Tag Archives: running

Still Tired on Tuesday

Posted on July 12, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I said yesterday that I would try for a better blog post tomorrow, but that would be today, and I am having a Tired Tuesday.  In my defense, I am not a young woman and I had rather a hard time running the Boilermaker 15K two days ago.  Perhaps you read my blog posts about it.  I just glanced over yesterday’s post and noticed a few typos.  I left them there, as testimony to what bad shape I was in.

Oh, just listen to me whine!  I am embarrassing!  For heaven’s sake, I went for two walks yesterday, a short one before work today, and I worked on my feet for eight hours.  I am hardly on, you should pardon the expression, my last legs.  I should be grateful for the body I have and for the things it lets me do.  Of course I am, so you can stop playing that miniature violin (you know who you are).

Where was I?  Ah yes, trying to make some blog post, any blog post.  Perhaps a picture would pep things up.

I knew it wasn’t Friday.

A little Bela and Boris to brighten our day (that is Lugosi and Karloff, in case you needed to be reminded).  It was a rather Mondayish Tuesday for me, since I took Monday off.  I expect to remain confused about what day it is for the rest of the week.  These things happen.

In the meantime, I see I am over 200 words.  Score!  We’ll see how I do tomorrow, on Wuss-out Wednesday.  If I remember that it is Wednesday.

 

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Post Boilermaker II

Posted on July 11, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

When we last left our heroine (that is me; I suppose I could have said blogger, to be clear), she was huffing and puffing towards the finish line of the Boilermaker 15K.  As I  got closer, I pushed myself to go faster and faster.  At least it felt faster to me.  I daresay to the outside observer it was not so impressive.

I crossed the finish line making terrible noises as I tried to breathe.  The Boilermaker volunteers were right there.  Two women were on either side of me, guiding me to a wheelchair. I was grateful to sit down.

“Lift your feet,” they told me, and I was surprised to find that I could.  They wheeled me into the first aid tent to a cot.  How embarrassing!  I leaned on the nice man that  helped me from the wheelchair onto the cot.

Then I was surrounded by people, taking my vitals, bringing me water, preparing me for IV fluids. I felt them take my sneakers and socks off an putting cool cloths on my feet.  They too my headband off.  I asked for a cloth for my eyes since the sweat was irritating them.

They found my blood pressure high, asked me about dizziness and chest pain, and tried to put in an IV.  My veins are usually pretty prominent, but I was a bit dehydrated at the time and it took them a couple of tries.  I laid back and let them do what they wanted, although I was a bit embarrassed.

I started to feel better soon.  After the contents of the IV were in my veins, they took my vitals and found them better.  They let me sit up and sip some water before allowing me to put my socks and shoes back on and proceed to the after party.  They were a little concerned that I had safe transport home.  I tlod them tjat if I got to my car and felt iffy that I would call someone.  I did not foresee such an eventuality and indeed it was not necessary.

I’m thinking this post is not as interesting as yesterday’s, but these things happen.  I am still recovering from my Boilermaker experience, so I will use that as an excuse.  As always, I will try for a better blog post tomorrow.

 

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Post-Boilermaker Post

Posted on July 10, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

So I ran the Boilermaker 15K in Utica, NY this morning.  Very slowly.  In fact,  I got slower every mile, except for the last little bit, which I inadvisedly tried to sprint.  I had to do it, although it was kind of the nail in the coffin (I do enjoy macabre imagery).

Anybody who is hoping for a cheery overview of a premiere event, this is not it.  The Boilermaker is a great, a wonderful, a unique event (and I do not use the term unique lightly).  I had fun, chatted with some nice people, and was glad to be a part of it.  But I had a little trouble. Since this is my blog about me, and I am going to tell it as I experienced it.

Things went pretty well for the first four miles.  Breathing was a little difficult due to humidity.  However, the temperature was not too hot; the overcast skies helped.  We felt a few sprinkles of rain before the race started, but that went away, and no thunder rumbled.

A couple of times I got a little stitch in my right side.  I lifted that arm over my head in a stretch and tried to breathe more deeply.  So far so good.  Then my left knee and my left hip started in on me.  The hip was more of a problem.  It hurt!  I kept saying, “Oh crap!”  Nobody paid me any mind to which I took no offense.  We all have our problems.

The last three miles were bad.  I had been saying to myself, “Just run your own pace, run your own race”  almost since we started.  Eventually I started saying to myself, “Just keep going.”  The spectators cheering us on helped.  My fellow runners, too encouraged me.

For a while I ran next to an older gentleman.  His walk was the pace of my run.  He told me how he had broken his foot one year but did not go to the doctor till after the Boilermaker, because the doctor would have told him not to run.  Wow!  At least all my bones were intact!

The last 1.3 miles took forever!  “You’re almost there!” they kept telling me, to which I replied, “Promises, promises!”  Then I figured if I had enough breath to be a wise-ass, I must be doing better than I thought.

In these races, be they 5K or 15, I try to keep myself from starting my final sprint too soon.  I have done that at the Reindeer Run 5K in Little Falls more than once, and it is not pretty (not that I am especially pretty by that point in a race anyways).  Today I questioned my ability to sprint or even speed up at all, but I firmly told myself not to worry about it.  Just finish!  That was my goal.

As I said in the first paragraph, I somehow found it in myself to sprint at the end.  Go faster, go faster, I urged myself, and my poor old body responded as best it could.  For one reason, I was so close to end I wanted to get there as soon as possible!

And it was not pretty.  However, I see I am over 500 words.  That is a long post for me.  I will stop blogging now.  I may tell the rest of my tale tomorrow.  But no promises.

 

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Pre-Boilermaker Slacking

Posted on July 9, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had my last pre-Boilermaker run this morning.  A little over a mile and a half, 22 minutes (incidentally, my favorite number).  Then I pretty much slacked for the rest of the day.  Eventually I wrote a few post cards and walked them to the post office, taking the long way back for a 22 minute walk, a little over one mile.  I did a load of laundry, surprisingly not during either the run or the walk (as regular readers know, my favorite multi-task).  I did the dishes.

Now I sit, lounged on my couch, drinking more water (hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, they say) and wondering if it really is essential to eat pasta the night before a big race.  I know it is traditional to “carb up” at such times, but is it science?  Or is it merely psychological?  You see, it is very warm for me to think about cooking something to eat.  Additionally, I do not want to dirty more dishes.

Me, pondering the worth of effort in the heat.

I thought a picture would pep things up. This is me in Love’s Labour’s Lost last summer with LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company.  It was pretty hot then, too.  My costume was supposed to have another layer, but there was no way I could stand it.  It was impractical anyways, since I played two roles and had to change.  But I digress.

Getting back to the Boilermaker 15K in Utica tomorrow, I am looking forward to it, despite my usual trepidations of parking, timing, and should I really be eating spaghetti tonight.  I hope to have fun and write a blog post about it.  In the meantime I am going to bill this as a Slacker Saturday (although my digression into theatre may make a Non-Sequitur Saturday eligible) and drive on.  Happy Saturday,  everyone!

 

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(B)Lame it on the Boilermaker

Posted on July 8, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am inordinately late making my Lame Post Friday post.  I made the conscious decision not to post last night.  I looked at the blank space on the Add New Post screen and said, “I don’t want to.” Perhaps it was reprensible of me as a self-proclaimed daily blogger, but these things happen.

I had suffered from a headache all day at my not heinous but also not air-conditioned job.  A cool shower felt good, but I could not just lounge around.  I had to go to the MVHS Health and Wellness Expo at Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) to pick up my packet for the Boilermaker 15K in Utica tomorrow (tomorrow?  Yikes!).

The Expo is a big deal and very well attended.  I had to contend with a goodly amount of traffic, which can be intimidating when you are not sure where you are going.  Yes, I have been to MVCC before but not since the mid-teens (that is the 20teens, not my teens).  I have never been much for crowd scenes,  especially when I am by myself.  However, one does what one must.

I might as well just admit that the Boilermaker has always intimidated me to a certain degree.  It’s not running 9.3 miles I fear; I can rely on my own stubbornness to get me through that.  It is just such a large event.  Will I find a place to park?  Will I make it through the long lines at the porta-potties before the race?  Will I be able to navigate the really large crowd at the after-party? These are the questions that haunt me.

The actual running is less of a problem.  I lament the crowds, but I cannot deny that all those people cheering us on can be a big help.  I like to read the signs, high five kids, dance to the bands… It is a fun run.

So now I have talked myself back into looking forward to it.  I expect to go back and forth as the day wears on.  No matter.  It will give me something to do while I hydrate.

 

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Another Pre-Boilermaker Run

Posted on July 7, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I melted again today, although with no discernible difference in my waistline.  However, I did manage to go for a short run and will now attempt a Running Commentary Post.

I had been taking myself all day that it would be a good idea to run, but I was naturally reluctant to do so once I got home.  In my defense, heat and humidity!  I spent the greater portion of the day feeling sweat pour down my body.  Ugh.  But the Boilermaker 15K is a mere three days away.  I must maintain.

First I called my Mom and Dad.  Mom said perhaps I should not run in this weather.  Dad thought I might try it and switch to walking if it was too much.  Since I only contemplated a short run, I decided to try.

And now I will pause to bring up something that always bothers me:  when you say you can’t do something and somebody smugly replies, “Well, not with that attitude.”  I have probably alluded to this before, but I will repeat it.  Almost every failure I have had, and there have been many, some epic, I have gone into with great confidence.  On the other hand, many times I have thought, I probably can’t do this but let me just try.  And I do it, surprising myself as well as my detractors.

It should come as no surprise that I succeeded in my attempt to run today.  I thought, one mile, fifteen minutes, slow pace.  My pace was faster than a 15-minute mile although I made no effort at speed.  As I went, I thought 20 minutes might be good.  Oh well, maybe 17.

I made it for 20 minutes 31 seconds, 1.49 miles.  I suppose I could have made it a full two and a half miles, but I felt pretty pleased with what I did.

Now I have to start worrying about the myriad practical details involved in running the Boilermaker:  getting my packet from the Runner’s Expo, which involves finding said Expo; putting on the right clothes the morning of, eating the proper breakfast, getting to the starting line after deciding the best time to get to the starting line, finding a parking space; and through it all hydrating, hydrating, hydrating.  I haven’t even mentioned getting to bed at a good time, getting to sleep, and waking up on time.  I think there are probably a few things I have forgotten I need to do.  I am not even sure I remember how many days there are between Thursday and Sunday.

 

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Boiling or Boilermaker?

Posted on July 6, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Wuss-out Wednesday follows Tired Tuesday, we all know that.  If you didn’t know, you do now.  I’m going to blame the weather.

I think I am!

I took a walk this morning but did not run after work.  I ran yesterday for three miles, thinking it would be my last long run before the Boilermaker 15K.  I hope to walk every day and have one or two short runs in the next three days.  Only three day?  Yikes!

Now is about the time I ask myself why I signed up for this silly race anyways. I should perhaps mention that this has happened to me every time I have run the Boilermaker (can’t remember how many times that is;  I would have to count my Boilermaker glasses).  This year, of course, everything is different.

It seems I had some good reasons when I signed up.  I do not currently remember them.   I registered pretty much the minute registration opened.  A short time later the palliative care nurse called me and said we had to talk.  I know what palliative care is (my sisters had to look it up).  Thus started a very bad time in my life.

So this year my running the 15K feels all tied up in my grief and depression over my husband’s death.  I don’t know that I think something magical is going to happen as I cross the finish line.  I think mostly I feel grateful that the race gave me motivation to keep running.  Exercise has helped me a lot.

I guess I have not entirely wussed out today, as I see I am over 250 words.  Perhaps tomorrow I will take one of those shorter runs I mentioned and attempt a Running Commentary Post.  It is All Boilermaker All The Time Week after all.

 

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More than Half a Boilermaker

Posted on July 3, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have been dreadfully tired all day.  After I made my late Saturday blog post, I went for a long run.  The Utica Boilermaker 15K is one week from today.   Yikes!  I figured this would be my last really long run before that, so I tried to get ambitious about it.  Last Sunday I ran just over an hour, 4.77 miles, which I calculated to be half of 9.3 miles, that is 15K.  I just pulled out the calculator app on my Tablet and found I could have stopped at 4.65.  Mental math while running is not my strong suit, although I often use it to distract myself.

Wow, what a long first paragraph.  I guess I am doing everything too long today.

As usual, I entered.

This was the only picture I could find of a place I ran this morning.  I went into the residential area behind Valley Health Services and ran up the longest uphill loop.  I went up a couple of shorter hills as well.  My idea was to run for five miles, and I made it.

Along the way I petted two nice dogs and refilled my water bottle at the spring.  Those were times I actually stopped but not for an appreciable amount of time.  I felt at a couple of points that I wanted to stop running and walk, but I pushed through.  I feel reasonably ready for the Boilermaker but I confess not eager.  Blame that on the Sunday Afternoon Blues.

I question my run.

This is a photo from October 2020.  I was doing a challenge of 37 minutes of exercise for 37 days to raise awareness of diabetes.  I posted a selfie of Facebook after each session.  You can see why I rarely take selfies.  I share it today, because this is probably about how I looked after today’s run.  I was even wearing the same glasses.  I just wanted to include another picture in the post.

I suppose I have made better Running Commentary Posts, but we all know some blog posts are better than others.  I will try to do better as the week wears on, but with All Boilermaker All The Time, no promises.

 

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What Kind of Tuesday?

Posted on June 28, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I was thinking it would not be a bad time for this blog to go All Boilermaker All The Time.  The race is less than two weeks away (too lazy and brain dead to count the days).  I ran nine days in a row, ending Sunday, did not run yesterday, then ran today.  I thought I might try for a Running Commentary Post.

For the past two weeks I have had Two Mile Tuesday.  It seemed reasonable to do that again today.  However, for some reason I was TIRED.  I know, Tired Tuesday is not unusual for me.  But I did not sleep badly last night.  I worked a reasonable amount of hard at work today.  I guess I’ll blame the humidity, although that felt worse yesterday than today.

The struggle is real.

In any case, I left work questioning my ability to make it a Two Mile Tuesday.  How about Twenty Minute Tuesday, I thought, while a little voice in my head voted for Two Minute Tuesday.  After I got home, I thought, I don’t have to get right ready and run.  I can sit down for a few minutes.  Big mistake.

However, I did get myself off the couch and into running clothes. It doesn’t have to be long, I told myself.  It doesn’t have to be fast (as if it ever is!).  It just has to be.  After putting some laundry in the washer, I set out.

I thought after a day off, my body might feel a little better about things, but the first part of the run sure was thunky.  Luckily I know how to persevere.  I changed my mind about where and how far to run several times.  Just make it a mile, I thought.  We’ll turn at the library (I was headed down Main Street).  Then I ran past the library to Park.  A mile isn’t really very far.  Maybe a 20 minute run.

As I ran through Meyers Park, I thought I probably could make it two miles.  Of course, I knew from previous runs that each block is not nearly the percentage of a mile you might expect it to be.  I continued to persevere.

I hit two miles around 26 minutes.  By this time I was wondering if two miles was nearly enough with the Boilermaker 15K looming so closely.  So I went a little further.  By running past my house three times (the neighbors, if they pay me any attention at all, must think I’m a crazy old lady) (my blog readers have known that for a while), I ran for a full 30 minutes.

Of course now I am even more tired than I thought I was, but I have a good reason to be.  And a longer blog post than my usual.  If you have read the whole thing, I thank you for staying tuned.

 

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In the Midst of a Monday Malaise

Posted on June 27, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

So I ran for nine days in a row and did not run today.  I feel a little bad about that, especially since the rain that threatened never materialized.  I could have at least mowed the lawn.

Don’t mind me, I am in the midst of a Monday Malaise.  Isn’t that a nicely alliterative phrase?  Hey, that rhymed.  Perhaps I am not as brain dead as I had feared.

Who, me? Get dramatic over Monday?

Here is another image stolen from Dracula’s House of Halloween.  I wanted a change from Frankenstein’s monster saying, “No like Monday!”

Most of my day has not been particularly monstrous, but as the evening progresses I am slipping down a depressive slope.  I suppose it is nothing to worry about; we all have our ups and downs.  However, this particular down is making me SO disinclined to do any of the things I ought to be doing.

Such as making a non-whiny blog post.

Well this is the way it is.  Whatever we may have accomplished (in my case not much, but never mind that), we continue to fret over what we have left undone.  Oh, I know:  you probably checked off every item on your to-do list and even got a jump on tomorrow’s (you know who you are).

I forgot where I was going with this.  However, I see I am over 200 words.  Enough of this nonsense!  Perhaps I could find a good monster to close with.

“I still don’t know why she wanted me to be in this blog post.”

 

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