Tag Archives: Boilermaker

Tired But Running And Posting

Posted on September 9, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

I just sat at my laptop and typed in 444 words of a blog post.  There are more words to be written, but I could not write them today.  Judge me if you are so inclined.  I am having a Tired Tuesday.

This is me tired.

I do not look like this right now, at least not the hair-do or outfit.  It is me after I ran a Virtual 5K to benefit the Little Falls Food Pantry.  I must have written a blog post about it, since the picture is in my Media Library.   My facial expression might be similar, because I am still recovering from running my Virtual Boilermaker 15K on Sunday.  That is what the 444 words were about.

This is me all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed before the run.

Is “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed”  a cliche or an acceptable idiom?  Or is it a retro expression which adds color to the post?  I fear it is the least flattering option.

I went running this afternoon, thus making a traditional Running Commentary Post a possibility.  My main comment is that my legs felt pretty awful to begin with and pretty terrific at the end.  I like to remember these things, because it is motivation to keep running!

In the meantime,  I shall continue to work on the post about my 15K.  Additionally,  I still hope to run the Mini- Maker at Copper City Brewing in Rome on Sunday Sept. 13.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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Media Library, Can You Help Me Now?

Posted on September 6, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hello, and welcome to another Slacker Saturday.  The only remotely useful thing I did today was a run of just over an hour.  I went on to feel discouraged as I got on Facebook to see numerous posts by people who had run their Virtual Boilermaker 15K, most of them in well under two hours.  Of course I was happy for and impressed by these people.  But I feel… unworthy.

My plan is to run the mini maker at Copper City Brewing in Rome next Sunday.  I hope they are not too impatient with me.  I rear I will be an elephant amongst gazelles.

But never mind my running problems.  I need to make a blog post, and I have done very little that is blog-worthy today.  Yes, I suppose I could do another Running Commentary Post.  Only I really do not feel like revisiting this morning’s thunk-fest.

My favorite!

When in doubt, throw in a picture.  I did not include Nosferatu in my Non-Sequitur Thursday Post,  but I noticed him in my Media Library just now and said, “Ooh!”

Now some people may say that if a blogger has not much to say, she might like to refrain from making a blog post that day.  I found a pat answer for that, also in my Media Library:

Kafka knew from insanity.

That is my problem!  I am not writing enough!  I know, some of you are looking at this post and quoting Truman Capote: “That’s not writing,  that’s typing.”  How literary of you.

Is this the monster Kafka was talking about?

Writing or typing, I am over 250 words.  I call that respectable.  Happy Saturday,  my friends!

 

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Toward The Boilermaker

Posted on September 2, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

It ought to be time for this blog to become All Boilermaker All the Time.  I don’t know that I will do that, but I thought I would attempt a Running Commentary Post today.  I did not run on Sunday, because I had a blister on the bottom of one foot.  What was that all about?  I have good sneakers, and I wore running socks!  I did not run Monday, because, well, Monday.  The bottom of my foot still felt a little sore, but I did not dare take another day off.

I have been trying to get my butt kicked a little more on weekday runs, so I headed towards the residential area behind Valley Health.  Regular readers may remember that there is a particularly long hill I fear and love.  As I ran, I considered going up the hill to Herkimer College instead but eventually settled on my original plan (full disclosure: not without cravenly considering a few easier routes).

Once again I attempted to pick up the pace.  I hope to run under a 14-minute mile, and I feel quite frustrated that it is even a question.  When I was in the army, a 10-minute mile was a leisurely pace!  It was faster than I wanted to run, which in fact was the pace I sought in the army.  Full disclosure:  sometimes At All is faster than the pace I want to run.

I made it up the hill with huffing and puffing but actually very little problem.  I maintained a pace of less than 13 1/2  minutes per mile.  My run was just over three miles (I kept going for a 42 minute total), so there is no guarantee I can maintain that pace.  But you never know.

I have not shared some of the amusing little incidents of my run, so perhaps I will make this a two-parter.  Then I am one post closer to All Boilermaker All The Time!

 

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Independence Day Run

Posted on July 4, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

When I noticed my Army t-shirt in a drawer yesterday, I made up my mind to have an Independence Day Run this morning.  I would wear the Army shirt and run up the hill to the Veterans Memorial at Herkimer College.  It was time to run up that hill again anyways, and it was the day to increase my run time to 44 minutes.  This was going to be great!

I was a little worried about how warm it was when I first got up.  We are having another muggy streak these days.  Oh well, what’s a little extra sweat compared to celebrating our country’s birthday?  I put on a wide headband in hopes of absorbing some of the sweat before it ran into my eyes and made a note to myself to look for some extra-absorbent, exercise-grade headbands for the future.

As I reached German Street, I met a lady taking a walk.  We exchanged good mornings.

“We gotta get out before the heat of the day,” I said.

“That’s what I’m doing,” she said. “It’s beautiful out!”

“Oh, it sure is!”

A short time later I was making a note to myself that I must run more hills.  I ran this one earlier this week (I don’t know when; remember that note to myself to go back to keeping a running journal?  I didn’t do it).  Today it felt as if I hadn’t run it in years!  Crap!  I was gasping for breath. But I persevered and at last I made it to the top.

It feels steeper when you’re on it, and it gets steeper after the curve.

And realized that it continued to slope upwards.  It is amazing to me how my body can detect the most subtle angles when running.  I took my mind off my troubles by continuing to ponder my plans for the Boilermaker Virtual 15K.  I hope to recruit a few friends to meet me along the way with water.  Once I figure out a route.  Various possibilities ran through my mind.

Soon I realized a slight problem.  It was taking a long time to get to the Memorial.  Would I be able to get back home in 44 minutes?  Should I run only for 44 minutes and let part of my cool-down walk take me the rest of the way home?  I would have water; I was carrying a 16 oz. bottle which I intended to refill at the spring.

At last I reached the Memorial!

It’s a lovely little area.

Going down Reservoir Road was a pleasure.  My body appreciates downslopes as much as it suffers on upslopes.  I finished my water shortly before I reached the spring.  A man was there filling a bunch of five gallon buckets, but he let me sneak in to refill my bottle.

One of my favorite spots in Herkimer!

He said he was getting water for his swimming pool.  “I’ve been drinking this water since I was nine years old!”

“I love it,”  I said.  “Thank you!”

I was getting closer to my goal but was further from home.  I ended up running 47 minutes. It is an increase of more than the recommended ten percent, but I think that will be OK.  Boilermaker,  here I come!

 

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Slacker to Snapped, At Least It’s A Post

Posted on June 21, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

This is not going to be much of a Saturday Post, but I hope to do better than last week, when I missed Saturday entirely.  I am pretty much ignoring a DVR’d episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 as I type this (one letter at a tome with the stylus, of course).  No loss on my part? I wonder.

There.  I stopped that and put on a Snapped On Demand. “They were a power couple…”   I just can’t get enough murder and mayhem.

But about my Saturday, I have not done much.  I went for a run.  I was enjoying shorter runs since they cancelled the Utica Boilermaker this year.  However, yesterday I quite abruptly and unexpectedly decided to participate in the virtual race.

My original response to the cancellation of the race was, to heck with it, I’ll just run it next year.  I thought, “I can’t run 15K without all the hoopla cheering me on!”  Then I thought, this will be a challenge.  Let’s do this!

It may have been a good idea to do a Saturday Running Commentary Post and cover all this information.  However, I feel largely disinclined toward any such effort.  It is that sort of a Saturday.

So here is my post, and it raises a question often considered in this blog:  Is a lame post better than no post at all?  Discuss amongst yourselves.

 

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Happy New Year Anyways

Posted on January 2, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

Can I treat New Year’s Day like a Wrist to Forehead Sunday?  I had a very nice time last night and took a pretty good run this morning.  OH!  I do have one major bit of news:  I registered to run the Boilermaker 15K in 2020.  They did a special early registration deal starting at midnight.  I was asleep at midnight (don’t judge), but I got online and registered as soon as I got up.

Well, that paragraph took an unexpected turn.  I thought I had logged on merely to pose dramatically and swoon.  You know, Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  Even though it is not Sunday, it feels like one.  New Year’s Day often does.  Not like a holiday, mind you, just a run of the mill Sunday, hence, the Wrist to Forehead aspect.

I will share with you at this point that I fear I may be coming down with a cold.  I keep coughing, and I can kind of feel it down in my chest. Dammit, I can’t deal with that now!  For one reason, I don’t want to go using up my precious paid days off in January!  People say you should not go to work if you are sick with something contagious, but employers are notoriously unsympathetic. Oh well, maybe it is a false alarm.

So I guess this turns out to be Yet Another Post about Not Being Able to Make a Blog Post.  What a way to start the new year!  But I hope you will all stay tuned.  In addition to the Boilermaker,  I have one or two other projects in the offing that I hope to write about soon.

 

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Can I Rock That Run?

Posted on September 18, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I decided about twelve times today that I would or would not run the Falling Leaves 14K in Utica, NY, on Sunday.  I quite amused one of my co-workers with my dithering.  One problem I had was that I was not feeling well today.  How can I run a 14K when my legs feel like overcooked macaroni, I whined.  Another co-worker told me there was nothing wrong with me and I should run the race.  How would he know?

In any case, I knew it would be a good idea to go running after work.  For one reason, I succumbed to the temptation to eat a candy bar.  Somebody’s kid was selling them to raise money for some school thing.  One must support youth and education, after all.  I know, I could have donated the dollar and left the candy bar.  In fact, I did not eat the first candy bar I purchased but saved it in my lunch box for Steve.  Later on I got another and ate 3/5 of it (it had five little sections).

This is a long introduction to a Running Commentary post,  but that is all right, because the run was really short.  After some difficulty getting dressed (missing bicycle shorts, inadequate sports bras, you know how it goes), I set out with no great hopes of a good run.

Oh, don’t go lecturing me about how we can control our lives if we just think positively.  I have started plenty of runs with sky high hopes that ended up in the metaphorical toilet.  Likewise, I have started out grumpily and had a lovely time.  In this case, all I can say is I did my best.

I never reached the I Can Rock This stage.  However, I kept going for 22 minutes as well as my usual 10 minute cool down walk.  I am thinking this is not the run of a body that is ready for a 14K.  Of course I will feel differently on a weekend morning,  especially if I carb up and don’t tie one on the night before.  But still.  When I have run the Boilermaker 15K, my body has felt better a week before the event.  Could I be getting old? SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!

Before making this post, I went on Facebook and onto the Falling Leaves page.  I have till Thursday to register online.  I could still register Saturday at the Sneaker Store in New Hartford or Sunday in Utica before the race.

Full disclosure: I looked at pictures of the starting line from previous years and wanted to cry.  Can I drive to Genesee Street, find a place to park, figure out where to go, deal with running in a crowd (although it would not take long for the crowd to leave me far behind), etc., etc.?

It is difficult to properly assess my feelings on Tired Tuesday.  Then again, are my feelings the important thing here?  I’m afraid that whatever I decide, I will wish I had gone the other way.  On the brighter side, there is always next year.  In the meantime,  I dither, I dither.

 

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To Fall Or Just To Leave?

Posted on September 8, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I guess I’ll have to stop apologizing for making late blog posts; I’m afraid it is just going to happen.  Anyways, I thought I would take this morning’s 200 or so words to dither about the Falling Leaves 14K in Utica two weeks from today.

I have long wanted to run that.  I understand it is a beautiful and challenging course.  I need to challenge myself.  In fact, sometimes I even need to Double Dog Dare myself.  So why the hesitation?

Well, for one reason, the race is only 1K less than the Boilermaker.  That is not a distance to be undertaken lightly.  And I would not be undertaking it lightly.   I have been running all summer, slowly building myself up.  I feel that I am in pretty damn good shape (from some angles my actual shape could stand improvement, but I digress).

Basically what happens is all week I feel tired and discouraged.  I think of keeping up my running three to five days a week while working.  I think about driving to Utica and looking for a parking space after luckily finding where the race starts (I know these considerations do not bother some people, but I seem to be more easily intimidated in some respects), and I say, “I just can’t take the pressure.”

Then I go for a long run on the weekend, get all endorphinned up, and say, “This is AWESOME!   I am SO doing the Falling Leaves 14K!”  Yesterday on my cool down walk, I met a neighbor who runs and asked was he doing the race.  He has not signed up yet but has done it in the past and recommends it.  He is a younger guy in great shape.  I daresay he does not need to constantly consider the calendar and calculate how fast 10 percent per week will add up, as I do.

Right now I am in the discouraged portion of my dithering (although I do feel challenged to refute that parenthetical comment about being easily intimidated.  Me? Intimidated? SAY IT AIN’T SO! ). However, I have not gone on this morning’s run yet.  I expect I will feel differently then.  In any case, I am now over 300 words.  Quite respectable for a late post. I shall now get on with my Sunday.

 

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Oh, That Band!

Posted on August 17, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

When I was running the Boilermaker 15K in July, I LOVED the band that was playing outside the Utica Zoo.  They were bluesy and danceable.  I dance-ran by them, a move which I am sure looks perfectly ridiculous but is fun nevertheless.  I still had not gotten around to looking up who the band was.  In my defense, I’ve been busy.

Fast forward to Chicks Along the Canal, part of Little Falls Canal Fest, last Saturday, Aug. 12.  While the cast of The Tempest (remember, that play I’m in?) waited to perform, the best band was playing!  They were bluesy!  They were danceable!  I went over to the tent and danced.

“Bands like it when you dance to their music,” I told my fellow cast members.  Another listener was dancing, a gentleman wearing an ARMY cap.  He waved at me, and  went over and dance with him.

It was while I was dancing that the band began to sound familiar.  Ooh!  Was it the awesome band from the Boilermaker?  I thought maybe!

After their set, I saw the lead singer chatting with someone, so I approached and asked if they had been in front of the Zoo during the Boilermaker.  They had!

“I LOVE you guys!”  I said.  “What is the name of your band?”

“The Cathie Timian Band,” was the answer.  She gave me a card.  When I got home, I looked up their website: http://www.cathietimian.com/.  I also Liked the Cathie Timian Facebook page.  I hope to hear them play again soon.  You bet I’ll write a blog post about it.

 

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Too Much Detail on a Tired Tuesday Run?

Posted on August 16, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have this recurring dream where I am trying to get somewhere and my legs won’t work properly.  I can’t pick up my feet, I can’t move forward, it’s simply dreadful.  I pretty much felt this way at work today, and I worried tonight’s run would be more of the same.  However, I have not been running since July and I was determined to begin again.

I made a bargain with myself that I would only run for 20 minutes.  I could hang for 20 minutes.  This would work.  Of course it was a rigamarole getting ready to run.  I wanted to put in a load of laundry while I ran, including the pants I had worn to work today.  Since I had gotten sweaty at work, I took advantage of this.  I stayed naked while I filled the basket with laundry, then put on my running clothes (sorry if that gave you an unfortunate mental image) (then again, what are you doing picturing me naked?  Shame on you, you dirty-minded thing, you!).

Of course I was still sweaty.  I put powder on my upper body, but my second sports bra  still rolled up as I put it on and I couldn’t reach the back to unroll it.  I hate when that happens!  I got it, though, because, like I said, I was determined.  If this is too much detail, tough.  I calls it like I sees it.  I almost got out the door before I realized I had not thrown the laundry in.  Back up the stairs to retrieve the basket, then down to the basement.  I figured it could count as my warm-up.

Usually when I run, I make a left at the end of my driveway and head to German Street.  If I have not been running in a while, I head to Caroline Street, then go up and down the streets, working my way back home.  I decided to mix things up, so turned right and headed towards Meyers Park.  I even crossed the street and ran down the opposite side from my house.  The sun came out from behind a cloud, showing me that I had not picked the shadier side of the street. No matter.   It was my first run of beginning again, and I was going to persevere.

Persevere was what I had to do, because I never hit the I Can Rock This stage.  I won’t say that every step was an effort, but a goodly number of them were.  I tried to distract myself by looking around.  Mostly I noticed other people’s porches and wished I was sitting on a nice porch, perhaps enjoying a beverage.  I had told a work friend that I might reward myself with a glass of wine after my run.  Suddenly I remembered… chocolate milk!  When I was training for the Boilermaker 15K, I got in the habit of re-hydrating with chocolate milk.  I read somewhere that it is an excellent recovery drink.  I must say I enjoy it quite a bit.  I knew there was milk and chocolate in my refrigerator.  That thought sustained me for the rest of the run.

I ended up running for 22 minutes.  I felt pleased with myself that I had gone at least a little over 20, especially since the devil on my shoulder had been whispering that 15 would be just as good.  The cool shower felt wonderful, and the chocolate milk was heaven.  I probably won’t run again tomorrow, because I have rehearsal for The Tempest (no, that is not over yet, and I will no doubt write more blog posts about it), but I hope to run on Thursday.  Sooner or later, I must hit that I Can Rock This stage.

 

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