Yes! Yes! On my last chance before 2015, I have returned to Saturday Running Commentary! I am the woman!
How’s that for not having a post-Christmas letdown (yet)? Well, when you are feeling down, there is nothing like physical activity. And if you get to the physical activity before the blues really kick in, so much the better.
Steven and I got up at a ridiculous hour this morning, because he had to work at 6:30. The weather report promised mid to upper 40s later in the day, but I wanted to get my run done so left shortly after Steven did, 6:27 by my watch.
My thermostat said it was 34 degrees, so I had on leggings, long-sleeved ARMY t-shirt, winter running socks, a hat and mittens. Also my reflective vest, because it was still dark out. That had the advantage of having a zipper pocket in which I placed two tissues and my house key. I reminded myself to be careful of the key when I took the tissues out to blow my nose. Losing the house key that way is just the sort of thing I would do.
I had thought that by running while it was dark out I might see some Christmas lights still up. I knew I might not see many. For one reason, some people around here seem to feel the need to puritanically haul down all lights and decorations immediately their calendar turns to December 26. For another reason, some people turn their lights off at bedtime and might not turn them back on in the morning. Steven turns our lights off but we turn them back on in the morning till the sun comes up.
Regular readers may have noticed that I have not been running since November. I know, how dreadfully remiss of me. It was with some trepidation that I set out. However, a few steps down the street and I was thinking, “This is EASY! I can do this!” I quickly noticed some lights on houses on German Street, which made me feel even better.
I ran to the hill by Valley Health. Normally at my first run after a long pause I do not require hills of myself. However, I felt I should make an effort. As I ran by the hill up to Herkimer County Community College, the streetlights mocked me. It will be a while before I am ready to take that hill again, but I vowed to myself that it will happen (I’ll probably write a blog post about it).
I stopped feeling that running was easy by the time I reached to the top of the hill I did run. Now my legs felt like macaroni, breathing was less than fun, and I wanted to stop. However, I persevered. The Christmas tree I could see in the lobby of Valley Health cheered my up.
Back down the hill and into the residential streets, I began looking also for lights that would indicate other people were awake thus early on a Saturday. I saw a few. After all, it wasn’t four in the morning. Between 6:30 and 7 is a perfectly normal time to be up, even on a weekend. I saw several houses with Christmas lights on but no other lights. A couple of houses with lights but no Christmas lights. How depressing. One house had only the basement lights on. Probably a mad scientist’s laboratory. The flowered curtains were a dead giveaway.
There was just a little bit of light appearing in the sky as I approached the end of my run. I only require 20 minutes of myself when returning to running but thought I might possibly manage a little more this morning. My body had returned to the “I can rock this” stage, but I didn’t want to push too hard. After all, I do have the rest of the day to get through.
I ended up going for 24 minutes, which is how long I went the last time I ran. As Tabby walked my cool down with me the sky lightened even more. I admired the bare trees against the blue grey. When Steve, Tabby and I took a walk yesterday, I kept saying how much I love to walk. However, I don’t know if anything really feels as good to my legs as the cool down walk after a good run. So it looks as if I’ve kept that post-Christmas letdown at bay for a little longer.
