Tag Archives: running

To Boil or Not to Boil?

Posted on February 22, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is time for my annual post in which I dither about whether or not to run the Boilermaker 15K in Utica, NY in July.  At least, I do not remember if I write a post like this EVERY year (regular readers will not be surprised I am too lazy to go back and check).  I certainly do not run the Boilermaker every year (those who do are welcome to feel smug about it; indeed, I admire their dedication).

Being me, I cannot just go ahead and make a decision of this magnitude.  It is a decision of magnitude, by the way.  For the next four and a half months (I just now counted on my fingers), I cannot slack off of running for a week here and there.  I’ll have to keep better track of how long I run and how quickly I build myself up.  Ten percent each week does add up, but I feel I must keep good track of how soon I’ll be running for how long.  I am constantly looking at calendars and doing the math.

One might argue (oh, who am I kidding?   There’s always one who WILL argue!) (you know who you are) that none of this matters a great deal.  People who do not run at all have been known to run the Boilermaker 15K successfully.  I can probably get by on sheer stubbornness.   Additionally, many people walk during the Boilermaker; I’ve seen them.  I would not bear that shame alone (and I daresay some of them do not even feel ashamed) (and who am I to judge?).

I will just explain to the ones who argue thusly, “Shut up!”  (That is a S. J. Perelman joke I often use).  I train for the Boilermaker because (1) It is fun for me.  I like to run, and I feel good about myself as I am building up and (2) I do not WANT to get by on stubbornness nor by walking part of the course.  Additionally, I do not want to feel all ate up after the run.  I want to drink a beer!  And hang out with some friends!

Hmmm… It begins to sound as if I have already made up my mind to run the Boilermaker.  Well, why not?  I’m in my mid-50’s.  How many chances do I have to be bad-ass?  It will be good for me to train for a 15K.  If I stop eating like a pig, I may even meet a few of my weight-loss goals.

Of course, the final decision will not be made today.  I will still have to register, and there is always a chance I will get shut out.  It is a very popular race.  But I thank my readers for allowing me to dither in this space.  If anybody has any input on the matter, please feel free to comment.

 

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Is It Jogging or Blogging?

Posted on February 21, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I was going to type about not writing, but when I added the parenthetical comment “as Truman Capote once said, that’s not writing, it’s typing,” it reminded me of a story.

In fifth grade, my class was running out to the playground with the teacher, for a kickball game, I think.  The teacher said, “You students aren’t sprinting, you’re jogging!”  in an aghast tone of voice, as if we knew what we were supposed to be doing and were purposely doing it wrong because we were such rotten kids.  I remember feeling bad, because I wasn’t doing it right (I was that sort of kid).   Afterwards, I felt a bit resentful, because he never said we were supposed to be sprinting.  How were we supposed to know?

It was not until years later that I realized, the guy was probably humiliated that this group of fifth graders — even the completely un-athletic ones like me  — were totally outpacing his fat ass (he wasn’t really fat, just mildly overweight, but since he’s the bad guy of the story, I’ll go with fat).  He was pretty much a big jerk, as a teacher and as a human being, so I won’t say “the poor guy.”

In retrospect, I’m glad if he was feeling humiliated.  He humiliated me often enough, but I won’t get into that, because this is a blog, not psychotherapy.  But for heavens’ sake, why would you shame a bunch of fifth-graders for how they move out to a playground?  He didn’t say, “Let’s sprint!”  He just started running and so did we.  It didn’t matter anyways, because by the time he said it, we were where we were supposed to be.  I don’t even remember if it was a kick-ball game or what, but I’m betting if we picked teams I got picked last.  My life was a kind of a burden to me in elementary school.

Incidentally, I remember reading in James Fixx’s famous book about running that he did not differentiate between running and jogging.  I could be remembering that wrong (it was not as memorable as being insulted by an elementary school teacher, I guess).  Regular readers know I call it all running, even my middle-aged shuffle or when I’m thunking along (I really feel “thunking” should be a word).

Why do I remember this stuff when I can’t where I put whatever I happen to be looking for at the time (as happens to me at least once a day)?  More importantly, does it make a good blog post?  Perhaps it does not matter on Wuss-out Wednesday.  Here’s hoping!

 

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Who, Me? Exercise?

Posted on February 20, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

How about a Pedestrian Post instead of my usual Tired Tuesday?  For one reason, I went for a walk this afternoon.  It was not much of a walk, so I’m afraid this will not be much of a post, but one does what one can.

I have been determined to exercise more regularly.  Mostly this has resulted in me feeling guilty when I do not exercise.  If only guilt burned calories!  So I thought all day about what I would do to exercise.  My first plan had been to go to the YMCA.  Unfortunately, although I remembered work-out clothes, I did not bring a pair of work-out glasses.  YES, that is a spurious reason not to exercise.  In my defense, my new glasses are REALLY nice, and my face sweats a lot when I get on the elliptical.

So I started to think about how to exercise at home.  I would have to excavate the mini-tramp in order to run in place.  You see, in an house like mine, any flat surface that doesn’t move soon becomes covered with stuff.  Don’t judge me.  As I considered this fact, I thought, maybe I could incorporate exercise into cleaning.  I could march or lunge-walk around as I put things away.  I could do squats as I folded laundry.  I could write a blog post about it!  Maybe even a whole exercise book!  Sometimes I get a little extravagant when my mind wanders.

By the time I got home, I felt tired and discouraged.  All I wanted to do was sit on the couch.  However, I had noted that it was not freezingly cold out (what?  Isn’t “freezingly” a word?  I feel it should be).  I could, in fact, go running.  I was a bit concerned about the ice, though. Or was that just an excuse?  Then I thought: a walk.  A nice walk.  I could just about manage a walk.

So I went for a walk for nearly a half hour.  It was only uncomfortably cold when the wind picked up and was against me.  Yikes!  The ice was a problem at times.  If I had been trying to run, I’m sure I would have wiped out at least once.  Snow was also an obstacle, but plowing through snow burns more calories.  It also gets sneakers wet.  Note to self:  invest in a pair of winter boots.

Well, I am approaching 400 words, and for a Pedestrian Post, I have not said a whole lot about the walk.  However, as I observed in the first paragraph, one does what one can. Happy Tuesday, everyone!

 

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Short Scattered Saturday before Sweats

Posted on February 17, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh, I wanted to do a Saturday Running Commentary, but I just don’t feel up for it, so this will be another Scattered Saturday post.  If I can remember my whole day.  Well, I’ll just give the highlights.

I got up early, because we went to be early last night (the thrills of judge shows and true crime shows could not compete with the appeal of blankets and pillows, apparently).  After some coffee, Facebook, television news and solitaire (with a deck of cards on the floor, that’s how I roll), I realized I had to either eat or run.  I decided on the run.

The sun was up, but the temperature was below freezing.  It was high 20’s, so that wasn’t so bad for running, but it did nothing to melt the ice.  I ran in the road, in the middle of the road when I could get away with it.  The run itself was without mishap, but when I went to take my cool-down walk on the sidewalk, I landed on my ass after two steps.  It was a slow, stiff-legged cool-down walk after that, but I lived to tell the tale.

Back home, I wrote some post cards and called my Mom and Dad.  A family party was in the offing for later in the day, and I wanted to know if there was a plan.  Mom asked could I bring rolls.  I said I would take a quick trip to Heidelberg Bakery.  She said they did not necessarily have to be Heidelberg rolls, but what does she expect from Mohawk Valley Girl?  Of course I went for the local, distinctive product!

After being local and distinctive, I confess I went to the dollar store.  We were celebrating my brother’s birthday, and I wanted a gift bag and card.  I also picked up some party hats and favors, just for fun.  It was not until much later I realized I had forgotten to mail my post cards.  Rats!

We drove into Rome in the early afternoon.  We had a lovely time with my family, and the party favors were a big hit with at least some of those attending.  Now we are home and into the bra off, sweats on, wine drinking, movie watching portion of the evening.  Bring it!

 

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One Must Begin Again

Posted on February 11, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I read somewhere that wintertime running is about maintenance, not necessarily improvement.  I told myself this as I finished a fairly short run this morning.  “It’s about maintenance,” I thought.  Then I thought, “My runs are about blog posts, weight-loss goals, health, and my own entertainment, not necessarily in that order.”  I had thought  doing a Sunday Running Commentary as I set out on my run.  I last ran a week ago and quite frankly did not feel like running today, but, as I said to Steven as I went out the door, “One must begin again.”  Then I thought, “That would be a good title for a blog post.”  So here we are.

We had a couple of days of spring-like weather last week, but I, perhaps foolishly, did not run then.  For one reason, my body was in its final throes of rebellion against 10-hour days.  I know, other people work longer days at more difficult jobs, and they don’t even complain.  All I can say is, that is them, this is me.  I was dead tired all week and not up to running through all the puddles which were the inevitable result of the warmer temperatures.  Today was cold, and it had been snowing.  Snow offers traction, so I thought.

Turns out I shouldn’t think so much.  I tried to run on the sidewalk and soon found there was a LOT of ice under the snow.  After my trailing foot zooped out from underneath me for the third time (luckily my weight was already established on my leading foot at the time), I went into the road, which was a little better.  And a little worse, because of traffic.  Sunday mornings are usually pretty tame traffic-wise, but I had waited till after eleven to run, hoping for a warmer temperature.  Well, the cars would just have to watch out for me; I was staying where I was.

I did not spend much time on German Street, which is one of the busier streets, but soon turned down Margaret. That was quieter, which was good, because it was also pretty snow-covered. I went for the barest part of the road and did now worry too much about staying close to the curb, except when I saw or heard a car coming.  It did not feel too bad, running along at my usual shuffling pace.  The air was cold, but you’ll have that.

My deal with myself was that I only had to run 20 minutes.  I can worry about building up when the weather is better.  If I worry about it at all. I mean, why should I worry?  Worry doesn’t burn calories or build muscle mass.  It is a quite useless activity.  I ran, I wrote a blog post.  Let’s leave it at that.  Happy Sunday, folks.

 

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What Would Barbara Stanwyck Do?

Posted on February 4, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is one of those stare at a blank computer screen kind of blogging days.  This won’t do.  I’ll pep things up (most notably myself) with a picture.

Who will give Valentine Ducky a kiss? Will Cher do it?

This is a picture from last February, when Steven decorated our mantle for Valentine’s Day. The wine glass with the lips and the rubber ducky are there again this year, but, as I mentioned in an early post, it is not a particularly seasonal decor.

I just used this recently, but I include it for comparison’s sake.

As I enjoy the first few days of the month, I am still getting used to the idea that it IS a new month.  Now I have to think about Valentine’s Day.  And I have less time before I have to worry about my murder mysteries in March and April.  Ooh, and I need to be getting my article(s) written for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  All of a sudden, I am thinking I have every reason in the world for it to be Wrist to Forehead Sunday!

 

Perhaps I should pop in a film noir and pour myself a glass of pinot noir.

How about if I make it a Non-Sequitur Sunday instead and throw in a couple of unrelated photos.  Double Indemnity, shown above, is  good movie to watch on a Sunday afternoon.   Had I watched it earlier, I might have managed a Sunday Cinema post.  And while we’re on the subject of What Might Have Been, I went running this morning — outside in the snow — in hopes of making a Running Commentary post.

Most unusual suspects.

I shall close with a photo of a past murder mystery, A G.R.A.V.E. Murder, which was presented in October of 2017 to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society.  I post it to inspire myself to finish my latest deadly opus (hmmm, how does Deadly Opus sound for a title?).  At least I have managed a blog post of over 300 words.  I say not bad for a Sunday.  Bring on the rest of the week!

 

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Wuss-Out Run

Posted on January 24, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I did not promise that today would not be a Wuss-out Wednesday post, did I?  I’m too tired to go back and check, but I think I said I would TRY for something better.  Indeed, I thought about a better post;  I just did not think up a better post, if you see what I mean.

I would have liked to do a Running Commentary post, but running outside just seemed like a bad idea today (I know, some dedicated individuals no doubt did, and here we come to the ugly truth about me).  It was freezing rain onto icy roads.  We all walked from work to our cars slowly and carefully, then spent some good time scraping ice off our vehicles.  My sense of humor came to my rescue as it often does in these cases, and I found myself laughing as I chopped away.  My car’s defrost was even more helpful, and I was soon on my way.

My earlier plan had been to go to the Mohawk YMCA.  I even had my work-out clothes in my car.  However, I did not want to scrape my car off again, so I went home.  Additionally, I wanted to do a load of laundry, to be sure I have clean handkerchiefs.  I did not feel like doing any sort of exercise but talked myself into running in place on the mini-tramp.  Steven was watching Judge Judy.  I said I did not mind watching the rest of that, but he would have to help me find something else to run to when it was over.

As soon as I started running in place, my body was not happy.  Then one toe started to feel like it had a blister on the bottom.  Ouch!  I had said to begin with I was not going to worry about running as long as I had on the weekend.  Twenty minutes would be plenty.  Then I thought maybe 15.  Didn’t I read somewhere that exercise could be done in bouts of 10 minutes?

Judge Judy was almost over when I started.  Steven was out of the room when I finished.  I stepped off the mini-tramp and marched energetically over to the love seat where the remote was.  Climbing back on the tramp, I went back to running in place while I looked for a good show to run to.  It is not easy to click a remote accurately while running in place on the mini-tramp.  Luckily, I was motivated to persevere.

I had my reward when I discovered:  World’s Dumbest!!!  I love World’s Dumbest!  That silly show helped me keep moving for 21 minutes.  I know, it was not the greatest of workouts, but, hey, it is Wuss-out Wednesday.

 

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Remembering Saturday on Monday

Posted on January 15, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

In lieu of my usual Monstrous Monday, I thought I would make the Scattered Saturday post I did not make on Saturday.  We did a few things before we tasted wine (that is what I made my blog post about on Saturday, in case you did not tune in) and, anyways, I don’t have any new monster pictures (note to self:  find some new monster pictures).

It was quite cold in the morning, so I opted not to run outdoors.  After considering going to the Mohawk YMCA when it opened at eight, I decided to run in place on the mini-tramp.  I watched a Snapped On Demand while I did (regular readers may recall I also did that on Sunday. That may be my weekend thing for the winter).  After a shower and calling my Mom and Dad (I have called them on Saturday morning for many years now), I wrote a few post cards to my regular people.  Steven and I spent a good amount of time discussing our plans for the day but it took a while to come to any conclusions.

Steven wanted to get his beard trimmed and decided to try Custom Cutz in Herkimer (where we live).  They took him as a walk-in, although we had to wait a few minutes.   I used the time to make a few notes on the murder mystery I am writing for Morning Star Methodist Church in April (preview of coming attractions).  We were also amused by two little boys getting hair cuts. The first sat very still with a solemn look on his face.  The second seemed a little more ticklish.  He kept scrunching up his face and trying to brush off little pieces of hair.  I can certainly identify with that!

When we left the barber shop, I suggested we stop into Pete’s Tavern for a beer.  After all, it was after noon and Pete’s is only a couple doors down from Custom Cutz.  We enjoyed a draft.  I did a scratch off lottery ticket but did not win anything.  We only stayed for one, because we were headed for the wine tasting at Valley Wine and Liquor, which I wrote about on Saturday.   I guess I already mentioned that.  What do you want from me on a Monday?

 

 

 

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Now I Am Out of Oomph

Posted on January 14, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

Here I sit, on my couch, looking at a Snapped On Demand and hoping to make a Wrist to Forehead Sunday post before I completely run out of oomph. It might be touch and go.

Even a small graphic might help pep things up.

I began today fired with ambition. After some coffee, a look at Facebook, and a few games of solitaire (with a deck of cards, as God intended), I ran in place on the mini-tramp for 33 minutes.  I watched another Snapped On Demand while I ran.  Then what could I do?  Laundry?  Go to the grocery store?  Have a Mohawk Valley adventure suitable for an article in Mohawk Valley Living magazine?  The possibilities seemed endless.

Eventually Steven and I went to a late breakfast at The Knight Spot in Frankfort, NY, which I may write about.  I took a few pictures just in case.  Either way it was an excellent breakfast.  After that we stopped at Valley Wine and Liquor, because we both enjoy a glass of wine on a Sunday (and other days, don’t judge).  Back home, I put in a load of laundry and we settled down to watch a movie.

As Ben Manckiewicz observed in his pre-movie commentary, things starts with a bang.

We watched Bette Davis in The Letter, which I recently recorded on DVR.  That is a really good movie.  After that I wanted a shorter flick so suggested Bride of Frankenstein.

Any girl could be a little nervous on her wedding day.

And that brings us to the present moment.  I’m kind of wishing I had paused my episode of Snapped while I typed this, but one can’t always think of everything.  The important thing is that I am approaching 300 words, and I call that more than respectable for a Wrist to Forehead Sunday.   I hope you are all having a lovely end of your weekend.

 

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Elliptical Remarks

Posted on January 11, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have not been running since Sunday (judge me if you are so inclined), so I knew it would be a very good idea to do something today.  Additionally, I could have made a Running Commentary post. Yes, I said “could have.”  I did not want to get anybody’s hopes up if they like my Running Commentary posts.  However, I did get some exercise:  I went to the YMCA in Mohawk, NY and worked on the elliptical for 30 minutes.

I wish I could do a Working on the Elliptical Commentary, but I just don’t think it would make a very good post. For one reason, it is not a play on words like “Running Commentary” or even “Pedestrian Post.”  For another reason, working out on the elliptical is boring.  I stared at the television, which was tuned to Spectrum News, and tried not to stare at the timer on the machine, telling me how much longer I had to go.  What I wanted to stare at was the girl working out on the elliptical next to mine.  She was so energetic!  And she kept changing how she moved, now with her arms down, now with her elbows up.  But that would have been rude.

I thought working out would help me feel better.  Unfortunately, my feet and legs are now killing me.  I suppose that is my comeuppance for taking three days off.  Or perhaps it is my comeuppance for being 55 years old.  I rather like the word “comeuppance.”  I had to google it to figure out how to spell it.  Lately I have better luck with google.  I think those last few sentences qualify this post as a Non-Sequitur Thursday.

 

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