Tag Archives: weather

In My Defense, It’s Monday

Posted on July 15, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

My existential writing crisis continues (I don’t really know what an existential crisis is, I just thought it sounded cool) (and if anybody tries to enlighten me and uses any form of the word “exist,” I will probably make a sarcastic remark). I began writing a post before work today, but it wasn’t working out. I thought it would be OK, though, because I intended to go running after work. I could do a Running Commentary.

Why do I even think I’m going to run on a Monday? I almost never do, and I did not today. But I had a letter to mail to my sister (yes, I handwrite letters and mail them with stamps, do you have a problem with that? I thought not), so I suggested Steven and I walk to the post office with our schnoodle Tabby. Now I can write a Pedestrian Post.

We went after supper, but the temperature had not cooled down much. It was cloudy, dull and humid. The air was almost completely still. It did not take long to have that overall coating of sweat one’s body often gets this time of year. Tabby did not seem to mind. She pranced along, stopping often to explore interesting smells.

As we went through Meyers Park, I admired a stone bench recently donated by a class from Herkimer High School. I stupidly do not remember the year, but it was somewhere in the 1960s. After the post office, Steven suggested we walk up Main Street and go by the Historic Four Corners.

“Tabby does love the Historic Four Corners,” I said.

We walked up Main Street to German.

“This is where the DARE 5K starts,” I said. I’m looking forward to the DARE 5K. I guess I’d better start running in the evening in addition to walking.

As we continued down German the breeze picked up. That felt good. I’m afraid it was an uneventful walk, but I have great hopes that my crisis will be over by tomorrow and better posts will be forthcoming.

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Could I Be Getting Fit?

Posted on July 13, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I was so determined to have a Saturday Running Commentary this week that I got out of bed and into my running gear, not even pausing for coffee. Um, I did take the time to wash my face and brush my teeth. Who wants to run with morning breath? Yuck!

Steven has a short day at work, and we have plans for this afternoon, so I did not want to do too strenuous of a run. The sad truth is I had not run since Sunday. Well, these things happen and we must make the best of them. I decided no hills and perhaps a shorter run than my last one, which was 38 minutes.

I thought I would enjoy a dead end run, out German Street and German Street Extension, then back down Germany Street, detouring onto the many short dead end streets off it. I wanted to check out German Street Extension anyways. I heard they had some problems with flooding. Of course I would not run where the road was closed. Safety first for Mohawk Valley Girl.

It was perfect temperature for running, not so cold my hands got icy, not so warm I would sweat too much. That was good, because once again I forgot my headband. I could neither cover cold ears nor protect my eyes from sweat running off my forehead. No matter, it wouldn’t be too long a run, would it?

It seemed to take a long time to get to the end of German. I enjoyed looking at people’s flowers and decorations. One house has a fox lawn ornament, a little the worse for wear, which they decorate seasonally. This morning he sported cool sunglasses and red, white and blue decorations. I need something seasonal on my front porch.

German Street Extension is a nice, quiet residential road, as one might expect a dead end road to be. I plodded along admiring the scenery. Time was passing. How far should I run? I like to run all the way to the end, but how long would that take me? I wasn’t going to run all 38 minutes, remember? Oh well, maybe I would. But I shouldn’t run more than half of 38 before I turned around, right? I didn’t want to run more than 38 minutes, did I? I wonder if it burns more calories if I run and dither at the same time.

I saw two bunnies in a yard, standing perfectly still. I guess many predators’ vision is based on motion. I was just as glad not to see any predators. I know, predators have to eat too, but I don’t want to see it. Really, I ought to be a vegetarian myself, but I was not up to pondering the morality of carnivorousness.

I ended up turning around at just about 19 minutes. I saw where the road was closed up ahead but did not go all the way to the barrier. I was at a very well-maintained looking apartment complex. I thought I might drive out later to see how far I had run distance-wise. I could turn around in the complex lot.

On the way back I could see the river, or is it the canal (how embarrassing that Mohawk Valley Girl doesn’t know these things), over the bank. A tiny bunny was on the bank. How cute! I was really glad not to see a predator get the baby.

As I got back onto German Street proper, I decided I did not have time to run all the dead ends. I took one detour down Willow Street. I wanted to check the name of the street that the path over the hydraulic canal runs to. Suiter. I should be able to remember Suiter, and you see that I did, although now I don’t recall if it is street or avenue. Silly me.

My detour added just a little bit to my run time, and I did 40 minutes. I felt pretty terrific as I took my cool-down walk with Tabby. And I don’t feel too tired out now, a few hours after the fact. Could I be getting fit? Awesome!

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What I Can Write Right Now

Posted on July 9, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is a dreadful thing when one has made up one’s mind to write and the only thing one can find to write about is one’s apparent complete inability to write anything worth reading.

Um, you figured out that “one” is me, right?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, what’s a blogger to do? Today I’m going to do what has worked for me in the past: just write whatever I can write right now and trust that better words will be forthcoming. what I’m really hoping is that they will be forthcoming today, and I can type this into my Drafts section for use one day when I am really desperate (making a Full Disclosure, of course) (um, as it happens, I am using it today. Don’t judge).

Part of my problem is the weather. It is a sticky, icky day, conducive to lounging around near a fan and doing nothing. Of course I am not doing that; I’m at work (writing on a break, as usual). I remind myself that I have written on such days before but the memory does not seem to help.

My novel plods on. OK, it’s a hot mess. I can’t figure out what I want to happen or even how I would like it to end. I am reminded of a poster hanging in a guidance counselor’s office in my junior high school, “If you don’t know where you are going you will probably end up somewhere else.” I thought it a dire warning at the time. Now I think, “If you enjoy the trip, at least that’s something.” But now I’m making global statements and veering into half-baked philosophy. Leave that for Lame Post Friday, Cindy. We were talking about one novel, not Your Life.

I guess I’m not going to solve my novel problem by writing a blog post about now being able to write. Still, it felt pretty good to put some words on paper. One does what one can, after all.

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The View from the Top

Posted on July 7, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Having missed Saturday Running Commentary, I thought I would run today (Sunday). I further decided to quit pussy-footing around and go up my main challenge hill: the road to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC). There are not a whole lot of hills in Herkimer, NY, but this one is a really good one. It is steep, it is long, and one is rewarded with a beautiful view from the top. Additionally, it is very impressive to people when you tell them you run up the hill to HCCC. I have not run that hill in a while. It was time.

Of course I woke up NOT wanting to run. I didn’t even try to argue with myself; I just put on my stuff and went, a technique I have often found effective.

Right away it was not fun. My legs felt awful. I was sure this was because I went three days in a row without running. These things happen. I studiously ignored complaints and kept running. It was a nice cool temperature. In fact, my hands were a little cold. After a while my ears felt cold too, but I had remembered to wear a headband so was able to cover them up.

Was it really such a good idea to run that hill, I wondered. Then I thought, why not? I had nothing much to do for the rest of the day so it wouldn’t matter if I racked myself up. I really can’t keep running that little hill by Valley Health and build up for the DARE 5K in August. Finally I thought, just run up the hill for 15 minutes, then turn around and run back down. However far you get, that’s how far you go.

This, of course, was a psychological trick. I knew that by the time I was 15 minutes up the hill, I was going to keep going to the top. I ran by the spring. I thought about how I usually reward myself with a drink of spring water. My hands were too cold to want to do that. No matter. There was water waiting for me at home.

It seemed to take a long time to get to the actual hill. Why was I running so slowly anyways? But it was all I could do to continue. I saw a mother deer and her fawn in somebody’s front lawn. Then I saw another deer laying down, looking dignified. Then I thought I heard a shotgun. Good God, were there hunters in a residential area? But I suppose sound carries. Or maybe it wasn’t a gun after all. I kept running.

Oh it was not fun. What a lot of work to go uphill. I thought about how if I kept doing this I would get better at it. At the DARE 5K, I would breeze by young kids who felt they had to walk. I remembered with some bitterness one runner who I passed at least four times the last time I ran the DARE 5K. She walked, I passed her, she ran, she passed me. I want to build up to where if I pass someone, they stay passed.

I made it to the top of the hill. You knew I was going to, I hope. The view from the top was not so good, due to haziness. No matter. If I keep running the hill, I am sure to see a beautifully clear view sometimes. I just turned around and ran back down. I stopped at the spring for a drink. My hands did not feel so cold by then. Aah, good water.

I ran longer than I have yet, adding more than the recommended 10 percent to my last longest time. Perhaps that is not ideal, but I had to get all the way home and I was not yet ready to begin my cool-down walk. I save that to walk with Tabby.

I felt so pleased with my accomplishment that I posted a Facebook status about it. A gratifying number of my friends have Liked it. I like it too. I’m looking forward to the next time I run that hill.

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Don’t Sweat It

Posted on July 3, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

When I saw that the weather report today said 84 degrees instead of 90, it just sounded SO much cooler. Plus, it was prior to 7 a.m., well before it should reach 84. I could run. It would be great. As you may have guessed, it was not great, but I’m going to write about it anyways.

I woke up this morning NOT in the mood to run. Then I tricked myself. I said, “It would be a good idea if I went running.” You see, if I had said, “I should go running” or “I ought to go running,” I would have cleverly come up with any number of very good reasons NOT to run. But I had to acknowledge that, yes, it would be a good idea to run. I ran.

Right away I felt the humidity. I decided that it was good that I was running; I didn’t have to run fast. This would be a nice, steady, fat-burning run. I read a whole big thing once that when you run fast and hard, your body reaches for the high-octane fuel, provided by the protein and carbohydrates you consumed. When you run slow and easy, your body burns the low-octane stuff, the fat. I have since heard that this was not the case. However, I usually run at a slow rate and if I am running on a regular basis, I find that I am less fat. I spent a few blocks reflecting on this, mostly dwelling on the pleasing image of me not fat.

I soon became quite sweaty and realized I forgot my headband. Then my glasses fogged up. I tried to move them a little away from my face. I have some contact lenses I could wear to run in but I wonder if the sweat dripping into my eyes would be a problem. I’ll have to try it.

I ran in the opposite direction I had run on Monday, out German Street and around various residential streets, ending up on the path that used to be a hydraulic canal. I ran that path recently beginning out Main Street. Today I started at the other end and followed it to Main Street, detouring onto sidewalks when I had to.

I ended up doing 33 minutes, one minute longer than I had done Monday. I thought one minute extra was OK. As Tabby walked my cool-down with me I realized I had forgotten my bottle of water. I took a shorter cool-down walk than usual, and I’ve been hydrating ever since.

I’m afraid this hasn’t been a very amusing post about a run. As I was running I was thinking of any number of interesting things to say, but right now they elude me. Guess I’m not re-hydrated yet. On the other hand, it is Wuss-out Wednesday. I’ll try to be more entertaining tomorrow, on Non-Sequitur Thursday.

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Preview of Tired Attractions

Posted on July 2, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Full Disclosure: I have no real excuse to have a Tired Tuesday post this week. I am off work (Further Disclosure: this was dictated by my place of employment, it was not my idea). I have been sleeping Not Too Badly.

On the other hand, it is dreadfully hot and humid today. I tend to melt in the heat. Just go ahead and hate on me, all you summer lovers and sun worshipers. On second thought, don’t hate on me, I’m in a very delicate mood today and I might cry.

Ahem, be that as it may, I will give a brief overview of my activities for today, some of which I may write full blog posts about at some future date.

I made a bowl of macaroni salad. It could be worth a post; after all, I used chives from my own garden. I went to Little Falls, NY. In the past, that has been good for a post about me driving around confused by the one-way streets, but today I drove right where I wanted to go. Score!

I had a lovely visit at the Little Falls Historical Society. I definitely plan to write about that. From there I went to the Little Falls Library. I ended up not staying there long enough to write about it, but I may return at a future date.

From there, I drove to Frankfort, NY, where I patronized the Friendly Bakeshop and Melrose Market. Both of these fine establishments deserve a post as well.

Anyone who is exclaiming in an annoyed tone of voice, “Write about it NOW!” will be doomed to disappointment. I have no brain available for such activities. But I hope what I have written so far will suffice for today. Happy Tuesday, everyone.

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First on the To-Do List: Run

Posted on June 29, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had made up my mind not to do an especially strenuous run. For one thing, I ended up taking four days off (don’t judge). For another, I have many things to do today and I don’t want to peter out before I get to the fun stuff.

We had to get up at 3:30 this morning. Since I don’t have to go to work, I had originally thought to run at my preferred time of six or so but decided to get it out of the way earlier. With sunrise so early in June, I thought I might not be running in the dark the whole time anyways. For another reason, I could run before I ate, not eat and have to wait an hour to run. I had a cup of coffee first. Coffee is a beautiful thing.

It was 4:23 when I started out (I usually note the exact time, in case my stopwatch button malfunctions, I’ll still know how long I ran). The birds were singing, the temperature was perfect, and I congratulated myself on my perspicacity for getting out of the house early. I could see a little lightness in the sky and felt happy about that.

I crossed German Street, thinking to run out Main as far as Weber, then down the path over what used to be a hydraulic canal. That would be pleasant and not involve any hills. Really, in Herkimer, it is more usual to go for a run and not encounter any hills. But I had it on my mind today. I wanted to recruit my energies while still pursuing my weight loss and fitness goals.

The streetlights offered plenty of light till I started down Weber. The end of Weber was shrouded in darkness. Did I want to run down a deep, dark path at four in the morning? Then I thought it probably wouldn’t be so bad when I got up to it. If it was so bad, I reasoned, I could always turn around in a sensible if ignoble fashion.

No, it was fine. Only a big old tree made it seem dark from the end of the street. Beyond the shadow of the tree there was plenty of light. I continued my plan of running on the path. The increasing light in the distance was comforting. It certainly felt beyond psycho time if not beyond skunk time. As usual, I kept an eye out for both.

As I continued my run, I realized my folly in waiting till 4:23 to begin. I was hungry. I used that to my advantage, picturing a tasty egg sammich as my reward for a run well done (YES, it’s called a sammich! Sheesh!). How long would I run was the next question. 29 minutes was my last longest time. Match it? Beat it? Take really seriously my caveat to recruit my energies and do less? I decided with no hills and no sprints that matching it would meet all my goals.

The sun was almost completely up when Tabby and I walked my cool-down. I don’t often time it right so that I run in the dark and cool down in the light, so I enjoyed that. And I felt that frisson of virtue, accomplishing the first thing on my long list. Now I can cross out another item: making my blog post. I hope everybody is enjoying their Saturday.

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A Pretty Good Hill for a Monday

Posted on June 24, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I did not run on Wrist to Forehead Sunday (don’t judge). Then I failed to write a blog post as Monday (today) progressed. Finally I determined to go home, run, then write about the run.

My plan for Sunday had been to run up the hill to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC), a ferocious hill, for those of you who are not familiar with it. I did not see how I could do such a thing today. Then I thought about how triumphant I would feel, posting on Facebook that I had done it. I thought about being at the top of the hill saying, “Yeah, I’m bad!” Still, I argued with myself, it is not easy to cross German Street at 4 p.m. on a weekday. Herkimer traffic can be heavy at that time. At last I decided that if I COULD cross the street, I would take that as a sign and run the damn hill.

The thing I mostly don’t like about running in the afternoon is that my dog, Tabby, is so happy to see me come home. She doesn’t want me to leave right away. She wants me to stay and pet her or take her for a walk. I reminded her that she does not like to run with me; she likes to stop and sniff and frequent intervals. She lay down underneath the coffee table. Ah, she understands, I thought. Then she jumped up with a hopeful look on her face as I opened the door. No, Tabby. I was in kind of a down mood to start with. A sad dog did not help.

Nonetheless, I set out. And right away the warm temperature and humidity did not feel good. No matter, I thought. A good sweat never hurt anybody. And I managed to cross German Street. Ah, my bold plan was working.

Only it wasn’t working very well, because as German Street sloped slightly upward as it does, I realized I was in no shape to run up a hill like the one to HCCC. The hill by Valley Health, perhaps I could manage. Then I got to the gate to the unknown park. I think it is called Brookfield Park, but as it is not clearly labeled, I persist in referring to it as the unknown park (not capitalized). The ground sloped up as I ran in. It was an effort. A good enough hill for a Monday

I have not run through this park in over a year. I wondered what effects of flooding remained. It is not a very extensive park. A road runs up into it and by a couple of large sports fields. I’ve seen soccer games going on as I’ve run by, and once I heard a bagpiper practicing up in some trees. Further down the road, across a footbridge there is a picnic pavilion and some grills. Beyond that is a path that leads to the back road to the college. In August the DARE 5K goes from the college down that path, in the opposite direction to what I was running today.

I had it in mind to run on that path, if it was still intact. Of course, I would not do anything stupid. If it was half collapsed, I would not run that way. Then I saw that the footbridge was blocked on both ends with some chain link fencing, a stern-looking CLOSED sign on the end near me. So much for that plan.

There are probably a lot of bugs near all those trees anyways, I thought. I ran to the end of the road I was on and turned around. My legs were not happy with me, but they did not collapse under me, which I found encouraging.

Back onto the village streets, a sprint across German as soon as I had a chance. How long was I going to run for? 29 minutes, the same as I had done Saturday? 32, to increase by 10 percent as I had planned to do Sunday? Neither seemed within the realm of possibility. I thought, it’s hot, it’s humid, I worked all day. I am out here running AT ALL. This is good.

It seemed to take a very long time to get back to my street. When I was almost there, I passed a neighbor sitting on her porch. Her dogs greeted me with barks.

“It’s too hot to jog!” she said.

“I know!” I answered. “But I gotta do it!”

My run ended up being 28 minutes, which I thought was pretty OK. Tabby walked around the block with me for my cool-down. A breeze finally started blowing as we were almost home. Nice. A shower felt even nicer. And it will also feel nice to hit “Publish,” and know I’ve made another post.

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Hit Publish and Go Back to Enjoying my Sunday

Posted on June 23, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is Wrist to Forehead Sunday. I haven’t worked on my novel, I haven’t even written in the TV Journal. My brain is on strike or vacation or maybe it was never that good to begin with (say is ain’t so!).

This is the part where I usually surprise myself and come up with another 200 words or so that are not that unreadable. I hit publish and go back to enjoying my Sunday. But today, it seems, it is not going to be that easy.

The weather is delightful. It has been a beautiful weekend, sunny and warm. I had a very enjoyable Saturday afternoon and evening with my husband, Steven, including two or three Mohawk Valley adventures. Really, I have no reason to feel I have nothing to write about.

I suppose these things happen to a writer sometimes. I keep thinking I will write an extra post and keep it in my Drafts section for just such an emergency. Sometimes I get a post or so ahead, but I always use them right away. Well, I wouldn’t want them to get stale or outdated.

Today I haven’t had any Mohawk Valley adventures, unless you count a trip to Hannaford for groceries. Ooh, wait, I did write a post about that once, a long time ago. I mostly spent the day re-reading an Agatha Christie novel. It is very instructive to re-read a mystery novel. You see where the writer put in all the clues and say, “How the blankety-blank did I miss THAT?”

So it looks as if I have once again written over 200 words. Perhaps I’ll go work on my novel now.

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The Mud Didn’t Stop Me

Posted on June 15, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh, that feeling, that wonderful feeling, when you ran anyways after almost talking yourself out of it, and you are walking your cooldown with your sweet little schnoodle. The frisson of virtue, the warm looseness of your leg muscles, the relief of deep breaths and cool water, AND the knowledge that you have SOMETHING to write a blog post about.

And then the feeling hours later, when you realize you did not write your blog post yet and you had better get on with it. It feels a little panicky, till you put your fingers on the keyboard and start typing. That is when you realize, like on the run, I can rock this.

So it seems Saturday Running Commentary is back. I was late to bed last night, because we went to the play, so I was disinclined for major effort. Still, it wasn’t raining, the temperature was a run-friendly 50some degrees. I put on running clothes and set out.

I decided to turn right down German Street. I would run up Main to Weber and go down the path over the hydraulic canal. This had been my plan during a run earlier in the week, but traffic was too intense for me to want to cross German. It looked better prior to seven in the morning. I thought I would even cross German right at the end of my street and not wait for the four-way stop at Main.

Then I saw what looked like a guy digging a ditch. Better stay on my side of German. Then I saw he was not digging a ditch but trying to clean out mud. We had torrential rain last night and some streets I guess got a little flooded. There was mud all over the sidewalk as well. Yikes. I did NOT want to fall on my ass in the nasty flood mud. I ran on the grass where I could and did a slow, shuffly step where I had to go in the mud. Rats! My best sneakers were becoming a mess! I need new running shoes anyways, but was hoping to put it off for a week or two anyways.

I soon ran into my friend Nicky, a shaggy little white dog, and his person. I stopped to pet Nicky and said, “I guess German got a little flooded last night.”

“Yes, every time it rains, it comes down Renwick,” she said. We told each other to be careful of the mud, and I ran on.

It was no problem crossing German at Main. I negotiated the mud and made it to the path. It is a lovely path. The only problem is that to continue following it, you must cross German again and there is no crosswalk just there. Still, that is no problem in the early morning hours. I encountered another dog to pet on the path, a lovely golden retriever (at least, that was what it looked like; I’m no expert).

“Can I pet your dog?” I always ask first, unless it is a dog I’ve petted before, like Nicky.

The run was not at all bad. I don’t remember consciously thinking, “I can rock this,” but I believe I was, in fact, rocking it. It was no problem to keep going. Shortly before I stopped, I flashed ahead, to when I really get my run time built back up. I thought of when 20some minutes in will be halfway or less, and I will think, “Oh, yeah, this is just what I needed. This is awesome.”

I sure didn’t feel this good about my runs earlier in the week. However, without those runs I’m sure I would not have felt so good today. Rock on, everyone!

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