Today I experience the melancholy of knowing I must go back to work tomorrow (YES, I AM grateful I have a job! Sheesh!), but earlier today I felt some awesome endorphins so thought I would try a Running Commentary post instead of the promised Wrist to Forehead Sunday (but tune in tomorrow for a potentially sad Monstrous Monday!).
I was up prior to 6 a.m. (not a WHOLE lot prior, of course) so was ready for my run prior to seven. I sure will miss running before the heat of the day when I have to be to work by 6:30, but that’s a problem for a different day. I wasn’t feeling real energetic so did not know if I would increase my run by the recommended ten percent, as I like to do on a Sunday. That would be OK. I just needed to get out there, because I did not run yesterday (I was recruiting my energies for the play) and I will probably not run tomorrow (hello! Back to work, 90 degrees, what sort of an iron woman do you think I am?). I carried a bottle of water with me, though, in case it was along run. Must fight dehydration!
I did not really feel up to major hills, like the one to Herkimer College, but I headed towards Main Street. That is a pretty good hill with two chances to turn off it before you go all the way. Of course the devil on one shoulder tried to talk me out of running any hills at all, but the angel on the other won and soon I was puffing up the hill. I ended up going all the way to the end of Highland Avenue. The steepest part of that hill is the beginning anyways, there are stretches of level ground and even a little downhill. Additionally, I had not run that way in a while and enjoyed the chance to reacquaint myself with the houses out that way. I was happy to see the gorilla-headed dummy still sitting at a table in front of one house. There was a nice table cloth and some flowers on the table, which I did not remember seeing, so that was nice.
Going down Steuben Hill certainly felt pleasant. I met a few cars, most of which nicely moved over or slowed down. I gave those people the “thank you” wave. I found a nickle, which I picked up and slipped between my sports bras (PLEASE do not say, “TMI”). I saw a couple beer cans and a water bottle, so I could have picked up more nickles, but that would have been awkward.
It was nice to sip water now and then as I ran. I had it in mind to run down German Street to the spring on Lou Ambers Drive for a re-fill but was not sure if I would have time. I was pretty sure by now that I would be able to keep going for 47 minutes, which was 10 percent longer than my last longest run. I know I could run for longer, but I don’t know how bad of an idea it is to increase by more than the recommended 10 percent. It is perhaps clear by now that I am not particularly scientific about my work-outs, but I try not to actively do harm to myself. I have, as they say, only one of me. Then I realized: I could stop running and start my cool-down walk before I reached my house. After all, I already had a bottle of water in my hand. I really like that water on my cool-down walk!
I was feeling pretty terrific a little more than mid-way through my run. It may have been endorphins. It may have been relief to be running downhill instead of up. It may have been happiness of being able to run as far as I wanted. Or it may have been that I finally sweated out enough toxins to let in the joy. Who cares? I felt good! Sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself is to just beat up your body for a while. When I got to 47 minutes and stopped (less than a block from home, by the way), I wanted to raise my fists in the air in triumph, and have somebody sing, “We Are the Champions.” Of course there was no one there to sing for me, so I just kept walking and sipping.
It is by now, as I write this, way too hot to run or even walk comfortably. The endorphins have predictably worn off, but in writing this I have recaptured some of the feeling of accomplishment and the joy of all that sweat. In fact, I am sweating again, but not from effort. No matter. It is Sunday and I did not make a Wrist to Forehead Sunday post. I’m going to call that a win.
