Category Archives: running

Summer Solstice Run

Posted on June 22, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

When I went to bed last night I realized I don’t like running prior to four in the morning. Still, Steven had to be up early for work. I wanted to do laundry at six. I went.

First I was delayed by hitting the wrong button on my watch. That took more hitting of more buttons, which I could not see very well in the dark. I tell you, sometimes it is not easy being me. It was 3:40 instead of the usual 3:38 when I actually began running.

I know some people have big, elaborate (I guess not physically big) devices that tell them exactly how far they run and what speed and how many calories they burn and how their heart behaves… I use the stopwatch on my Timex and only worry about how long I move my feet. Point and laugh if you must.

I had decided to run the hill by Valley Health. I had in mind the bold plan of running up the hill to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC) on Sunday. I’ve always considered that my Sunday Run, although I do run it other days as well. When I run it, which I have not in many months (must check my running journal to see when the last time was).

As I crossed German Street, I waved to our paper deliverers. They waved back. A pick-up truck made a loud bang as it went over a pothole. That is a sound I have been hearing a lot lately. I know there are a lot of potholes around here but I had no idea there were so many pick-up trucks with empty trailers. Perhaps there are other things that make similar noises.

German Street has a small upgrade as one approaches Valley Health. I was soon thinking that I will NOT be ready for the hill to HCCC this week. Well, I don’t have to make that decision till tomorrow.

I ran slowly up the hill I was ready for, taking long strides so I felt a little stretch in the back of my legs. Some lights were on at Valley Health. I thought about the people working the night shift. They would be approaching the end of their shifts. I hated the night shift. I don’t get good sleep during the day. Of course a nap on one’s day off can be a beautiful thing, but it is not the same.

I did not run down by the high school as I often do after the hill by Valley Health. There did not seem to be any nefarious characters hanging about, but there was no point in taking chances. I started down Church Street. I saw one of the pretty cats I had run by Tuesday morning (oh yeah, never wrote a blog post about that run). The cat crouched down and watched me suspiciously. I wondered if it was a stray or belonged with anybody.

I realized I was headed towards Main Street. Main Street has kind of a bad reputation these days. I often walk there with Tabby and have never had a problem, but I decided not to try it at 4 a.m. I would turn at Prospect Street. It seemed long enough to get to Prospect.

I saw a house with solar lights in a front yard flower bed. Our solar lights do not all light up. Then I saw one of these people’s lights was out and felt better. Nobody is perfect, I thought. Then I saw a house with eight solar lights lining the front walk, all lit, and felt inferior again. Just kidding; even my fragile self-esteem can stand up to somebody else’s solar lights being on. But it wasn’t giving me any ego boosts.

I headed towards Meyers Park. Signs say the park is closed from dusk to dawn, so I ran around it. I don’t imagine anyone would mind if I ran through it, but I think around is slightly longer to go around. I wanted to run 29 minutes, which is how long I ran last Sunday. I plan to up my time by 10 percent tomorrow. Earlier in the run I had my doubts about making it to 29 but now I wondered if I wouldn’t actually go over.

I did not go over but I made my 29 minutes. The sky was lightening when Tabby and I took our cool-down walk. Today is the summer solstice. I guess I celebrated summer with my early morning run. And let’s hear it for getting the run done and on to the rest of Saturday!

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Junk Run

Posted on June 16, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Once again I ran after almost talking myself out of it. I thought I would go for that awesome feeling during the cool-down walk again. Today I would run the hill near Valley Health. I want to build up to the hill up to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC).

So off I went, and it didn’t feel too terrific right away. It wasn’t too bad though, so I kept going. I saw a pair of plastic sunglasses in the road, near the curb. I picked them up, thinking to place them somewhere prominent, where they were in less danger of getting run over and where somebody looking for them might see them. Then I realized there was not such a place handy and I had to keep running. I kept the glasses in my hand. After all, no point in letting them get wrecked now that I’d rescued them.

They appeared to be cheap but nice sunglasses with not a scratch on them, child size. Well, I could always give them to somebody who can use them. Really, they just would have gotten run over or kicked if I had left them lay there.

Then I saw a piece of a silver poinsettia plant, that had perhaps come off a Christmas decoration. It, too, was in pristine condition, other than apparently being broken off from whatever decoration it had graced. Having set a precedent, I picked that up, too. I could use it as a decoration on my container garden. I felt a little silly, running along with a pair of red sunglasses and a silver poinsettia, but then again, I am a bit silly. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.

I was so busy thinking of my newly acquired junk that I made it up the hill by Valley Health without even noticing I was doing it. Score! Well, maybe the last few steps were a kind of an effort, but it’s a good thing to make an effort when you are running.

Sunday is usually my day when I up my run time by 10 percent. That meant I should run 29 minutes instead of 26. You see, I round up. Then I thought maybe I should not round this time and run 28 minutes and some seconds. I would have to do some math for that. It seemed like a lot of trouble.

My legs were certainly getting tired. I started asking myself, what’s wrong with plateaus anyways? You can enjoy the view from a plateau. There’s always the future to improve. I pictured a plateau but could not see where the mountain went up from there. Then I thought, “I’m not so much on a plateau as pausing for breath on an outcropping.” I pictured myself precariously balanced, then decided to drop the mountain metaphor and just run however long I ended up running.

Up a street, over a block, down another street. Admiring a garden or a window box. Trying to peek into a back yard to envy the screened in porch. I was startled by a bright, almost iridescent magenta sports car. What a beautiful color. And wouldn’t it be nicer to drive somewhere instead of running there? No, no, running is fun. Then again, so is sitting on a porch like that one over there with the padded wicker chairs.

It looked as if I was going to make my time or close to it. I ran by Meyers Park but not through it. I saw a white peony somebody had picked and dropped. That wasn’t junk, that was a poor innocent flower that was going to dry up and do nobody any good. I picked it up. Now I had sunglasses and a poinsettia in one hand, a peony in the other, but I was almost home.

That wonderful feeling I get during my cool-down was within sight. And it was at least going to be 26 minutes. Let’s make it 27! Go past the house, I urged myself.

I ended up running my 29 minutes, by virtue of two laps around my driveway before I stopped. Steven put the peony in some water while Tabby and I walked my cool-down. I put the poinsettia in with one of the plants in my container garden. I felt pretty pleased with myself.

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The Mud Didn’t Stop Me

Posted on June 15, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh, that feeling, that wonderful feeling, when you ran anyways after almost talking yourself out of it, and you are walking your cooldown with your sweet little schnoodle. The frisson of virtue, the warm looseness of your leg muscles, the relief of deep breaths and cool water, AND the knowledge that you have SOMETHING to write a blog post about.

And then the feeling hours later, when you realize you did not write your blog post yet and you had better get on with it. It feels a little panicky, till you put your fingers on the keyboard and start typing. That is when you realize, like on the run, I can rock this.

So it seems Saturday Running Commentary is back. I was late to bed last night, because we went to the play, so I was disinclined for major effort. Still, it wasn’t raining, the temperature was a run-friendly 50some degrees. I put on running clothes and set out.

I decided to turn right down German Street. I would run up Main to Weber and go down the path over the hydraulic canal. This had been my plan during a run earlier in the week, but traffic was too intense for me to want to cross German. It looked better prior to seven in the morning. I thought I would even cross German right at the end of my street and not wait for the four-way stop at Main.

Then I saw what looked like a guy digging a ditch. Better stay on my side of German. Then I saw he was not digging a ditch but trying to clean out mud. We had torrential rain last night and some streets I guess got a little flooded. There was mud all over the sidewalk as well. Yikes. I did NOT want to fall on my ass in the nasty flood mud. I ran on the grass where I could and did a slow, shuffly step where I had to go in the mud. Rats! My best sneakers were becoming a mess! I need new running shoes anyways, but was hoping to put it off for a week or two anyways.

I soon ran into my friend Nicky, a shaggy little white dog, and his person. I stopped to pet Nicky and said, “I guess German got a little flooded last night.”

“Yes, every time it rains, it comes down Renwick,” she said. We told each other to be careful of the mud, and I ran on.

It was no problem crossing German at Main. I negotiated the mud and made it to the path. It is a lovely path. The only problem is that to continue following it, you must cross German again and there is no crosswalk just there. Still, that is no problem in the early morning hours. I encountered another dog to pet on the path, a lovely golden retriever (at least, that was what it looked like; I’m no expert).

“Can I pet your dog?” I always ask first, unless it is a dog I’ve petted before, like Nicky.

The run was not at all bad. I don’t remember consciously thinking, “I can rock this,” but I believe I was, in fact, rocking it. It was no problem to keep going. Shortly before I stopped, I flashed ahead, to when I really get my run time built back up. I thought of when 20some minutes in will be halfway or less, and I will think, “Oh, yeah, this is just what I needed. This is awesome.”

I sure didn’t feel this good about my runs earlier in the week. However, without those runs I’m sure I would not have felt so good today. Rock on, everyone!

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12 Hours Make a Difference

Posted on June 11, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I ran Friday morning (another prior to 4 a.m. start) then gave blood Friday afternoon so gave myself Saturday off. I took Sunday and Monday off for no good reason, although I did take nice walks with my poocher all three of those days. Still, I thought, three days off isn’t so bad. It’s not like, for example, two weeks off (don’t judge). Still, I was determined to run today (Tuesday).

When I remembered to during the day, I reminded myself that I would run after work. My plan was to run on the mini-tramp if it was raining, which I kind of sort of expected to happen. That wouldn’t be so bad, I thought. I could watch a silent movie while I ran. Or maybe Judge Mathis. I could rock the mini-tramp.

As the afternoon progressed, I watched the sun continue to shine. I know it can cloud up in an instant in the Mohawk Valley (“If you don’t like the weather here, wait five minutes”), but it showed no disposition to do so. So I would run outside. That was OK, too. I wanted to run out Main Street and check the name of the street you take to the path over what used to be the hydraulic canal. I haven’t run that path in a while. I could rock that.

I’m sure some readers have guessed, I didn’t rock much of anything when it came right down to it. Oh, I got myself out the door and moving. But it wasn’t very fast. It was warm and humid. The air was heavy and I felt heavier. Get used to it, I told myself. It’s only June. I reflected that this was the difference between jumping out of bed to run and working all day before running. At least I was hydrated, because I keep a bottle of water handy at all times while at work. I tried to feel the benefits of hydration. All I could do was marvel at how dreadful I must feel if I were not hydrated.

I turned down German Street towards Main Street. There is quite a lot of traffic in Herkimer around 4 p.m. There is a 4-way stop at Main Street, but did I trust it? I could see from two blocks away the line of cars going in each direction on German. I could make eye contact with the near driver, he could wave me on, I could start going and the guy going in the opposite direction could nail me. Well, he probably wouldn’t nail me, starting from a dead stop as he would be. But still. Perhaps I would continue down German Street.

But first I would have to cross Prospect, and there were two cars waiting at that stop sign (it is a T, not a 4-way). They would probably let me go, but would I be robbing them of their chance to get onto German? I couldn’t take that responsibility. I turned down Prospect. This wasn’t so bad. I could run down to Meyers Park.

Couldn’t I?

My legs felt worse and worse. They begged me to stop. They pointed out soft patches of grass where a middle-aged lady could probably take a very comfortable nap. I knew I couldn’t really, but the argument was persuasive. I reminded myself that I knew how to persevere. I questioned whether that was really true.

Then I began to wonder why I had not stayed sensibly in my house on the mini-tramp. After all, where is it written that one may only run on a mini-tramp if it is raining? Why couldn’t I run on the mini-tramp any time I wanted to? It’s not that my house is so much cooler than outdoors, but the humidity has not penetrated in yet, as it undoubtedly will soon start to do. Moreover, I have a ceiling fan in my living room. That would have to help. Then the great outdoors provided me with some breezes, and I felt better about everything.

For a little while.

I did manage to persevere, for at least a short run. I was up to 26 minutes at the last increase, but I thought a 20 minute run would be acceptable for today. I will persist in calling it a run. Maybe it looked more like a shuffle or a plod or worse, but at least I did it. And wrote a blog post. That is not bad for a Tired Tuesday.

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Big Plans for June

Posted on June 5, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

The Blog Runner is doing a Juneathon. He is a blogger I read sometimes (I don’t read anybody every day. Sorry, fellow bloggers). He runs a lot more than I do, by the way. Participants in a Juneathon, if I have this right, do something physical every day in June and write about it. This is the sort of challenge that appeals to me. The Blog Runner is doing it to prepare for a particular race.

In my case, the only race I have on the horizon is the DARE 5K in August. If I keep going at the rate of 3 or 4 runs a week I can get there handily. Come to that, I could probably run a 5K now. It would just take me a while. And the hill in the middle of this particular 5K would not be any fun at all.

Moreover, I’m not concentrating on physical fitness this month. June 6 marks one year of working on the novel I vowed I would finish (I have started MANY novels that I have not yet finished)(point and laugh if you must but how many novels have YOU finished?). I decided June would be All About Novel, preparing for my week vacation at the beginning of July. If I work hard for 30 days while at work (um, on breaks, I mean), I should be geared up to really make progress for nine straight days off.

So I commented on the Blog Runner’s post praising the idea of Juneathon but declining to participate. Then I realized I had gone for a run June 1 but had NOT worked on my novel.

In my defense, I had worked on said novel for the previous eight days. This is better than I’ve done in a while. One thing I try not to do is take days off. One thing I have been doing a lot lately is taking a day off.

June 2, 3 and 4 (today) I worked on the novel. I ran again July 3. So I could do a Novel Juneathon having missed one day or a Fitness Juneathon having missed two. Or I could do some push-ups and sit-ups before bed and only have missed one. One thing I can’t do is go back in time and not miss any days. And one thing I am unlikely to do is both kinds of Juneathon. Just saying.

However, a Julyathon for fitness is possible. I don’t think I will write about my physical activities every day, but every third or fourth day I can recount what I’ve done so far. That will leave space for posts about Mohawk Valley adventures, cheesy movie reviews and, of course, my beloved Lame Post Friday.

But first I’ll try to get through June.

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Watching for Skunks and Psychos

Posted on June 4, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Is there any better feeling for your legs than the cool-down walk after a run? I suppose there could be, but I’m not familiar with it.

Steven has two early shifts this week, so I thought I’d take advantage of the early rising and get a run in before the heat of the day. It only partially worked out for me.

I should have suspected the temperature would not be cool when it did not seem to cool down yesterday evening. I put the fan in the bedroom window, realized the air coming in was warmer than the air already here, took the fan out and shut the window. Of course I’m used to warm nights. I’m pre-menopausal (oh shut up, it’s a perfectly natural thing that women go through and I’m not going to pretend I’m not middle-aged). I never know if it’s the weather or hormones. My trick is to tell myself it’s hormones, then I wait quietly for the feeling to pass. It took me years to realize the benefits of waiting quietly, but we’ll save the half-baked philosophy for Lame Post Friday.

It was 3:38 when I left the house. I’m still a little nervous about running before dawn. Today being garbage day I was more wary of skunks than psychos. As I turned onto German Street, I thought I smelled one. Yikes. Um, skunk, not psycho. I don’t know what a psycho smells like.

A note about my breathing. I have dreadful sinus problems. I usually cannot follow the “in through your nose, out through your mouth” dictum, because my nasal capacities are not usually up to it. My sense of smell is unreliable. Sometimes I smell things that other people do not. Sometimes I can’t smell things that other people can. It is most inconvenient. On today’s run, I tried a nose inhale every so often to check for skunk odor. I didn’t smell anything after the initial whiff, although I later caught a nice floral scent.

It was a very lonely run. Block after block of no cars, no people and no lights on in houses. I passed a young man walking on my street almost as soon as I left my house. Heading home after a hard night out? Or a hot one night stand? These are the speculations that add interest to my runs. I either saw him two more times during my cool-down walk or I saw two similarly dressed young men. If it was the same man, perhaps he was out for a long walk pondering a problem. Maybe it was a ghost. How cool would that be?

The mugginess started getting to me early on. There was barely a breeze to relieve me. I felt a little ill-used, running in the dark and not having some cool air to run in. I cheered myself up by thinking about the bottle of water waiting on my deck for me and the cool shower after my walk.

I kept an eagle eye out for skunks. Psychos did not concern me as much, although naturally I watched for them too. I saw an animal cross the sidewalk way ahead of me. A cat, I assured myself. As I approached a trash can and bag, the rustle of an animal startled me. I hear my feet scrape on the sidewalk as I stopped short. A cat flew out from behind the bag and across the lawn. Definitely a cat. Phew!

It was really not a problem to keep running. I can’t say I reached the “I can rock this” stage, though. I am skeptical of my ability to rock anything prior to four in the morning. Then again, if I keep up these early morning runs, maybe I’ll surprise myself.

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A Good Run to Start the Weekend

Posted on May 31, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yes, it’s Saturday Running Commentary. I’m not getting to it just after the run, but I don’t despair of thinking of things to say. It is good to be back in the running game. My only regret is that I’ve been running three times this week and I’m still not skinny yet. Once again, our instant gratification society has done me dirt. But that’s half-baked philosophy suitable for Lame Post Friday. Today I’m going to write about my run.

We got up at 5:30, representing a half-hour of sleeping in for me. Let’s hear it for Saturday. I had a cup of coffee then thought it would be a good idea to get out running before I got hungry. After all, if I ate I would have to wait for it to digest. Plenty of time to talk myself out of it.

It was 51 degrees out, according to our thermostat, a good temperature for a run. I laid out a sweatshirt, in case I wanted it for my cool down walk. Off I went. Ah, not too cold at all. My hands might not even get numb.

I turned right onto German Street, since I had most recently gone left. I decided no hills. I need to conserve my energies for some things I’m hoping to do later. Then I saw a dog almost two blocks ahead of me. He was a jumpy boy. Normally it would take me a long time to catch up to a pedestrian that far ahead of me, but you know how dogs like to stop and sniff. I like to stop and pet a dog when I run, but it’s best if you are going in opposite directions. Then you’re out of the dog’s range before you drive him nuts.

So I turned up Main Street, going towards a hill. It’s a challenging hill, but there are two places you can turn off it. I could just go up the first third (the turning off places are not spaced at thirds, but I like to think of them that way). Part of the street is closed to traffic, because the road is kind of collapsed. The last time I was there, a pedestrian could get by. I would try it.

Up the hill. Oof, I am not yet used to hills again. I remembered a drill sergeant’s advice: just look at your feet and shuffle up that hill. There was a mound of dirt blocking the closed part of the road, but a small space seemed clearly left for pedestrians. I went in the space, skirting the collapsed part of the road. I have to say, it didn’t really look like a good place to be. I might not run that way again, which is too bad, because there are not that many hills in Herkimer.

Down the hill I went, on Steuben Street. I saw a lady setting up for today’s Village Wide Garage Sales.

“Here’s a place I can come check out later,” I said.

“Don’t miss it,” she said. I probably will miss it, but from what I’ve seen there are plenty of people out looking for sales.

I managed to make my 24 minutes, which is the time I got to last Sunday. I felt pretty terrific when Tabby and I set off on our cool down walk. I didn’t need the sweatshirt. My layer of sweat felt healthy, as if I had sweated out the bad stuff. Bring on the rest of the weekend!

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Never Give Up, Never Surrender!

Posted on May 25, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I confess to some affection for a silly movie called Galaxy Quest. I won’t write about it today, but I flashed on it during this morning’s run, and I thought this line from it would be a good title for Saturday Running Commentary.

Full disclosure: I ran some hours ago. Usually I like to write my commentary soon after the run and shower (in case any of you thought I was being gross). Today not so much, but I’ll try to remember the highlights.

I was determined to run, since I ate chicken wings at Happy Hour last night and woke up quite fat. I don’t imagine the chicken wings alone are to blame, but they’ll be the handy scapegoat (ooh, I could have called this post, “Good-bye, Chicken Wings”). I first walked Tabby to the post office and went to the grocery store (I bought things to enhance the tossed salad I shall virtuously eat later). Yes, I had plenty of time to talk myself out of it, but I did not.

Sorry to be too personal, but one problem I’ve been having with my running these days is I need to purchase new sports bras. I had a boo-boo due to some chafing. I tried to cover it with a pad, which really needed some adhesive tape, although I figured the pressure of the sports bras (I wear two) would hold it OK. At least it is finally at the temperature where I don’t have to ponder short or long sleeves.

Off I went. And it didn’t feel too good. Once again, I felt that I was running slowly. No gazelle in my head today. That is where “Never give up, never surrender” came in. I didn’t give up.

I pondered Memorial Day. I was wearing my ARMY t-shirt in honor of the weekend. Of course people are all over Facebook telling us how to celebrate: it’s not barbecue day, thank a veteran, don’t thank a living veteran, remember a dead one. Oh, I don’t mean to get controversial and sorry if I offended anyone. But I thought in my head I might be honoring veterans who gave all by maintaining the fitness I learned in the army. I can’t say I learned to persevere in the army, because I knew that going in. But I honed my ability to persevere.

I ran in a different direction from the way I ran on Wednesday. I noticed a porch on a house that wasn’t there before (the porch, not the house), and the absence of a hole that had been in front of another house. These innovations may have been there for weeks, but I just now noticed them. I continue to hone my skills at observation.

I saw some dark purple tulips that I quite envied. We were up to three tulips this year. When we moved in, one yellow tulip bloomed. I keep forgetting to get more bulbs to put down, but I guess this one multiplied on its own. Must work on the yard soon.

When I walked Tabby earlier, I had an eye out for cans and bottles, but didn’t find any. Then I saw a guy carrying an almost full bag of them and guessed he had beaten me to it. He didn’t look very well off, so I guess I’m glad he got the nickels. I did find one can. As I ran, I saw a plastic bottle and briefly considered picking it up. Some people run with a water bottle in hand, so I wouldn’t look too foolish. But I decided against it. I’m carrying too much excess weight as it is.

The run lasted one minute longer than Wednesday’s. To increase my time by the recommended weekly 10 percent would be two minutes. Sunday is my usual increase day, so I think I’m doing OK. I’m glad I ran, although I’m wondering if the post about it is any great shakes. Oh well, with blogging as with running, I will not give up, I will not surrender!

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I Didn’t Rock This

Posted on May 22, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am becoming quite fond of Wuss-out Wednesday. Of course, it will never replace Lame Post Friday in my affections, but I read somewhere that love keeps on stretching. I suppose I could segue from there into a contemplation of Love. Then this would become a Maudlin Mid-Week Middle-aged Musing. Love the alliteration, but I am not up for that sort of a post.

That is as much as I wrote at work. Then I guess you could say I wussed out. In my defense, it hurt to write (never mind about that; long story, not very interesting). Then I came home and did NOT wuss out. I went running. That’s right! I’m going to attempt a Running Commentary.

I had thought it would be raining by this afternoon. Instead, I walked out of my place of employment to a breezy, pleasant day. I could rock this! My co-worker pointed out that it was feeling a little muggy, but I didn’t worry. I got home and changed into running clothes.

And proceeded to run very, very slowly. And painfully. What was wrong with my legs? I last ran on Monday, a mere two days ago. Oh dear. Earlier today I saw an older man running along at a pace that looked barely more than a walk. I imagine that is pretty much what I looked like. Persevere, I told myself. Persevere.

The mugginess my co-worker had noticed increased as I ran. Get used to it, I told myself. It will only get worse as the season progresses. It really was not too bad, since the temperature was moderate. My only worry was that it would rain, which it certainly felt as if it might. I decided to run close to home, in case of a deluge. I would persevere through a little rain. Any thunder and lightning and I was out of there.

It soon became clear that I was not going to reach the “I can rock this” stage. But it was not a bad run for all that. I sniffed some lilacs I had run by on Monday. Monday two people were in that yard, so I felt self-conscious. They weren’t there today. Further on I saw some white tulips. Beautiful.

I was glad that I ran, although I felt so dreadfully tired I was certain I could never manage a blog post. Oh, look, I just wrote a blog post. Fooled myself.

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I Should Have Run in my Head

Posted on May 7, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Holy Crap, it’s only Tuesday.

That isn’t what I had been going to lead with, but it popped into my head and I thought it was so catchy I wanted to use it. This is, in fact, running commentary. I came home from work and ran. Now I’m going to write about it.

It was perfect running temperature, not too warm not too cold. Spandex shorts and a loose t-shirt, my favorite running outfit. I put on a headband but did not feel I really needed it to cover my ears. Still, the wind could pick up. I was on my way.

And right away it wasn’t much fun. I wasn’t too worried. I probably just needed to warm up. I ran toward German Street and debated right or left. Right the sun would be in my eyes. Left often has more traffic. Right I could go to Caroline, then down Caroline, up Margaret, down Henry. Very straightforward. That suited me.

The sun wasn’t too bad; it was high enough in the sky to not be right in my eyes. I sure do love May and June. As I ran, I contemplated the names of the streets. I may write a book and name the main characters Caroline, Margaret and Henry. I had previously thought of using town names for a book. Vernon and Hamilton have always been favorites of mine. As I ran, I thought I would amuse myself by thinking of what other towns to use.

Of course I couldn’t think of any. Silly me. I kept running and waited for it to get easier. When I was at work, I had thought about the evening’s run, psyching myself up so I wouldn’t talk myself out of it. I thought about how in my head I am loping along like a gazelle while in reality I am shuffling along like a middle-aged fat lady. I realized that was not happening today. In my head, I was shuffling along like a middle-aged fat lady. I thought, oh no! If I look that bad in my head, how ridiculous I must look to other people! I comforted myself with the thought that people are notoriously unobservant. They have problems of their own to think about. I ran on.

And it continued to suck. I persevered as best I could and managed 22 minutes. Less than my previous times, but still over 20 minutes. With a walk around the block for a cool down, I got in over a half hour of exercise. My weight loss goals may be within reach.

Incidentally, toward the end of my run, I suddenly thought, Kirkland! You know, a town that could be used as a name? I actually met a Kirkland once. Then the next time I saw him, I could only remember that his name was the name of a town near Utica. He wasn’t best pleased when I called him Washington Mills.

Ooh, and I just now remembered Clinton.

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