Category Archives: running

What Do You WANT From Me?

Posted on July 9, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

Said in a dramatic tone of voice, with a wrist to my forehead.

I ran the Boilermaker this morning. Perhaps I use the term “run” rather generously; however, I did not walk and I did not stop. I’m a little tired.

I intend to write a lengthier post later. In the meantime, I’ll share a few highlights of some silliness I amused myself and (I hope) others with during the race.

Towards the end of the race, when most of us were looking a little dicey, I heard bagpipes playing up ahead.

“Wait a minute!” I said. “Don’t they play bagpipes at FUNERALS?”

It got a laugh. In fact, I love bagpipes and these were very well played. I find the mournful tone especially poignant at funerals, but I do like them other times as well.

Somebody was a little worried they’d run out of beer.

“That’s all right,” I said. “There’s beer at my house. You can ALL come over!”

“I love you!” I actually don’t know if the guy was saying it to me in response to the offer of beer, but I like to think he was.

I yelled, “Promises, promises!” to anyone who told me or showed me a sign that read it was all downhill from here. For anybody thinking of running the Boilermaker in the future: just remember, when they tell you it is all downhill from here, they are usually lying. Or perhaps merely withholding the truth out of misplaced kindness.

I saw a sign that said we were halfway there and got all happy. Then I saw the sign below it saying “Almost!”

“You got my hopes up!” I accused. That got a laugh.

At one point, I turned to the friend I was running with and said, “I would probably be less out of breath if I shut the hell up for a while.” I did not, however, test that theory.

I see by my word count I am up to 300 words. Not a great blog post, but I believe adequate for the purpose. In my defense, I still haven’t gotten my beer. You know, the beer they promise you the whole way you’re running. I knew I probably wouldn’t. It’s funny how it still motivated me. It was, in fact, the idea of finally getting my beer that induced me to write this silly blog post. I’ll let you know tomorrow if I actually get it.

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One Last Post Before the Boilermaker

Posted on July 8, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

Getting ready for the Boilermaker seems to have a deleterious effect on my writing.

OK, when was the last time you used the word “deleterious” in a sentence. I can’t remember ever having done so. In fact, before I post this I’d better look it up in the dictionary to make sure I’ve used it correctly.

Yesterday my sister and two of my nieces accompanied me to the Boilermaker Expo at Mohawk Valley Community College to pick up my number. Actually picking up the number was the easiest part. No lines, no waiting, very organized. I amused the lady that got me my bib by declaring that I had been given my lucky number: 12139. What are the odds? (Of me saying something silly like that? Pretty good.)

Then I got into two wrong lines and spent a long time in the right like to get my free stuff. We had gotten to the Expo shortly after it opened, but we did not beat the crowds. When I finally got home I drank some Gator Ade over ice in my new Boilermaker glass.

This morning I went for a short, easy run. And I’ve been drinking water, thinking, “I’ve got to write my blog post,” ever since. Finally I got myself some Gator Ade over ice in my new Boilermaker glass (which I had washed; so I guess I haven’t done nothing all morning. I did the dishes). Sometimes it helps. This time, not so much.

Some readers may be looking forward to me running this race and having done with. Then I might stop with the All Boilermaker All The Time and get back to varied Mohawk Valley Adventures. I submit, though, that the Boilermaker is an excellent thing for Mohawk Valley Girl to plug. It is a majorly local, home grown thing. I was even reading in the paper this morning that most of the sponsors are local businesses. What could be better? I’d like to list them all. For one thing, it would add considerably to my word count. However, there are a lot and I don’t want to leave anybody out.

So this is another dull post, for which I am sorry. I looked up “deleterious” in the dictionary, and it seems I did use it correctly. I make no promises for tomorrow. After all, I’m going to run 15Ks. Maybe by Monday or Tuesday I’ll be back to normal. Stay tuned.

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Lame Before the Boilermaker

Posted on July 6, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’ve been off all week, so you wouldn’t think I would feel the need for a lame post Friday. I don’t know why you wouldn’t think that. How long have you known me? Then again, why do I flatter myself that anybody thinks about me at all?

Be that as it may, I’m sitting at my keyboard typing whatever comes to mind for today’s post. Later today I must head to Utica, NY, to Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) for the fabulous Boilermaker Expo, to pick up my runner’s packet for the Boilermaker 15K road race, which I am to run the day after tomorrow. Yikes! (That “Yikes” was for the Boilermaker, not the preceding potential run-on sentence, although I don’t think it is. If you do, diagram it and get back to me.)

I ran thirty minutes this morning and intend to run twenty minutes tomorrow. I took a short walk with my schnoodle, Tabby, and plan to take another this evening. I shall also take some walks tomorrow. And hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. I don’t know if my preparations and training have been sufficient, but we shall find out.

I must ask (stay tuned for some half-baked philosophy): sufficient for what? To improve my time from two years ago? But I have said many times, running the Boilermaker is not about the time but about the experience. To enjoy it more at the time? Perhaps, but I really do expect to enjoy it considerably at the time no matter what. Even if I feel completely ate up (as we used to say in the army), I shall be upheld by my determination to finish. And encouraged by the spectators and other runners, no doubt. To not feel completely awful afterwards? That is a worthy goal. Then again, there’s rest and Gator Ade. And my sister’s pool. I should be OK.

This morning’s OD (a publication which is also doing a version of All Boilermaker All The Time) had an article about how the middle of the pack is the place to be. I thought, “Great, that’s me.” As I read, however, I had to admit, that is not me. The middle of the pack clocked in at one hour, twenty-eight minutes (and some seconds). My last time was one hour, forty-six minutes (and some seconds). That’s a double digit difference (some of you are now saying, “I can do the math, Cindy). I am clearly in the latter half of the pack. Well, for an out of shape, middle aged woman such as myself, I don’t think that is a bad place to be (I guess that’s more half-baked philosophy).

To round out my Friday Lame Post, I will include a couple of random observations I made during this week’s runs.

On the sidewalk ahead of me I saw what looked like a red and white striped stick. Or was it red and white spray painted on the sidewalk? As I got closer, the stripes widened and resolved themselves into a chalk drawing of an American flag. I just love all the sidewalk chalk I see when I’m walking and running. For one thing, I love color. And it’s something different to look at if I’m running the same sidewalks over and over.

I saw a bay window with some insulation scrunchily piled on the sill. What was that all about? Aren’t you supposed to put decorative things in a bay window? That’s as bad as the porches (screened-in and regular) I see with all kinds of junk piled on them. I understand catch-alls as well as the next pack rat, but I believe in enjoying one’s porch.

I see I am up to 600 words, which is a respectable post for me. Tomorrow I will probably talk about the Expo and after that, more things Boilermaker. I believe the Boilermaker counts as a major Mohawk Valley adventure.

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Chasing Shade

Posted on July 5, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I may have used that headline before. If so, sorry. But I’m back to All Boilermaker All The Time with another post about a preparatory run.

I’ve been tapering off this week, not pushing myself too hard. I remember when I was on the swim team in high school (roughly a hundred years ago), we went into a taper at the end of the season. Now I was the opposite of athletic in high school but joined the swim team because my friend was on it. I pretty much hated it. The girls in the slow lane, where I was naturally assigned to work out, were snotty and mean. And the not athletic thing really worked against me. Still, I didn’t get kicked off and I love to swim. As with many things, it had its moments.

So after struggling, struggling with workouts that were too hard and fast for me, the taper was sweet relief. The more athletic girls had loads of excess energy. I just felt less inclined to burst into tears.

And so it is this week. I’m running shorter lengths of time. I’m maintaining a leisurely pace. My last major hill was Monday. I can’t say I’ve found it sweet relief, though. A front of heat and humidity is moving through the Mohawk Valley, and I have to say I don’t like it much.

At least I’m not running at four in the afternoon. You would think getting out between 6 and 7 a.m. would be before the heat of the day. Not so much.

I decided that this morning I would run no hills at all. It was 6:13 when I started out. By all indications, it should have been a delightful run.

I don’t know how the sun gets to be so bright and hot that early in the morning. I quickly found that it wasn’t that bad in the shade. I had started out with a couple of different plans on where to run. I discarded both of them and chose which street and which side of the street based on where I could find the most shade.

I was soon twisting and turning through residential streets wondering how a forty minute run could feel as long as an hour and twenty minute run. I resolutely refused to look at my watch every sixty seconds. That helped.

I noted flowers and lawn decorations as I ran. That helped, too. One front lawn had a profusion of yellow day lilies. Yes, the word “profusion” popped into my head as I saw them. My mom gave me some yellow day lily bulbs. I’ll have to get those in the ground soon.

At one point a lovely cooling breeze flowed over me. Aaaahhh! It felt like a breeze off a body of water. I knew there was a stretch of river or canal nearby, but I didn’t think I was close enough to reap any real benefits.

I stopped very briefly to pet a cute dog. I would have liked to stop briefly at the spring, but I hadn’t run in that direction. I usually only stop for a drink on the really long runs anyways. I haven’t even taken water during either of the 5Ks I’ve run. I’ll probably follow the good advice of drinking water whenever offered on the Boilermaker. If I feel inclined to burst into tears at the end of that race, I’d like to have sufficient hydration to do so.

I felt pretty OK after my run. Dare I say, ready for the Boilermaker? I may also have solved my where to park before, where to go afterwards problem. I’m sure I’ll write a major post about the big day. Stay tuned.

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Musings on the Move

Posted on July 3, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

But not moving very fast. You know how I run.

I’ve decided not to worry too much about All Boilermaker All The Time, because it seems to me the Utica O-D is doing the same thing. At least, A Lot Of Boilermaker. After all, they have a whole newspaper with a large readership. I have one little blog with a modest but highly intelligent readership (I’m quite certain all my readers are folks of taste and discernment and even more certain that none of them will disagree)(and, of course, by “modest” I am referring to size of said readership, not humility of individuals on which I would not pass judgement).

Where was I? Ah, yes, Middle-aged Musings Monday. What better to muse about this morning than running? And I did muse as I ran.

One thought that occurred to me yesterday and that I further pondered today was I don’t run to improve my time; I run to improve myself. That meant something different fifteen years ago from what it means now.

Fifteen (or so) years ago, I was in the army. I’ll be honest: I did want to improve my time. They give you these PT (Physical Training) tests, they post the times for all to see. You have to maintain a certain time or they could make your life even more difficult. Of course I wanted to improve my time. But that was not my whole focus.

I realized this when this guy — I won’t even say which branch of service he was in, because he was a poor representative of it — scorned my running of hills (this was in Monterrey, CA; there were plenty of hills). If you wanted to improve your run time, he said, you should work on your stride, so it was better to run a smooth, flat track. That’s all very well and good, I suppose. But what if one was forced to run in a combat situation? The enemy is not likely to provide a flat, smooth path.

Anyways, it is much more satisfying to run hills, and a lot more interesting to have variety in the terrain. And running off road is fun! I did not argue all this with the guy. I just kept doing what I was doing. Any my run time did improve, so there.

Now I run purely for me (and for the amusement of anybody that wants to point and laugh, I suppose). These days I’m more interested in enjoying the scenery and thinking of things to write in my blog that I am in a hard core workout. Along the way I manage to put in a fair amount of effort, but I don’t need to think about PT tests or worry about combat situations.

So what am I improving, if not my time? I’m improving my weight by calories burned. I’m improving my powers of perseverance. I’m improving my knowledge of village streets as well as my observational skills. I’m improving my mood, because even if I don’t get that endorphin boost, I feel good about myself that I got out and did it.

Am I improving my blog? Well, that’s a judgement call. All I can do is keep running and writing. See you Tuesday.

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Into the Woods

Posted on July 1, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I suppose some readers might be tired of posts about running, but the Boilermaker is one week from today! In fact, one week from right now as I write this, I will be done running the Boilermaker (but not done writing about it, as I’m sure you’ve guessed). Besides, I ran somewhere different today, and I think that is worth a post.

I started with my usual Sunday run up to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC) the front way. I tell you what, that hill does not get any easier. As I fought my way up it, I reflected on the Boilermaker vs Herkimer’s D.A.R.E. 5K. For a 15K, it is impressive just to go the distance. For a 5K, less so. Unless the 5K includes a big old steep hill. Then you get kudos for just not walking. And if you do walk you still get kudos for just not stopping. And if you do stop, well, there’s always next year. I don’t intend to stop, and I did not stop today.

I kept going up onto the campus, so I was still running uphill. It was after 7 o’clock and already the sun was hot. Well, that just makes it better practice for the Boilermaker, I told myself. And on the Boilermaker there is a considerable number of places where they offer you water. That will be nice. I sure could have used a little shade, though.

My goal was to run for an hour and twenty minutes. That mean I had time to kill (if the time didn’t kill me) (such an outcome was, of course, unlikely, but I had to make the play on words). I decided to run on the nature trail. There would be lots of shade there.

I used to walk the trail once a week with a friend, and Steven and I have taken Tabby there several times. We have not been there in a long time, but I felt fairly confident I could get in and out without getting lost in the woods. On reflection, I don’t know why I thought that. I get lost all the time in the silliest places. If it’s a choice between a left and a right, at least eight times out of ten I will pick the wrong one. Either I trust my instinct and it’s wrong, or I don’t trust it and it’s right. No matter. Even if I got lost, the trail doesn’t go that deeply into the woods. At worst, I would come out on some back road and have to run back to the college. There might be a lot of bugs in the woods. That’s all right, too, I thought. I have witch hazel to put on but bites. Really, there was no reason not to continue.

I could see right away that they had maintained the trail. I followed a nice path of wood chips into the forest. I remembered this, sure I did. I crossed a wooden bridge over a dry stream bed. The path was clear, no choices right or left yet. I could rock this. My only problem was not much breeze, and I had forgotten my headband.

I could hear a woodpecker in the distance that sounded much louder and a little slower than I thought woodpeckers sounded. Maybe it was a mutant woodpecker. Then I came to a sign that said Outer Loop with arrows pointing in opposite directions. Swell! I picked right.

This path was a lot longer than I remembered. It was so twisty I couldn’t tell what direction I was headed in. Some people might have been able to judge by the position of the sun, but I couldn’t remember where the sun was when I went in (oh, I know the sun doesn’t move, we do; you know what I mean).

I knew there was a section that goes out into some fields. You’re still surrounded by vegetation, so you can’t just crash through to the road, and it goes on and on and on. I did not want to go there. Here was another choice. I was sure the left led to that path. I chose right. No! Right went to the path. I went back to go left instead. No! Left went that way too! I went back right. For one thing, part of that path was soft pine needles that felt good on my feet. Then I noticed a third choice.

More pine needles. Ah! Then I saw a shelter I remembered, and a picnic table. Oh, was this the way back to where I came in? Yes! It was! I still had a ways to go and a couple of good upslopes to navigate, but I could see the athletic fields in the distance through the trees and knew I was on the right track.

I emerged from the woods triumphant, and not even half-way through my hour and twenty minutes. No matter. I could loop around the athletic fields and onto Reservoir Road. Then it was downhill and shade till I got to the spring for my mid-run drink.

The rest of the run was pretty good. I petted three dogs, found some nice shade, enjoyed the occasional breeze. I also ran up the hill by Valley Health, just to be hard core (at least as hard as my core gets). I’d say I’m feeling semi-confident about the Boilermaker. My main goal now is to blog about something else at least a couple of times between now and then. Stay tuned!

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Getting Personal About Running

Posted on July 1, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I HATE the expression “TMI.” I think it is rude and in general is applied indiscriminately. If something truly is not an appropriate topic for the company, a tactful change of subject is in order. To yell, “TMI! TMI!” is just a mean joke and it hurts my feelings. All that by way of saying, I am going to talk about my sports bras today. If you don’t like it STOP READING NOW!!!

I think that was fair. Kind of like a Spoiler Alert at the beginning of an Entertainment Weekly article. Or, better yet, one of those warnings at the beginning of a show on Investigation Discovery that it may contain material disturbing to some viewers.

To get on with my post: I wear two sports bras at a time. It’s the only thing I’ve found that works for me. I used to wear two of the cheap ones and was fine with it. Now I find that at least one has to be of a certain quality or I just don’t get the control.

A guy at the Sneaker Store told me that a sales rep told him that runners should replace their sports bras as often as they replace their running shoes. Probably sound advice. So I knew I was overdue, but, oh, I hate bra shopping. I’m sure I hate it even more than the people who have stopped reading this post hate it when I give what they call Too Much Information.

Is anybody still reading?

When I went for my run this morning, I could feel one bra was chafing. Oh dear! Well, we must persevere through these minor discomforts. By the end of the run, I was tucking some of my t-shirt in between my body and bra. That helped.

Then I stepped into the shower and the water hit where the skin had been rubbed raw by the offending undergarment. OOOWWWW! Seriously, I stood there in the shower saying, “Ow! Ow! Ow!” which made Steven a little worried.

I went to K-Mart with a shopping list that included two things: sports bras and Neo-sporin. I got the generic version of Neo-sporin, but it had the same active ingredients. I found several sports bras which I think will work in varying combinations. Some are in pretty colors. I see no reason why a useful object should not also be decorative.

Before I wrote this, I was reading some of my older posts. I’ve been reading through them from the beginning and making notes, thinking I might learn something. Mostly what I’ve learned is that I have had some pretty silly posts. I guess this is one of them. We’ll see what I can come up with for tomorrow. As always, thank you for playing.

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Boilermaker Butterflies

Posted on June 30, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

Subtitle: 15Ks Is The Least Of My Worries.

I am using today’s Friday Lame Post to vent my nerves regarding the upcoming Boilermaker road race, to be run (in my case, shuffled) Sunday, July 8 in Utica, NY (I realized I keep mentioning the Boilermaker but never said when or where it was. I do know these things).

As my subtitle says, the actual act of moving my feet for 15 kilometers, even in sweltering heat, does not particularly worry me. Oh, I realize I will probably get a crappy time. I will probably look ridiculous when I do it. It may very well suck. However, I know from experience that I can keep going through almost any amount of suck for just about as long as I decide to. I have shuffled along with the mantra repeating in my head, “Just don’t stop,” many times. It’s not my favorite way to run, but I can do it, and the rewards afterward are undeniable.

I quite frankly do not expect to spend a large portion of the Boilermaker in that stage. The support is great, and the route is interesting. As I said, that is not what worries me.

What worries me is 13,999 other runners. Where are we all going to run? Any given street is only so wide. How mushed will we be in the starter bin? Will we have to run in lock-step or be trampled? What if some people are bad-tempered? Will I become a victim of Runner’s Rage?

These things, I suppose, will sort themselves out, at least by the third mile or so. I’m also a bit concerned by where to go before that. The first year I ran, I had no idea where to park. Somebody had told me how to get to the starting line with the Culver Avenue exit closed, but I looked in vain for big signs that said, “Runners park here!” I did, of course, find a place to park eventually. I’m thinking it was the wrong place, because no other cars were parked there when I returned to my truck, but I did not get a ticket, so that was all right.

After the run, things can get even more complicated. I never did get my lunch that first year. I got it the second year, because I had a run buddy who knew where to go. I seem to remember finding the shuttles back to the starting place without too much difficulty.

I really don’t know what I’m so worried about. All these problems, if they even arise, are not insoluble. Now I’m a little afraid to publish this. I can just hear some readers saying, “Oh, quit your bellyaching! Nobody asked you to run the Boilermaker! Just shut up and run!”

Well, it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to. Or, rather, my blog and I’ll complain if I want to. For heavens’ sake, what miracles of erudition do you want from me on Lame Post Friday? And on July 8, I will run, but I will not shut up. Would you expect less?

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Random Running Commentary

Posted on June 28, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

First a confession: I did not run today. But I thought about running. I know, that does NOT count as running. However, I thought I could manage just a tiny blog post out of some of the stuff I thought about.

The fact is, as I run, I think of all kinds of things. Since I’ve written a blog, I mostly think of things I can put in a blog post about that run. Some of my posts about runs have been over 1,000 words. Yikes! And I do not include all the silly things I think. After I make the post, I always think, “Oh, I didn’t put in blah blah!” I know, some of you are thinking, “Oh, Cindy, you put in PLENTY of blah blah!”

Be that as it may, one thing that has occupied me lately when running has been the songs playing in my head. I absolutely never run with earphones on. Partly because I don’t own any, but mostly because I like to be aware of my surroundings. Also, I am skeptical of my ability to come up with a play list I would like. Suppose I wanted to run slower than the song that was next (I’m almost positive I would never want to run faster)?

As noted in various posts, I often hear the ice cream truck when I am running. I don’t particularly like being stalked by the ice cream truck (although I do like including the possibility in my post), but I must say some of those silly tunes are good to run to. It is not uncommon to have the music playing in my head after the truck has gone.

One song that plays in my head quite often is one from the ’80s that goes, “I know what boys like/ I know what guys want/ I know what boys like/ boys like/ boys like me!” Those are the only words I know. In fact, they may be the only words to that song. I must admit to feeling pretty good as I run along thinking all the boys like me (shut up! I can think what I like!).

A song that caught me the other day was one that goes, “All I wanna do/ Is have some fun/ I got a feeling/ I’m not the only one.” Again, those are the only words I know. And I’m pretty sure there are more to that one. For a little variety, I sometimes think it as, “All I wanna do/ Is run, run, run!”

When I was on the swim team in high school (about a hundred years ago), the girls used to compare songs they sang in their heads while they swam. One favorite was a part of a Journey song I cannot recall that went, “Nah Nah Na-NAH Nah, Nah-nah Na NAH Nah…” I may not have that right, but I bet some of you know the song.

Swimming, of course, is a different proposition from running, which is something else I started thinking about while I was running. I do best at running the more I think about other things. That didn’t work so well with swimming. I started swimming my fastest (which was never very fast) when I concentrated on the pure physical effort. Actually, I suppose that is what I do when I sprint, which isn’t often.

Well, I see I am over 500 words. And I thought this was going to be a tiny blog post. Well, it was fun to write. I’ll probably go running tomorrow. What song will my head play?

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Not a Dead End Run

Posted on June 27, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I ran for an hour and thirteen minutes on Sunday. I did not run on Monday. The Boilermaker is bearing down on me like Nemesis (when it is capitalized it means the goddess of retribution; uncapitalized, of course, it is our favorite superhero’s main enemy). So I definitely wanted to run on Tuesday (today).

I was delighted that it was cooler than it has been. I would not have let high temperatures deter me, but I figured I would be more comfortable and perhaps run further. I set out.

And my body immediately demanded to know what the hell I was thinking. I was stunned by the question. I had skipped one day! Just one day! What was all this stiffness? Where did these sore muscles come from? I remembered that I did not stretch immediately following Sunday’s run. Could that have started the mischief?

I debated if and which hills to run. To run hills, of course, I have to cross German Street. I bargained with myself: if I could cross at the end of my street, I would head toward the college or Valley Health and run one of those hills. If not, I would head towards Main Street. If I could cross at Main Street, I would run up that hill. If I could not cross at Main Street, I was off the hook.

Main Street looked busy. It is a four way stop, so it is never impossible to cross, but it is sometimes tricky. You may get the “go ahead” wave from one car and not another. Or somebody might be turning without their signal (I HATE that!). Look at all those cars! I could never cross. Then I realized I could. Yes! I sprinted. Then I wondered why I was so happy to run up a hill.

The hill is part of a dead end street that didn’t used to be a dead end street. A car can’t go beyond a certain point, but a person can. At least, the last time I ran it one could. Oh dear, it is a steep hill. Still, it is my goal to run the tough ones. I got to the point where no car may go. I hoped no Herkimer authorities would read my blog and come yell at me for running there. I wondered if I could gloss over the dead end aspect of the street when I wrote the post. As you see, I did not. In fact, I saw a bunch of footprints in some dirt, so I knew I was not the only one to go there. I thought it would be OK. I ran on.

And kept going up. I did not go up as far as the hill goes, though, because that would bring me out too far onto Steuben Road, which has no sidewalks way out there. And cars go kind of fast. When I got onto Steuben, I got over onto the shoulder as far as I could. One truck coming toward me slowed way down when he got near me, perhaps because a car was coming in the opposite direction so he could not get over. I gave him the “thank you” wave. Another truck neither slowed down nor moved over. You’ll have that. At last I was back on the sidewalk.

My legs were feeling better as the run went on, as was my mood. I didn’t mention this before, but I was sorely in need of endorphins today. I never know if I am getting endorphins or not. I mean, on the rare occasions that I get the “I LOVE to run!” feeling, I’m pretty sure that’s endorphins. The “I can rock this” stage, I’m not so sure. Maybe it’s a lower dose.

Endorphins or not, as I walked my cool down with Tabby, I realized I felt… better. And you know, when it comes to the Boilermaker, SOMEBODY has to be dead last. There’s no shame in it. A little embarrassment, I suppose. Then again, perhaps that is a small favor I could do for the other 13,999 runners.

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