Category Archives: Tired Tuesday

I think a Running Commentary post is good on a Tired Tuesday.  At least it gives me a good excuse for being tired.  I definitely planned on running today but was not sure if I would run outside or inside on the mini-tramp.  One minute it was pouring rain, the next minute the sun came out.  I reminded myself of one of my favorite sayings, “I ain’t sugar; I won’t melt.”  As I walked out of my place of employment with my friend Karl, I pointed at the bi-polar sky.

“Look at that, dark clouds over there, bright sunshine over there.”

“Run in that direction,” he advised.

As I got ready to head out the door, I could hear rain on the tin roof of the back porch but could not tell if it was still raining or just blowing off the trees.  When I left the house, it was not raining.  I checked the sky, trying to decide which direction to run in. As I reached German Street, neither direction looked threatening.  Even the road was bare for the moment, so I darted across.  Now what did I do that for, I asked myself. I was just going to have to cross back later, and now I felt obligated to run one of the hills on that side of the street.

I headed towards Main Street, considering my options.  I could, rather that going up the hill on Main, cut over and run on the nice little path over what used to be the Hydraulic Canal.  I started up Main, thinking to do just that.  Then right when it was time for me to cross the street to cut over to the path, a car was coming.  You know how I hate to backtrack.  I said to myself, “Do you want to challenge yourself or not?”  I did not answer but by this time I could see the hill and it really did not look too bad.  Up I went.

And it wasn’t fun.  However, once I start up a hill, I usually make it to the top, and today was no exception.  I thought the rest of the run would probably be easier and congratulated myself on meeting a challenge.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.  I plodded along, feeling heavier and older with each step.

The point is, I kept plodding.  I had not completely decided how long I intended to run for, but I went farther than the minimum I had in mind.  It was in the last quarter of the run that I started to feel not too bad.  This is how it is, I told myself.  Every run sucks until it doesn’t suck any more.  I was at that point tired enough that the thought struck me as profound.  I see now that it isn’t, but it is closely aligned to a thought that has often given me comfort:  Sometimes you just have to feel that way until you don’t feel that way any more.

So on this run, I felt old, tired and thunky.  And then I felt not too bad.  During my cool-down walk, I got rained on.  Then I felt wet and cold.  However, as I predicted in the first paragraph, I didn’t melt.  Now I feel pleased that I ran and moderately pleased with my blog post about it.  Now I’m wondering what I can possibly come up with for Wuss-out Wednesday.