Tag Archives: running

What Could Be Better Than Monsters?

Posted on June 13, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

So my goals were to find something to enjoy on Monday and to make a better blog post, but I think we all knew I was more likely to revert to Monstrous Monday.  My day at work was not bad at all.  My worst moment was getting myself out of bed.  Oh, did I want to sleep in!  But coffee worked its magic, and my day improved from there.

This is how cheerful I am after coffee.

After work things got a little dicey as I struggled with my checkbook and fretted over bills.  I did not go running as I had intended, and I almost forgot to take out the trash.  However, I had walked for 30 minutes this morning, and the trash and recyclables are now waiting by the curb.  Additionally, the dishes are washed, and tomorrow’s lunch is packed.

The happy smile I get after doing a few chores.

I seem to always be listing every little thing I get done, either in this blog, in one of my journals, or just in my head.  It is to keep from beating myself up over all the things that I have left undone.  For heavens’ sakes, I can’t do everything!  Or so I comfort myselg

Maybe if I had three friends behind me and a pitchfork!

I guess this last picture doesn’t show a monster, but it is from a pretty scary movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers.   As messed up as my life can be, I would not want some pod growing into a duplicate of me and taking over my body.  Now that I think about it, that movie is also pretty sad.  All the characters I like turn into beings with no warmth or feelings.

On that rather melancholy note,  I see I am approaching 300 words.  Perhaps it is not a better blog post, but at least I tried.

 

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While I Was Running…

Posted on June 11, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

In lieu of a Scattered Saturday Post or a true Running Commentary Post, I wanted to share a couple of fun encounters I had during last Saturday morning’s run.

I was running in the residential area behind Valley Health Services.  I call it The Suburbs in my mind, but I know that description is not strictly accurate.  I particularly like to run down Walnut Street to the exit of the Valley Health parking lot.

A different time of year, but this is the sign.

As I was entering, a guy was walking in the opposite direction.   He said hello.

“I like to enter where it says not to,”  I said. “I feel like such a rebel.”  He laughed.  Later, I encountered him on another street in the area.

“You must have had a Get Out of Jail Free Card,” he said.

I laughed.  “Good one!” I said.

Continuing my run, I eventually ran down Caroline Street. When I saw a couple of walkers, I went out on the road to give them space.  A resident had put out a couple of signs that said, “Slow Down!  This is a neighborhood not a race track!”

As I approached the pedestrians, I said, “That sign said to slow down, but I’m not going to.” They laughed.

This is why I like to run outdoors.

 

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I Thunk It’s Thursday

Posted on June 9, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

The headline is not a typo; I really did thunk today.

I had not been running since Sunday, not a good idea when the Boilermaker 15K is a mere month away.  I blame the Canadian wildfires, which have rendered the skies such a freaky sepia tone. With my breathing problems, I did not care to go out there and huff and puff.  I know, I could have stayed inside and run in place on the mini-tramp.  I felt too  tired.  Judge me if you choose.

Today I felt equally tired, but the air was so much more clear!  There was blue sky and clouds.  The sun looked like the sun, not that scary orange disc!  How could I not run?

And yet my body rebelled.  My knees hurt, my hip joint felt out if whack.  I questioned my ability to run 15Ks in July or even at all ever.  So I said to myself, Just Try.  For one reason, I had to do laundry. What else was I going to do while the washer washed?  Just Try, I repeated to myself as I got changed into running clothes.  Once I had the sports bras on, I knew I would get out there and do something.

A few steps down the sidewalk, I felt like, hey! I can so run!  I’m going to do this!  That feeling lasted to the corner, which was only about three houses away.  No matter.  I had started;  I would persevere.

Persevere I did.  I ran slow.  I ran thunkily (autocorrect seems to believe that is a word now).  I huffed and puffed.  I coaxed myself on a little at a time.  Just get to that truck that’s parked over the sidewalk.  Just get to the corner.  I looked at my Garmin and calculated how much further would make one mile.  .73…  .54…  .39…

My first (OK, my only) mile was 13:30.  That is really not too bad for me.  Could I make it to 20 minutes?  I kept thunking. Maybe a 17 minute run would be acceptable. By virtue of running past my house to the corner and back to the house, I made it to 20.  Score!

My hip was hurting a bit, so I cut my cool-down walk short.  I had a problem with that hip about a year ago and did not run for a month.  Then again, perhaps I could have started running again sooner.  I’m no expert on hip joints.

I felt happy and relieved that I ran.  I am also happy that I did laundry. Now I don’t have to have Dirty Pants Friday.  Um, not that I would ever do that.

 

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My Scattered Sunday, Still in Progress

Posted on June 5, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had a Scattered Sunday today.  I did a few blogworthy things but am too tired to actually compose the posts.  So we will have a Preview of Coming Attractions.

I went for a run this morning, about which I may or may not make a Running Commentary Post. I mention it merely to add to my list of Things I Did.

Later in the morning I checked out the Brookwood Flea Market in Brookwood Park (previously known as the unknown park in this space) in Herkimer, NY.  It is a new thing and one I hope becomes very successful.  I chatted with a few of the vendors, along with Herkimer Mayor Dana Sherry, who organized the event.

Just one of the pleasant people I chatted with.

The mayor and I also talked about the Herkimer Downtown Chow Down, which takes place Mondays in Meyers Park.  I mention this to add another Preview of Coming Attractions.

From my Media Library.

In the afternoon I drove into Utica to auditions for Fun House, the premiere production of Brick 2 Theatre Company.  I hope to write a lot more about that.

The one sitting down played the music while the one standing sang.

On the way home I stopped at Aldi’s for snacks and Valley Wine and Liquor for a bottle.  I thought my friend Kim was stopping by for some porch sitting.  She is in a play at Ilion Little Theatre (just to plug more local drama).  Now I am wondering if she isn’t feeling well.  I think there is a summer bugaboo going around.

And that is the story of my Sunday.  I would say I made up for slacking yesterday, but there are still a number of chores still undone.  In fact, crap!  I just remembered I still have laundry in the washer!

Laundry is in the drier, and I just got a text:  Kim is on her way!

 

 

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I Slack, But I Blog

Posted on June 4, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

This was one Slacker Saturday.  I don’t know why I am surprised.  I spent all week planning in my head everything I was going to get done today.  Have I not often observed that every time I make a plan, the plan goes to hell?   Still, I did not make a detailed plan.  Surely I could get at least a few things done (in this context, I am calling myself Shirley).

I successfully slept in, which I am not always able to do on a Saturday.  This was not part of the plan, but it felt good.  I had made my Friday blog post on Friday, so I had that going for me.  I had some coffee and eventually went on a long run.

I entered here during my run.

Maybe the run was too long and I wore myself out. Maybe the road trip to Liverpool last weekend followed by a mid-week drive to Rome had a delayed effect.  Maybe it was just a good day to do very little.  Maybe I am just a lazy bum.

Celebrating Dad’s birthday in Liverpool: Dad and Mom with my niece Jenna in between.

In any case, after the run, I managed to do only a very few things else.  At least I got a few post cards written and mailed.   People like to get post cards.

So this is my boring blog post about my not very exciting day.  I am going to call it a Blogger’s Sad Day and drive on.  Maybe I could just go back and add a few pictures to pep things up.

I guess I like it too, Dracula.

I just put in a Hammer Horror movie with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and Michael Gough.

 

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A Memorial Day Run

Posted on May 30, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Earlier today I took a Memorial Day Run, thinking I could do a Running Commentary Post.  Of course it is better to do these things right away, but as regular readers know,  I do not always take the better course. So, some hours after the fact, here is my post about my run.

I usually like to wear an ARMY t-shirt on these occasions, but I could not take the time to look for one this morning.  I put on a big blue shirt I wore a few days ago.  I often grab a handy, semi-dirty shirt to run in.  It was over halfway through my run that I remembered a few years ago hearing about a thing of wear blue and run for the fallen soldiers.  So it seems I did the right thing without meaning to. That doesn’t happen very often!

My plan was to run up to Herkimer College, to the Veteran’s Memorial Park near the athletic field.  I have done that before to honor the fallen, at least in my heart.  Unfortunately,  I have not been running enough lately, especially with the Boilermaker 15K looming, and as soon as I started, I questioned my ability.

My goal. Would I make it?

Let me just pause to call bullshit on some people’s favorite snarky remark when I say I can’t do something:  “Well, not with that attitude you can’t!”  Every epic failure, and most minor failures I have had, and there have been many, I went into thoroughly convinced I could do the task at hand.  Conversely, many of my successes have surprised even me.  I said, “I’ll never be able to do this, but let me just try.”

And so it proved today.  I just ran to the bottom of the back road (I would not even attempt running up the front way) to the college, which involved going up a small hill, which was not fun, but I made it..  There was a dead end street with a further slight incline.  I thought I would run up that and back, to see how it went.  Not too bad.

Well, just start up the hill, I thought.  Make it partway and turn around.  Just make it to the path into Brookfield Park.  Then I thought to make it a little further.  Just to that curve.   Now I was so close to the college, it seemed foolish to turn around.  After all, I did not have to go all the way to the Memorial,  clear on the far side of campus, a gentler slope but still uphill.

This was taken in October, and doesn’t really show how steep.

Thus by gentle stages I coaxed my way to the Memorial.  I even went a little beyond it to go behind the athletic field and run down the other side of campus to the steeper hill back down to the village.

Another view of the park.

I felt fairly pleased with myself for persevering.  And now I feel pleased with myself for making a blog post about it.

 

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I Ran, I Blogged, I Celebrate?

Posted on May 10, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I went for a run earlier so thought I might try a Running Commentary Post.  The Utica Boilermaker 15K is two months from today.  Yikes!  This means I will be doing more Running Commentary Posts as my training intensifies, eventually going All Boilermaker All The Time.

I had it in mind to  run today since I did not run yesterday.  As my bones began to creak more and more throughout the day, I still kept it in mind. A couple of times I did ask, “What the hell, body?  I’m not even 60 yet!”  When I got home I was TIRED.  I said to myself, “Just try.  Just do the best you can.”

So I got into running clothes and started out.  Oh, was I running thunkily!  Stupid autocorrect seems to think “thunkily” is not a word, but I assure you that is how I was running.  However, one thing I have learned is to Just Keep Going.

As I Just Kept Going, I reminded myself that I have often said that I can put up with almost any amount of suck for just about as long as I decide to.  Of course this started me thinking about a few other things that suck in my life these days.  I reminded myself that I could put up with those, too.  I guess I need a lot of reminders.

The highlight of the run was when I stopped to pet a dog.  No, not because I got to stop!  I like to pet dogs! Sheesh! This was about halfway through my run, when I began to think it wasn’t such a bad run and maybe I would make it after all.

Still, I was counting the minutes.  I had decided to run for 22 minutes.  I plan to run 44 minutes this weekend, so I went for half that.  Additionally, 22 is my lucky number.  As I approached my house I wondered if I shouldn’t try for a little longer.  My body said, “No! Don’t!”  I had to run past the house to make it the full 22 minutes, but I made it.

On my cool-down walk I paused to sniff a neighbor’s lilacs.   That was the second highlight of my run.  I was glad I had run, however thunkily.   And I have made my Tuesday blog post on Tuesday.  I have to celebrate every win, however small.

 

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Good Run! Good Post?

Posted on May 5, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had a really good run this afternoon, and I am a little surprised I did.  Perhaps I can surprise myself again with a decent Running Commentary Post.  No promises.

It has been difficult to run regularly lately, partly because of rehearsals for Shooting at the Grange (guess I haven’t finished talking about that yet) and partly because of the weather.  It rains! It stops! It rains again!  Monday it rained, and I said, “Good, I’m off the hook!”  I took a shower and got dressed to go grocery shopping.  Then as I left the house, it was bright and sunny.  What the hell, Mother Nature?

I ran on Tuesday but not on Wednesday, so Thursday was clearly a good day to go.  It rained during the day but had stopped when I left work.  Perfect!  There were a few dark clouds, but I couldn’t worry about that.  I made a couple phone calls, business, nothing very interesting.  I mention it merely to give a time frame.  Also, I feel a little proud of myself, because usually if I delay getting ready and running, I talk myself out of it.

Earlier today I had a vision of myself running in the residential area behind Valley Health Services.  I have not run there recently.  Most of my runs have been closer to home as I slowly build my time back up.  My weekday runs have been especially short, as I often let myself off the hook after a full day at work.  Today I thought I would try for a little longer.

I made it to that area and ran a couple hills along the way, nothing too impressive.  I ended up not running considerably longer than previously, but I did run a little faster.  Of course my fast runs are like other runners’ slow runs.  One does what one can.  I felt pleased with myself.

As I walked my cool-down walk, I reflected, sometimes beating up your body is just what you need.  After I showered and got dressed to go to the store (dull errand, not worth mentioning), it was pouring rain.  Me have good timing?  That’ll never happen again!

 

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Fun Saturday, Late Post

Posted on April 23, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Once again I went to bed last night before making my Scattered Saturday Post. In my defense… I have no defense.  It was a pretty good Saturday, beginning with a run and ending with movies.  In between, friends, fun, and a little bit of wine.

It doesn’t look so steep in the picture.

I mentioned in my late Lame Post Friday post that I ran up College Hill.  I share this picture taken in April 2020 to add interest to the post.

One of my favorite places.

How serendipitous! This picture of Salvatore’s Pizzeria and Restaurant in Herkimer was also in April 2020.  I met my friends Jim and Kim there for lunch.

Jim gets all the girls.

I did not realize I had two pictures like this.  The lady on the left is Jim’s late, dearly missed wife, Phyllis.  It was a running joke in our group that Kim was Jim’s other wife, because she played his trophy wife in a murder mystery once.  I was looking for a picture of this pose taken at Salvatore’s, but I guess one taken at the End Zone Pub will do.

I haven’t had a good hot bath in a long time.

After lunch, Kim and I visited the Wine Tasting Room at the Raindrops on Roses Bed and Breakfast.  The place used to be known as the Bellinger Rose, hence this tub I took a picture of.

Back home I watched a couple of movies. I would look for pictures and talk about them, but I see I am over 200 words, and I do not want the post to run long.  For one reason, I have to get on with my Sunday.  I hope I don’t make today’s post late, but no promises.

 

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Up the Hill to a Late Lame Post Friday Post

Posted on April 22, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I do not know what possessed me to not make my Lame Post Friday post on Friday.  Yes, I do.  Tiredness and laziness.  It’s a thing with me.  Now it is late Saturday morning (almost 9 o’clock!) And I feel ready for a nap.  In my defense, I took a long run up College Hill this morning.

A word (or more) about College Hill.  I previously referred to it as “up the hill to HCCC” (which, by the way, is pronounced “H-triple-C” or “H-trip-C”).  Or “up to HCCC the front way” (long-time readers may remember that there is a back way, longer and less steep). I am sure many locals will stubbornly continue to refer to it as HCCC.  However, it is now Herkimer College, and I can’t help wondering if some people might take it amiss if I continue to refer to it as Herkimer County Community College.

Additionally, I have heard said hill referred to as College Hill.  I am guessing about the capital letters as I have only heard it called thus in conversation.  I suppose other colleges are set on hills but do not know of any myself.  The army language school in Monterey, CA sat on a considerable hill, but that is not the same thing.

So, in future Running Commentary Posts, I shall refer to that hill as College Hill.  I believe this qualifies as a Lame Post Friday post, because after I got home from my run and inadvisedly sat down for a while without stretching, I did, indeed, feel lame.  I just don’t imagine a nap will help, but I may try.

 

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