planned on running up that hill yet again. There was no traffic to speak of and the temperature was just right. This was going to be great.

The road to HCCC is still in the village of Herkimer, but it feels like it’s leading right out of town. The houses grow sparser and there is no sidewalk. Still, there are streetlights. That makes it civilization. There are some wooded areas. I suppose people who live in the real wilderness are laughing at me: “That’s not a wooded area, those are just some trees!” Well, I know deer live in the trees. How do I know what else lives in them? What could live in them? Badgers? I’m not even sure what a badger is. I probably would not meet a badger. I probably would have heard if there was anything real dangerous. Wouldn’t I?

Those streetlights did not throw as much light as the streetlights in the village proper do. What was that shadow up there in the distance? Probably just an overhanging branch. Or, you know, just a shadow. Was that an ELEPHANT? No, just a minivan. Now I was being silly. I heard a bunch of crickets in the woods, I mean bunch of trees next to me. Yeah, I guess the elephant joke was pretty bad, I told myself (you know, how when a stand-up comedian lays an egg, all you hear is crickets? That’s what I was going for just there).

So I continued up the hill, thinking of all the funny lines I could but only hearing crickets. I got pretty amused over thinking how not funny I was being. I wish I could remember some of the jokes, but no doubt some wise-ass reader would have commented with, “Crickets,” or the overused, “Don’t quit your day job.”

After I got to the top of the hill I just turned around and ran back down the way I came. I don’t think college is in session yet and I didn’t care to run around a dark, deserted college campus at five in the morning. I didn’t think there were streetlights on the back way down from campus and that is a more heavily wooded area.

When I made it to the bottom of the hill I felt pretty good, which was fortunate because I was not quite halfway to my goal time of at least 45 minutes. I forgot to mention that halfway up the hill I had made myself a promise: after the DARE 5K I would not run up a hill for at least a week. I amended that to add “unless I felt like it.” The vision of a long run on all or mostly level ground seemed very appealing.

So I finished my run on lovely, mostly level ground. The sun had been coming up since I was at the top of the hill. I watched the gradually lightening sky with gratitude. Dawn and dusk are my favorite times of day. I love to be outdoors and watch it get dark or light. Oh, running is the best thing in the world!

I was feeling WONDERFUL! I LOVE running! I asked myself, could this be those endorphins I hear so much about? Or was it just that frisson of accomplishment? Or the anticipation of fulfilling that promise to myself next week? Perhaps just joy of a Saturday morning when I do not have to go to work. Oh, who cares why, just enjoy the feeling!

I made it 47 minutes. I’m not worrying about increasing my time by a strict 10 percent these days. If I’m running over 40 minutes I know I’m in great shape for a 5k. I’m just happy my run time is up to where it is now. And I don’t even care if the crickets are not amused by my jokes.

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Lame and Late

Posted on August 9, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is after 8 p.m. as I type this. I don’t know that I’ve ever written my blog post this late before, although perhaps I have. I knew earlier I would be late with this, but I wasn’t too worried. After all, it is Lame Post Friday. One might have thought I had a built-in title: Better Lame Than Never. That would have been good. Unfortunately, I already used it.

Just before I started typing, I looked it up, to be sure. Very instructive to read old posts. This one was from 2011. I felt encouraged at that time because I was approaching 200 blog posts. 200! What an amateur! Now I’m over 1100! Oh wait, I’m still an amateur. I’ve just written more blog posts.

Not that there is anything wrong with being an amateur. An amateur is one who does something for the love of it. I love writing my blog! Even when I can’t think of anything clever to say! Oh, I know, some people probably think I never say anything clever. Some people just gotta be that way.

I have been doing other writing today. I spent my lunch break writing a couple new scenes for my novel. I wrote more at the laundromat after work. Then I gave it up in a wave of lame. When I got home I worked on my article for Mohawk Valley Living. Oh, I don’t know if it will be good enough, but I will not bother you with my angst.

I see I am over 200 words. Time to come up with a punchy conclusion and dream about writing a better blog post tomorrow. Sad but true, I liked my post titled Better Lame Than Never better than this one. I should check back to this one 900 or so posts from now and see what I think then.

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Couldn’t Call a Cab

Posted on August 8, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I purposely did not write a blog post while at work today, because I KNEW I would go running and could write a running commentary. I would NOT try to talk myself out of it, I would NOT wimp out, I would accept NO excuses.

When it started pouring rain at lunchtime, I was not worried. It would be sure to stop, and it did. The sun came out. There. When I talked to Steven shortly before I left work, he told me it was POURING in Herkimer.

“It might stop before I get home,” I said, not thinking it would. “Or I can run on the mini-tramp.” Not really wanting to. “It isn’t even raining here.” I work in Ilion, which is five minutes away. It was raining by the time I left, pouring by the time I got to my vehicle. I was laughing. Bad weather has that effect on me.

I drove home into blue skies. It was a miracle! Or another example of if-you-don’t-like-the-weather-wait-five-minutes Mohawk Valley. I changed into running clothes and got going.

The rain had cooled things off. This would be great. I thought I heard a rumble of thunder as I left the house. Maybe I should break out the mini-tramp? No, no, I wanted to run up the hill to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC). The DARE 5K is next weekend. I would be prepared IF I ran today. And a few more days between now and August 16.

I looked at the sky and started running. Those were not thunder clouds and there weren’t very many of them anyways. Maybe it hadn’t been thunder anyways.

I turned toward HCCC and found a place to cross German Street. Then I saw my friend Pudge the pug with his person on the other side of the street. If only I had waited to cross, I could have petted Pudge! His person waved to me and I waved back.

I could see dark clouds off in the distance. I was headed vaguely in their direction but doubted I would be running that far. When I headed up to HCCC I would be going right away from them. So there.

The run up the hill was not too bad. I won’t be good at it by next Saturday, but I’ll make it up. I even continued uphill on the walkway to the buildings before turning towards the way back down. The sky was blue with a few pure white clouds. The sun was warm but not too hot. My legs were pumping along with no complaints. My breathing was fine. This was great.

After I went back down the hill I ran to another hill I had run up on another run. Not a huge hill, but it was an effort. It’s good to make an effort. At the bottom of that hill, my legs started complaining. They were tired of running. They were ready for the sitting with my feet up portion of the evening. I ignored them. What else was I going to do? I had to get home. Maybe I’ll start running with my cell phone so I can call for a cab.

After my cool-down walk, on which Tabby graciously joined me, I felt pretty good about myself. I didn’t hear any more thunder till much later. Now I’m on to the sitting with my feet up portion of my evening.

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How I Roll

Posted on August 7, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

One thing I remember from Junior High School science is the law of inertia: an object at rest tends to remain at rest, an object in motion tends to remain in motion. I will add: a blogger writing silly posts tends to continue writing silly posts. Thus, Wuss-out Wednesday follows Tired Tuesday.

In my defense, the cold lingers, I was late getting home from work, and the writing problems continue. On the other hand, the cold seems to be on the way out, my dear husband fixed dinner when I did get home, and the writing does progress, at least by dribs and drabs. After all, it’s Wuss-out Wednesday, not Whiny Wednesday (although I’m sure some feel I whine all the time. I can’t help other people’s definitions).

I have never mentioned in this space my other writing gig. I write articles for my new favorite magazine: Mohawk Valley Living. One reason I have not mentioned it is that I was meaning to write a whole nice post about the magazine. It’s really cool, with all kinds of articles and information about the area. So I wanted to write a really good post about it, not just a brief shout-out. I bring it up now because it is part of my current writing angst. The deadline for the September issue is looming, and I’m having trouble getting anything down.

Odd thing about that. I can’t write, I can’t write, I can’t write. Then I sit down and write. Sometimes it seems that is just how I roll. I don’t exactly mind it, although it is a little nerve-wracking waiting for the time when I sit down and write. One would think it is a matter of just getting my butt into the chair and, you know, writing. Sometimes I try it and I find out, not so much. Today was one of those times. I put my butt in the chair. I opened the notebook. I put the pen on the page. I wrote.

And it just wasn’t very good. I persevered. I wrote a paragraph, then another paragraph. I felt happy when it was time to go to work so I could stop writing down these bad paragraphs. While I worked, I thought about that article and an idea for another article. At the next break, I sat down and very easily wrote a good page on the other article. What’s that all about?

So now I must assess what I have written, look up a few things, write some more, edit, etc. It should be fine. In the meantime, this is the best I can do for today’s blog post. Perhaps after I finish those articles, I can work on that good blog post about Mohawk Valley Living.

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You’ve Been There, Right?

Posted on August 6, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Sorry, folks, but it’s Tired Tuesday. I do have a post on a cheesy movie mostly written in my notebook. But it is only MOSTLY written, and it’s running long, as these posts tend to do. I just don’t feel like typing in that many words and I am clearly incapable of coming up with any more. On that topic, anyways. Apparently I can come up with some for a Tired Tuesday post.

My heinous cold drags on. I am better but just not better enough. You know how it is, just when you think, “Oh yeah, I got this,” you go off into a huge coughing jag that give you a headache or a sore gut or, worst of all, incontinence (curse you, middle age!). And the lightheaded, macroni-legged, heavy, awful SICK feeling. I list these symptoms not so much in the spirit of whining (although I fully expect to be accused of same) but with an air of “We’ve all been there.” Um, you’ve been there, haven’t you?

Be all that as it may, my writing has once again stagnated. I don’t know if I should blame the cold, the Ann Rule book I still have not finished, or my own lack of oomph. I suppose I had better blame myself. After all, personal responsibility is an empowering thing.

Then again, why assign blame at all? What is it with this finger-pointing, anyways? Didn’t your mother ever tell you it was impolite to point? A better thing to do right now, I believe, is to never mind WHY I haven’t written, but to write right now.

And oh, look, I did. Over 200 words of a fairly silly blog post. We’ll try for that cheesy movie write-up again on Wednesday.

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I Didn’t HAVE To

Posted on August 5, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

With the DARE 5K bearing down on me, I thought it would be a good idea to run today. I had proven to myself on Saturday that I could so run with a bad cold, so that fact that I was feeling only marginally better would not be a sufficient excuse. It was warm, but that was good, I told myself. The DARE 5K begins at 9 a.m. The sun will be high in the sky. What finally convinced me was that I told myself I didn’t HAVE to run up the hill to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC) and I didn’t HAVE to run 45 minutes. If I ran AT ALL, that would be enough. I set out.

It was warm. The sun was hot. I didn’t like it. But I persevered, trying to take comfort in the fact that it seemed less humid than it had earlier. There was a bit of a breeze, and I could look for shade.

I crossed German Street in the middle of a block, because I found a good opportunity. This is what you have to do with 4 p.m. Herkimer traffic. This put me on the right side of the street to run up to HCCC. But I didn’t HAVE to run there. Maybe I could run up the back way to HCCC. Not as steep, a little longer. A good run. I went by that street.

Oh, but it was not fun to run in the heat. Never mind, just keep going. Here was the street up to HCCC. I didn’t have to run up that hill. I could turn off before the steep part. I didn’t have to run 45 minutes, or even 40 minutes. I could run up the hill till I had run 10 minutes then run back down. But I ought to run more than 20 minutes. 30 minutes would be an OK run. I could run up the hill for 15 minutes then turn around, I bargained with myself. I didn’t fall for it. I knew that by the 15 minute mark I would be too far along to turn back.

The sun was bothering me more than the upslope. There was the steep part. In the sun. Wait a minute, no it wasn’t. There were two distinct patches of shade. There you go, I told myself. Run till you’re out of shade, then turn around. What a deal!

As I reached the second patch of shade I realized the shade continued, with varying degrees of patchiness, at least till the road curves. Once you get to the curve, you are just too close to the top to turn around. As I continued to shuffle up the hill I wondered if I had really had any thought of turning around. Of course not, I thought. For one thing, I knew I was going to write a blog post about it. Write a blog post about NOT making it up the hill to HCCC? That’s crazy talk!

I am sorry to report that the run did not for one minute become fun. I never once felt that I could rock this. I told myself that I was rocking it, pointing out to myself that no complaints were coming from my legs, but I just wasn’t feeling it.

That hardly mattered. What mattered was I did it. I can look forward to the DARE 5K with less trepidation. And it got me a blog post for Monday. I say OK.

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Drive On

Posted on August 4, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I tried, I tried to turn over a new leaf and have fewer posts about Why I Can’t Write a Post Today, and I believe I have had some success. Why, I didn’t even have a Lame Post Friday this week (last week, according to the calendar, but I subscribe to the theory that the week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday). But today, there is no getting away from it, is Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

In my defense, what I thought was fall allergies making an early appearance has turned out to be a full-blown cold. A cold is arguably the worst disease that can befall one: it’s not bad enough that anybody feels sorry for you but it’s bad enough that you feel like you are going to die or at least not live very well for the foreseeable future. Even now, some readers are shaking their heads saying, “Oh, get over yourself! Have a cup of tea and DRIVE ON!”

Tea. Hmmm, that’s a good idea.

We interrupt this blog post while Mohawk Valley Girl brews a cup of green tea and adds lemon and honey.

OK, back with the tea and trying to think of something profound to say about the difficulty of writing with a bad cold (yeah, I know, when was the last time you had a good cold?). It’s the vague in the head feeling that troubles me most at these times (cue unkind remarks about how I suffer from a vague mind most of the time). But, getting back to the advice to get over myself, I have proved to myself on other occasions that I am capable of doing more than I think I am.

Most recently I proved it yesterday, when I ran for 45 minutes including a rather impressive hill at the beginning of my third day of feeling quite dreadful. And right now, I have written over 300 words of what I hope is a perfectly acceptable blog post. Or do I flatter myself?

I think next I’ll take another look at that novel I keep alluding to. Have a nice Sunday, everybody.

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Crap Can’t Stop Me

Posted on August 3, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Today’s run fell under the heading of Do It Anyways. I’ve felt dreadfully ill with either a cold or allergies for the past three days with the result that I did not run Thursday or Friday. I like a Saturday run better anyways: I can go at 6 or 6:30 when the temperature is cool and the traffic is thin. If I could have gone with a clear, un-aching head, that would have been nice. As I often say, you can’t have everything.

I wanted to take the hill up to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC) once again, because the DARE 5K is two weeks away. I know I can do it, I just don’t want it to suck too bad when I do. I was afraid today’s run would suck, but I was prepared for that. At least I was partially hydrated and fueled up. I got up at 3:30 with Steven, because he had to work at 6:30. I had consumed coffee, water and a slice of toast with peanut butter, raisins and honey. I could rock this.

The temperature was nice, and it didn’t seem too humid. I was able to cross German Street with no problem. The slight upslope didn’t bother me too much. Running at all did.

I saw a car parked on the sidewalk. Mind you, not over the sidewalk, for example in a driveway that isn’t long enough. Parallel to the road, lengthwise across the sidewalk. On a street where you are allowed to park on that side of the road! Appropriately enough, the car had a sticker on the back bumper that said WTF.

It seemed to take a long time to get to the hill. And the hill itself seemed pretty long. I was over halfway up it when I realized it sucked less than the last time I had run it. Boo-yah! I thought about how I would post a Facebook status of Boo-yah! although in real life I have never actually said that word. I’m not even sure of how to spell it.

As I continued to run, I noticed I was sweating quite a bit. It must have been more humid than I thought. I told myself I was sweating out the toxins and I would feel much better after the run than I had felt before. I had it in my head to run for 44 minutes, the length of my last longest run. Twenty minutes into the run, that seemed like a long time.

I realized, however, that I wasn’t feeling as sinus-related crappy as I had been. It was more I-don’t-feel-like-running-anymore crappy. That being the case, I kept running. I ended up running 45 minutes, even running a little faster at the end so it at least wouldn’t be longer than 45 minutes. It would have taken a longer full-out sprint than I felt capable of to run exactly 44 minutes.

As I walked my cool-down with Tabby, I started getting that heaviness in my head again. By the time I was stretched, showered and fed, I was back to feeling like crap. But I had run, so I felt pleased with myself. And I proved to myself how bad I could feel and still run pretty good. That’s information I can use the next time I feel this crappy. I hope it’s not tomorrow.

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Cool Cruise-In

Posted on August 2, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I like pets and I like old cars. What could be better than a Cruise-In to benefit 4PetSake, the local pet food pantry. Actually, it was free to look at the cars. They were selling hot dogs to benefit 4PetSake. I like hot dogs, too.

The event took place in the parking lot in front of the Mohawk Antiques Mall on July 30. This was actually the rain date, as it had originally been scheduled for the 23rd but been rained out. The 30th was beautiful all day. Some clouds were gathering by five, when the event started, but nothing too threatening. We arrived shortly after five (I was typing in that day’s blog post) and parked behind the antiques mall.

After a quick glance at the cars we headed for the food. Four bucks for two hot dogs and two root beer floats. What a deal! Popcorn and chips were also available, as were t-shirts that said, “I’m into S&N: Spaying and Neutering.” I do want one of the t-shirts but did not want to leave myself short of cash. Perhaps Steven will surprise me with one. Maybe for my birthday.

I asked for the most burnt hot dog. It was delicious. We sat at one of the picnic tables to eat. That gave us a great view of the 1929 fire engine belonging to Mohawk Fire Department. It was cool.

A DJ was spinning tunes from the ’50s and ’60s. I had a hard time to keep from dancing. Oh well, maybe I did a step or two, a little hip swing as we walked around looking at the cars.

I particularly admired a Mustang convertible from the ’60s. I only know it was from the ’60s because it resembled one my dad restored, which was 1965. I confess I don’t know much about years and models. I just like to look. Other cars were showing up, including one with fins that pulled in just as we were leaving. I love the fins.

We left before the hot dog eating contest, because I do not care for eating contests. I think they’re disgusting to watch and it is no way to enjoy food. We did not go into the Antiques Mall, although we did admire a few items visible in the windows. We’ve walked through it before and no doubt will again. I’ll probably write a blog post about it.

For more information about 4PetSake or the Mohawk Antiques Mall, you can Like their Facebook pages or visit their websites: www.4petsakefoodpantry.org and www.mohawkantiquesmall.com.

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