A Lot of Walking, a Lot of Hills, a Lot of Conversation

I ran my new favorite route on both Thursday and Friday. Thursday, it only involved one hill. That was the last of the few-hill days.

Fresh Pond, the reservoir in Cambridge, has some long, slow hills!

Well, they are hills for a Brooklynite. To others, they might seem like brief inclines, not much more than speed bumps.

But they got me a bit, even with only going 5-7 miles each time.

Then, Saturday, in honor of my little brother's birthday, I set off to his house, quiche in hand.

We were going to have bench and take a hike, you see.

Now, in my head, whatever is in front of me is North, to the right, East, to the left, West.


You get the idea. Less like Magellan, more like Columbus.

He thought he was going to India, after all.

So I compensate. But these tricky electronic maps! They don't always tell the truth on the ground.

Or, maybe I just can't read them. I know my preferred version of the story.

So I got in a nice, almost four-mile hike before the hike.

Warm-up is important.

The hike took several hours, though we didn't go quite four miles. A relaxed pace and jumping boulders in my dress boots were the culprits.

Though I wish I had taken a picture of myself, fording the stream or bouldering in my Fry boots.

"dress boots that can go the distance."

I don't think advertising is my forte.

I didn't get a chance to run again until Wednesday.

Ok, I did get a chance. I preferred to be lazy and sleep, claiming that the few miles I walked were "just the same".

They weren't.

When I went on Wednesday, it was with the Speedy Blonde. We opted for more hills, in Central Park.

"sometimes I don't know why I bother", I complained while we were starting the run. "I mean, it's been forever since I ran, I no longer have a routine, and, now, running slowly is no longer a choice!"

"It doesn't have to be all or nothing. Just because you aren't training for a race, just because you aren't getting faster or aiming for a personal best in something, doesn't mean you can't enjoy running. In fact, having a bad or slow spate makes you enjoy running more when you are having a great string of running! Running two of three times a week, when and how much you feel like, can still be rewarding!"

I made some throw-off comment about it being as good to just use the Exercycle for a half an hour.

But I listened. The Speedy Blonde was calling me out. And she was right.

The thing I hate most about a race is if I feel like I didn't keep going hard when it started to get tough.

"if you're not dry-heaving, you can likely go faster!"

Hyperbole but true during certain parts of the race.

Yet I was whining about something even worse.

My pride is suffering because I can no longer run long and as fast as I used to. It's a drastic change.

And it's really hard for me to not have a goal, a next race on which to focus.

But that's not physical pain. It's not an asthma attack in the middle of a race.

So I shut up and started concentrating on the conversation, the sunny weather, and the fact that we could wear shorts.

And that I got a chance to run, whatever the circumstances.

And I was smiling at the end. I was so happy that I got to run that day.

And, you know what? Gym memberships are expensive!

I even smiled up Harlem Hill!

The smiles continued through the morning.

I met the Vivacious Redhead for a run this morning.

I left the house at 5:55. Not even that early.

And the darkness was warm and inviting.

We even did the outside loop the hard way (clockwise) around Prospect Park, and tacked on an extra mile and two hills before we parted ways and went home.

The sun rising over Brooklyn was fantastic.

And I had plenty of time to mess around before work.

New resolution: getting back to getting up early.
Second new resolution: to try to fit in more hills. I've been bad at hills since I've been living in Brooklyn. Maybe if I add more, I can get a bit better at those.

A girl's gotta have some goals, right?

Trying to be less all-or-nothing......