I return to daily blogging (I hope) with a Saturday Running Commentary Post. I am ten-finger typing on the laptop, instead of stylus pecking on the Tablet, just to give you the picture. Or was that uninteresting extraneous information (and is “uninteresting extraneous” a redundancy)? I answer no to both questions and continue with my post.
I was unable to sleep beyond five this morning (and most of the night as well, but never mind that). Coffee tasted good, and I enjoyed a cup and a half before getting into running clothes and setting out. I thought for something different I would turn in the opposite direction as usual, running toward State Street (also known as Route 5) instead of German Street. I could run out the path by the canal. I wanted a long, easy run, and that one is a good 50 minutes. I took a bottle of water, so I could hydrate as I ran.
Not two blocks from my house, I thought, “I don’t want to run 50 minutes!” Reason being I have not been doing 50 minute runs. Of course the 10K I recently ran in Little Falls took longer than that, but that was a special one-time thing. What was I thinking, jumping from 30-40 minute runs up to 50? Additionally, I wanted to be near the spring when I finished my water. I love Herkimer spring water.
Making a new plan as I went, I ran to Meyers Park and up through it. I admired the picnic tables that were donated from various sources for the Downtown Chowdown (perhaps you read my blog post about the Downtown Chowdown). I saw someone had added a child-sized table. Cute! I went down Park Avenue (ooh!) and turned up Prospect Street. I considered going instead to Main Street, so I could go by my beloved Herkimer Historic Four Corners. However, I ran by the Corners yesterday so Prospect it was.
Right away I came to the Do Not Enter sign at Bellinger Avenue. Regular readers know I can rarely resist entering when it tells me not to. I did not resist it today. I ran all the way down Bellinger to its end by the high school. I ran across the little bridge and into the high school parking lot. This brought me near Valley Health Services, the residential area beyond, and of course the spring.
After some debating to myself, I ran up the hill by Valley Health. I find this hill to be challenging enough under most circumstances. It is neither as long nor as steep as the hill up to Herkimer College (previously known as HCCC), but I am not in the best of shape these days.
As I ran, I kept an eye on my Garmin (actually my friend Jay’s Garmin, which he graciously loaned me). My pace was not bad, for me. I make no apologies for my middle-aged shuffle. It suits me. I did not run up any other hills, but I kept going for just over three miles. Since my next goal is a 4 1/2 mile run at Iron Rock Brewing (sponsored by Rock City Runners) in September, I felt this was OK. It started raining as I ran the last two blocks, so I did not go on my usual cool-down walk.
And I see I am over 550 words. That is a long post for me, although sometimes my Running Commentaries do go on. It felt pretty good to run, and it feels even better to blog. As always, thank you for tuning in.
