Tag Archives: running

Sue Me on Sunday

Posted on April 24, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I was going to write about last night’s theatrical triumph at the murder mystery Who Shot JS?.  I even had a title picked out, “We Killed Off Jack.”  Oh well, maybe not the best title, and perhaps I would have come up with something better.  If I would have written that post.  Logging on to WordPress, I thought perhaps I should look forward not back, and write about the audition I just had for The Tempest for LiFT Theatre Company of Little Falls.  I didn’t do very well but feel I may get a part anyways.  Additionally, I ran this morning, so a Sunday Running Commentary is well within the scope of possibility.

But here I sit, typing in a common or garden Wrist to Forehead Sunday post.

I just can’t help it: I am hard-wired to take Sundays off.  I am not exactly programmed to work as hard as I ought the rest of the days, either, but let’s take our week 1/7th at a time, as God intended (I use that expression a lot, “as God intended,” although I do not really purport to understand the mental workings of the Almighty).

The nice thing is, for the rest of the week, I have no place I have to be until Friday.  Go to work, come home.  Run.  Do laundry.  Clean the house.  Make blog posts.  Simple, right?  Well, I still feel I need to take it a little easy on myself on Sunday.  Sue me.  In the meantime, I am over 200 words.  I am in the bra off, pajama bottoms on, wine sipping, crocheting, TV watching portion of the day.  Time to stop typing and get on with the crocheting and TV watching.  Happy Sunday, everyone.

 

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A Triumph, Or Do I Flatter Myself?

Posted on April 23, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Is it as much of a triumph if, on the way to your goal, you inwardly grumbled and fussed and wished yourself elsewhere?  Or does that make it more of a triumph, that you overcame your own resistance and fought the enemy that was you?

Another philosophical question:  does it matter much if I do another post about running so soon?

The questions in the first paragraph occurred to me in the middle of this morning’s run.  I made it up the hill to Herkimer College (formerly referred to as HCCC), the first time I have done so in a while.  Even getting on the road was something of a triumph, because my first thought on getting out of bed was, “Thank God I ran yesterday when I didn’t want to, because now it won’t be so bad if I don’t run again till tomorrow.”  A cup of coffee helped me change my mind.

It was 46 degrees, according to my thermostat, one degree over my limit for shorts and short sleeves.  I had been going to rethink that rule, but I could not be bothered with thinking this morning.  I found stuff to wear and got out the door.  I soon lamented my cold hands but comforted myself with the thought that I would not try to write anything for a while after the run.

I had told Steven I might run up to HCCC, but I wouldn’t guarantee it.  As a friend of mine said once, “I don’t make plans, promises or excuses.”  I could have expounded for a while on that excellent rule, but I only would have been stalling my run, so I did not.  Instead I ran toward German Street  and turned myself in the direction of the college.  I could not see any alternative to running up that hill.  I had to do it sooner or later, I thought.  The longer I put it off, the worse it would be.  I realize that, logically speaking, that is not strictly true (do I really need both those adverbs in that sentence?  I do tend to overdo it with the adverbs).  If I kept increasing my run time, and kept running other hills (of which there are not that many in Herkimer), it would get easier not harder to run up one particular hill.  But as I said earlier, I could not be bothered with a lot of thinking this morning.

Besides, I wanted to feel bad-ass.

Going up that hill was not fun.  Looking ahead didn’t help.  Looking down at my feet didn’t help.  Looking back at how far I came helped a little bit, since I didn’t do that till I was more than half-way up.  I tried to distract myself by looking at the green on the bushes and some of the trees to the left and right of me.  I do like to see the green.  I did not see any deer or other critters.  A couple of cars went by, also headed up the hill, but I did not try to hitch a ride.  They probably would not have stopped in any case.

At last, at last, I was at the top!  I wanted to put my arms over my head and make fists, although there was nobody nearby to sing, “We Are the Champions”  (regular readers may recall that at the end of a difficult run, I enjoy to walk around with my fists in the air while somebody sings, “We Are the Champions,” if I can get anybody to do so).   I just kept running normally, though, looking forward to the downhill part of my run.

I upped my time by the recommended 10 percent, so I felt pretty pleased about that.  Then I had a hot flash while I was stretching, so a cool shower felt really good.  I used good-smelling soap and lotion (white gardenia, my favorite), so I could feel pretty. Even us bad-ass runners like to feel pretty sometimes. I meant to make my Running Commentary post soon after my run, and perhaps include more of my observations and philosophical thoughts.  Then again, I’ve approaching 700 words.  That is pretty long for me. And I have a murder mystery to get ready for.  Happy Saturday, everyone.

 

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Lame Me! I Guess.

Posted on April 22, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have mentioned this before but I repeat it now for reasons which will become obvious:  in one of the Georgette Heyer Regency Romances I adore, the heroine, during a time of great stress and exertion, has a glass of wine with dinner and feels “fresh as a nosegay.”  I feel sure it will be obvious to even new readers that I am currently sipping a glass of wine in hopes of experiencing a similar rejuvenation.  It seems to be working, which I can only suppose is placebo effect, which I do not scorn.

I got the bottle at Ilion Wine and Spirits.  I had stopped in to The Medicine Shoppe to pick up a prescription, and the two businesses are located very close to each other.  Additionally, I wanted to support Ilion Wine and Spirits, because they are a supporter of Ilion Little Theatre AND they are a sponsor of Who Shot JS? the murder mystery benefit for Herkimer County Historical Society.

This was not my only stop before going home.  I also had to go get certain feminine supplies, a couple of props for the murder mystery, and milk.  I thought with all this running around, it would be OK to not go running.

And then I went running.  Yay, me!  I guess.  It was not a great run or even a particularly good run, but it was a run.  On my cool-down walk, I met up with the doggy Mama of a couple of neighborhood dogs, and we walked a block or so together.  I had not talked to her in a while, so I told her about the sad passing of Spunky.  She shared with me the equally sad news that Nicky, another of my doggy friends, had died over the winter.  I was devastated.  I love Nicky!  I pretty sure I have mentioned stopping to pet him while running.

So now I am trying to finish my Friday Lame Post before Steven gets home.  Thank goodness for Lame Post Friday when I am so tired!  The nosegay effect only lasted for the first couple of paragraphs.  No matter.  I am over 350 words and my self-imposed word-count for a respectable post is 200.  Once again, Yay me!  I guess.

 

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No Thunder, No Horror, Two Dogs

Posted on April 21, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

My intention was to run and make a Running Commentary post.  I did run.  I ran for 30 minutes. Now I am just too damn tired to write about it.  Well, maybe I can manage a paragraph or two.

The weather report this morning called for scattered rain with occasional thunderstorms this afternoon.  I was not concerned about that.  I figured I could run in place on the mini-tramp.  While I ran, I would watch  the silent movie, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde starring John Barrymore. I just finished reading a biography of John Barrymore, and I have that movie in one of my DVD horror collections.  Doesn’t that sound awesome?  Watching an old horror movie with a thunderstorm going on outside.  That would rock!

AAAaaand, no thunderstorm.  Not even any rain.  It was, in fact, pretty good weather to run outdoors.  It was warm enough for shorts and short sleeves, and cloudy enough not to be too hot.  I actually prefer running outdoors to running on the mini-tramp, even with something good on TV.  I did not even have to talk myself into it (or avoid talking myself out of it).  I had gone two days without running and did not want to make it three.  I even have it in my head to see how many days in a row I can run, starting today.  I’ll let you know how that works out.

So I ran and it did not go too badly.  It went slowly, or rather I went slowly.  I petted two dogs, both being walked by the same person.  They were beautiful animals, a red retriever (that’s not right; what is the red kind called?) and a German shepherd (this is really going to bug me, what are those red retrievers called?) (Wait a minute!  They’re not retrievers at all: they are Irish Setters!) (what a moron I am!).

Incidentally, still working on having my act together, I had a load of laundry in the washer while I ran.  I feel I should just mention, however, that the room I was determined to clean up a little at a time now is looking beautiful, thanks to the efforts of my husband, Steven and not to my meager exertions.

Speaking of meager exertions, I see I am over 350 words on this blog post.  My real Running Commentary posts tend to run longer than than, but I don’t think we can call this a Running Commentary.  However, I believe we can call it a blog post, and I declare that not too bad for a Non-Sequitur Thursday.

 

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Trying to Get My Act Together

Posted on April 18, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

So I managed to go running again today.  That’s two Mondays in a row, and I don’t usually run on a Monday.  Oh dear.  I don’t usually write good blog posts on Monday either.  Well, I’m here and I’m typing.  I’m sure I can come up with something.

Full disclosure:  I typed in that paragraph and then just sat here.

All day I kept reminding myself that I intended to run, hoping to internalize the message and not talk myself out of it later.  I did not run yesterday and may not have time to run tomorrow.  Naturally at the end of the day, I wanted to talk myself out of it.  However, when I got home, I got into my running clothes without further discussion with myself.  As part of my ongoing quest to get my act together, I put a load of laundry in the washer before I set out.

It was neither a bad nor a good run.  I ran slowly.  My legs did not feel too bad.  I had to concentrate on taking deep breaths, but I did not have a Vocal Chord Dysfunction episode (which sound a lot worse than it is, both talking about it and when I actually have an episode).  I felt happy that I had run, especially while I walked around the block for my cool-down.

After stretching, I put the clothes from the washer into the drier.  Then I went upstairs and spent exactly ten minutes cleaning the second bedroom before taking my shower.  Remember my ongoing quest to get my act together?  That was part of it: to spend ten minutes a day cleaning.  I’m hoping that some days I get into the rhythm and spend more than ten minutes, but on a Monday after a run, I thought ten minutes was pretty good.

And now I see that I’ve got over 300 words at a blog post.  Maybe my act is more together than I think it is!  Let’s concentrate on that, and not on the embarrassing fact that I have reached my mid-50’s and still don’t have my act together.

 

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At Last! A Saturday Running Commentary!

Posted on April 16, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

So I went for a really good run earlier, determined that I could make a Running Commentary post out of it.  And here I sit, jumping back and forth between Facebook and a blank “Add New Post” page.  How dreadful of me.  Maybe if I ate something.

There, I just had a half a tuna fish sandwich on toast.  It was pretty good.  How about a new feature I’ll call Stream of Consciousness Saturday?  Perhaps next Saturday.  Today I’ll tell you about my run.

I thought it was going to be rainy today but it has not started yet.  The temperature was over 50 degrees, so I happily dressed in shorts and short sleeves.  I’m a little dehydrated today, so I ran carrying a small bottle of water.  That isn’t really recommended, so I hear, but, as we all know, I do not always do the right thing.  As soon as I left the house, though, I knew that going for a run was definitely the right thing to do.  It was gorgeous out!  The sun was bright, there was just the right amount of a gentle breeze.  These were excellent running conditions.

I crossed German Street and headed towards the college.  Earlier this week I had thought I would run up the hill to Herkimer College, whether I was ready for it or not.  Before I reached that intimidating hill, though, I decided not to do anything so drastic.  I would turn into Brookfield Park (I think that’s what it is called; I have previously referred to it as the Unknown Park, because it is not clearly labelled).  That would give me a bit of a hill, some pleasant off-road time, and let me out partway up the back way to the college, somewhat near the spring, where I intended to re-fill my bottle once I had emptied it.

Up the hill into the park I went.  It was challenging enough.  I intend to start running more often starting, well, starting yesterday.  Running two days in a row is a good start, I think.  I ran slowly.  I uncapped the bottle and took a sip mid-stride.  This would work.  When I crossed the little bridge into the picnic area, I saw a family climbing on the hill.  That would be a fun place to explore!  They had a cute little white dog who was clearly enjoying the expedition very much.  I did not run close enough to them to call out a greeting, and soon I was on the path into the woods.

I do love to run a nature trail.  When I am up to really long runs, I will run up to the college and run the real nature trail they have on campus.  Or maybe I can talk Steven into driving up there and walking it with me one day soon.  That would make a delightful blog post.

It did not take long to come to the end of the trail and be back out on the road.  I stayed parallel to German Street and ran past Lou Ambers Drive, where the spring is.  Here was another not too bad hill that would take me near Valley Health.  I was nearing the end of my bottle, as I had been periodically taking sips.  Excellent!  I tried to ignore the tantalizing smells as I ran by Salvatore’s.  Maybe dinner there one day next week…

As I ran, I really enjoyed the warm temperature.  My legs felt supple and strong.  My breathing was not bad.  I got tired, especially towards the end, but it was a pretty good run.  As usual, I spent some time doing the math in my head: If I run x minutes this week, then add 10 percent each week…  I was going to be in fine shape for the Boilermaker 15K.

And perhaps I will be in fine shape to continue being a blogger.  I perceive that I did manage to make a Running Commentary post.  I hope you are all having a delightful Saturday.

 

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Getting Through a Monday Run

Posted on April 11, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

The run you take after taking four days off is usually one that you just have to get through.  So I did.

It was an unseasonably warm day, warmer than I like to run in.  I reminded myself that it will be warmer yet in July and August, when I intend to keep running.  After all, I’m not ONLY going to run the Boilermaker 15K.   At least there was no debate over what to wear.  I further reflected that the temperature would warm my leg muscles up.

As I began to run, and as I continued to run, I felt as if I had no leg muscles.  No matter, as I usually say to myself in these situations.  The run had to be endured.  It would be endured.  I distracted myself with any little flowers I saw along the way.  There were a few, although yards are still brown.  A few people were out working on theirs.  I need to do that, too.  Others were out walking or sitting on their porches.  That’s what I wanted to do:  sit down.  I passed some kids on bikes.

“That’s what I need, a set of wheels,” I said.  They did not offer me a ride.

I saw a lot of dogs.  Most of them barked at me.  I like dogs.

By the time I finished my run I was exhausted.  I didn’t even stretch.  In keeping with my ambition to at last get my act together (under the heading “hope springs eternal”), I had put a load of laundry in the washer before I left on the run.  I could not face going down the basement stairs to put it in the drier.  Steven nicely did it for me.  I dragged myself upstairs, wishing I had one of those old lady shower seats.  The cool shower revived me somewhat.

Quite frankly, I feel less revived now.  However, my run is done, the laundry is in the drier, and my blog post is written.  I’ll call that a Monday win.

 

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Slogging Toward My Goals

Posted on April 6, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I finally went running this afternoon.  It’s only been two days, but it felt like longer.  I promised myself that after this week, I will run more often.  My promise alternated with feelings of “I never want to run again!”  You’ll have that on occasion.  The best thing to do, I’ve found, is to keep running as best you can.  Sometimes that’s what you have to do when you’re making a blog post, too.

It was one of those days I spent reminding myself that I was going to run after work.  I try to do this in hopes that I’ll just get home, get dressed and go before I have a chance to talk myself out of it.  It didn’t work.  I got home moaning that I did not want to run.  I got dressed for it and got out of the house anyways.  According to  my thermostat, the temperature was 46 degrees.  The last time I ran in 46 degree weather, I rethought my cut-off of 45 degrees for shorts and short-sleeves.  I went upstairs to put on leggings.  Then I got a hot flash and put on the knee-length shorts that were handily on the drying bars.  I kept on the extra large short-sleeved t-shirt I had been wearing all day.  A headband would cover my ears and/or absorb my forehead sweat.

Earlier today, I had occasion to ask if “slog” was really a word, as in, “I am just slogging through this day.”  My co-workers said it was.  I just now looked it up in my dictionary and, sure enough, it is.  So there I was slogging through my run.  That was OK, though, I told myself, it is all part of getting into shape.  I distracted myself by noticing some flowers in somebody’s lawn.  Very nice.  The first one’s I’ve seen this year.  Most of the snow and mud were gone from the sidewalk, so that was nice, too.  I kept going as best as I could.

I said to myself that each step was a step was bringing me closer to my goals.  Closer to my Boilermaker 15K goals.  Closer to my weight-loss goals.  Closer to the end of the run when I would have a nice glass of wine with my husband.  Hey, you take what motivation you can and, you should pardon the expression, run with it.

It was really not a bad run, for being kind of a slog.  I was happy with myself for doing it.  I’m also happy I got a blog post written.  Perhaps not as good of a blog post as others, but you’ll have that.  For a Wuss-out Wednesday, it’ll do.

 

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A Lean, Mean Something or Other

Posted on April 3, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Did anybody think I was so busy with theatrical murder that I was forgetting my Boilermaker ambitions?  Say it ain’t so!  Last week was not the best I’ve had (this is using a Sunday through Saturday week as opposed to a Monday through Sunday week, as some see it) (ooh, that could be a whole other blog post, where the week starts and ends, help me remember that, will you?).  However (are you still with me after those long parenthetical comments?), one can improve.  So I had a good run today, and now I’m going to write a Running Commentary post about it.

I waited to run till almost 11:30, because it was cold this morning.  It was not too cold to run, but I also wanted to hang out with my husband, go to the grocery store, maybe do the dishes…  Of course this would give me plenty of opportunity to talk myself out of running at all, but I managed to avoid that disaster.  As a matter of fact, it was easier to get myself to run than it was to do the dishes, and there weren’t that many dishes.  I was just not in the mood to do the dishes.

Once the dishes were done, though, and I took another Facebook break (that is what I do on Sundays: get a little bit done, look at Facebook, repeat), I got dressed and went.  It was 46 degrees, one degree above my cut-off for shorts and short sleeves, so I thought, Score!  I still put on a wide headband to cover my ears.  I placed my sweatshirt and water bottle in a handy spot for my cool-down walk and took off.

The first thing I did was to re-think my cut-off temperature for shorts and short sleeves.  That wind was cold!  But there was nothing to do but keep running and hope for a hot flash.  It was a sunny day with some clouds (I don’t want to say “partly cloudy” because it really did seem more sun than cloud).  When the sun came out fully and the wind died down, I felt some warmth.  The sidewalks were almost completely bare, so I appreciated that.

I wished my running time were long enough to run up the hill to Herkimer College (formerly HCCC) (pronounced H-triple-C).  I wanted to feel bad-ass, and it was such a bright day the view would have been awesome.  I tried to mentally calculate when I would be running long enough to make it up and back, but I couldn’t do the math.  I went up the hill by Valley Health instead.  That turned out to be challenging enough for me.  I was out of breath by the time I reached the top and turned left. As I noted the sidewalk still rising at a lesser angle, my in-head narration was interrupted by my realization that I did not know the name of the street I was on.  There was a street sign.  Exchange Avenue.  As I continued to run, I pondered what could be the difference between a street and an avenue and how they decide which gets named what.

My goal for the run was 31 minutes, that is, 10 percent longer than I ran last weekend.  My body vacillated between “I can rock this” and “Can we stop now?” I kept going for my full 31 minutes.  As I walked my cool-down, my legs felt wonderful, as if they would soon be capable of carrying me for miles. I told myself I was going to be in great shape for the Boilermaker 15K.  And if I continue to eat sensibly, running will help me attain my weight-loss goals.  I will be a mean, lean, not very fast running machine!

 

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Not a Good Week, But a Not Bad Run

Posted on March 31, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

It has not been a good week for running.  Monday I was melancholy, Tuesday I had rehearsal, Wednesday we got our taxes done (more melancholy there, too, but never mind that), and that bring us to Non-Sequitur Thursday.  I am training for the Boilermaker 15K.  I was determined to run.

The weather report said we might be getting freezing rain or snow or some such stuff tonight, but nothing had started when I got home from work shortly after 3 p.m.  My thermostat said it was 45 degrees out.  That is my cut-off temperature for shorts and short sleeves.  I hesitated, though, because I can’t say I’m really back in shape yet, and it is just getting to 45 degrees.  I would have felt better at 46 degrees.  I compromised on leggings that came just below the knee and a short-sleeved t-shirt. A wide headband could cover my ears.  I put my sweatshirt and a bottle of water on the deck for my cool-down walk and set out.

A lot of the snow that Stella dumped on us has gone; the sidewalks were mostly bare and dry.  I could rock this.  I turned left onto German Street, to do my usual down Caroline, up Margaret, down Henry, up Bellinger route.  I was moving pretty slowly, but you’ll definitely have that after three days off.  The temperature was not bad at all.

Until the wind picked up, which it soon did.  No matter, I would just keep running till it warmed me up.  I find that works better for legs than for arms and hands, especially hands.  It was still no matter, because I was determined to keep running.  I concentrated on how much I appreciate bare, dry sidewalks.  I made nothing of the few puddles.  I ran through or around some remaining snow.

At one point, two little kids were playing in front of a house while their mother sat on the steps.  The little boy was drawing on the sidewalk with chalk.  The little girl was moving shovelfuls of show, annoying the boy by dropping some on his picture.

“I’ll try to step around your art,” I said.  I also had to dodge the little girl, who stepped right in front of me.  Luckily we did not collide and I ran on.

A little later, I passed a man and said hello.  He said, “Boilermaker?”

“I hope so,” I answered.

“Good for you!”

I ran on before I had time to say thanks.  I wondered why I said I hoped so instead of “Damn skippy” or “You bet!”  After all, I am pretty damn sure I will run the 15K and make it through the whole thing.  On the other hand, it cannot be denied that shit happens, and those who are too sure of themselves sometimes come to grief.   I kept running, realizing that this would help keep me from coming to grief on the Boilermaker.  This is me, getting into shape, I told myself.

It was quite pleasant when the wind was still, which was not often.  However, I managed to run for 29 minutes, equal to my last longest time.  And I see now that I have over 500 words, a longer blog post than I have managed lately.   I say not bad for Thursday of a melancholy week.

 

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