I have not done an out of bed, out the door kind of run in a long time. And it has also been a long time since I made my Running Commentary post so soon after said run. Well, I have an extremely busy day planned, so getting my blog post done and out of the way is a good idea.
I thought it was supposed to be cold last night and this morning (I confess, I did not pay a great deal of attention to the weather), but our thermostat said 51 degrees. Excellent running temperature! It was just past 5:30; the sun was up but the world was not fully lit, so I put on one of my ARMY t-shirts with the reflective decal on the back. Safety first for Mohawk Valley Girl!
During my last couple of runs, I have been wondering when they were going to stop sucking. Then I told myself, wait for the weekend. Running first thing in the morning is DIFFERENT from running after a full day’s work, I thought. And for once I was right! Yay me! It was a great run!
I crossed German Street and ran down the sidewalk towards Main Street. I had it in mind to run at least up the first part of the hill beyond the “Dead End” sign, up to where part of the road collapsed but pedestrians can still get through. I saw a car way ahead of me with the emergency flashers on. Now what was that all about? Was it broken down? I remembered hearing how if on the highway you see somebody broken down waiting for help, you should NOT be a good Samaritan and stop, because they might be bad people, decoying you over there to rob you. I could not imagine anybody doing that in the middle of the village of Herkimer. Anyways, I didn’t think I was going to run by the car. Eventually it moved and turned onto Main Street, in the direction I intended to go. Oh, it was probably somebody delivering papers. Silly me and my bad guys with the decoy broken down cars!
I did not see the car again, so I’m not sure where it went, but soon I was on that steep hill and had other things on my mind. The first part of it wasn’t too bad. Not fun, of course, but not too bad. I decided to continue on up, maybe go all the way out Highland Avenue. That is a good Saturday morning run. There are no sidewalks, but it is a quiet road. Steuben Hill, which Highland leads to (oh dear, I think I mean Steuben Hill; how can I possibly check these things? Google continues to mystify me) is a little busier, but this early in the morning that should not be a problem.
On the second part of the hill, things got a little more difficult. Just keep going, I told myself. I remembered an old piece of advice I heard while in the Army, “just look at your feet and shuffle up that hill.” I made it. The road continues with some downhill but mostly uphill, but the slope is more doable as you go. I looked around at all the houses I had not seen since I last ran that hill, sometime in 2016. Finally I reached the end and was headed back to town.
It was not till I saw the sign reading “Village of Herkimer” that I remembered this run goes outside village limits. Hello, Herkimer, I thought. Did you miss me? I don’t think anybody did. Houses got closer together. I encountered a couple of vehicles before I got to the sidewalk. The truck that went by going downhill seemed to be trying to slow down, but the one on my side of the road (I run left side, facing traffic, as one is supposed to do) was speeding up. Of course you must trounce on your gas as you go up a hill, or you may not make it, I thought. I try not to judge.
When I got to Dorf Street and turned onto it, I noticed the “Do Not Enter” sign. Why did I not remember that sign? I LOVE to enter where it says “Do Not Enter,” just to be that way. Oh, I know, they mean vehicles not shuffling middle-aged ladies. Just let me enjoy the moment, please.
Soon I realized I was quite thirsty. What to do? The spring is way on the other end of German Street! I did not think I could make it there without extending my run well beyond the recommended 10 percent more than last week. When I got to German I turned in that direction (which is the direction of my house anyways). I kept looking at my watch, figuring minutes, and turned around before I got to the spring. I had, as usual, left a bottle of water on my deck for my cool-down run, so I did not suffer from dehydration for long (yes, I am one of those self-dramatizing types that say “dehydrated” for “thirsty.” I thought you knew that about me).
I felt awesome at the end of my run and quite delighted that it had been a long, challenging run. I WILL be ready for the Boilermaker 15K! And now, on to the rest of my challenging Saturday.
Mohawk Valley Girl 