Effort... effort

 

Yesterday, when I arrived home from the U, I did shovel the driveway and ran 3.2 miles to make sure I had met the minimum 9 total for Monday.

We did get a full 6 inches of very light, blowing snow overnight.  So, beyond the six inches of snow itself, there was considerable blowing and DRIFTING that resulted in drifts of about 20-24 inches along different aspects of the house.  The wind currents this time resulted in the largest of the drifts accumulating along and around the doors of the back porch and the doors for the backyard.  

This initially caused a bit of hesitation in the dog when I first took her out around 5:30am.  She eyed the drift, which was actually taller than her line of vision.  She sat patiently as I attached her "string" to her collar.  This "string" as I call it, is actually a tie-out cable that I use for her when it is dark, just for safety in case there is a racoon, possum, skunk, deer, or angry cat in the yard that I do not see.  If there is an animal like that out there, the dog will become hell-bent on chasing said intruder away.... and any of the five intruders could potentially do quite a bit of harm to our somewhat dull-witted canine.  

Well, after attaching her "string" she eyed the drift again, and then backed up a little bit and proceed to jump up and landed in the drift, with her body sinking into the fluffy snow until it was up to nearly her neck.  This seemed to startle her for a moment, but then she seemed to become invigorated and began to hop and dart all around as far as the "string" would allow her to proceed (from the point of origin, it is about a half circle rough with a radius of 25 feet or so.... so a 1/2 circle of 50 ft diameter).  Because the snow seemed "new" and "exciting" to her because of its fluffy nature, it took longer than usual for her to decide to do her "business".  I initially waited somewhat patiently in my flannel pajamas, but after about 10 minutes, I was getting awfully damn cold and I gruffly told her to hurry up.  She knows the timbre my voice, and within a minute or so did accomplish the needed task so we could go back in.

As today is an online teaching day, I had a bit of flexibility.  So after rubbing as much of the snow off her with a towel as I could, I took her back upstairs so she could get back on the bed and stay with my still slumbering wife.  I disrobed and put my pajamas under my pillow and slipped into my running shorts and headed to the basement for my battle with the treadmill.  

With the long-range forecast for the rest of February looking somewhat "iffy" in regards to any above freezing temperatures that would *possibly* allow the trail to clear sufficiently for safety, I did not want to wait any longer to get the grueling monthly 1/2 marathon run out of the way.  I had been hoping that I could find a way to do this run safely outside, as running outside is a helluva lot better than the damn treadmill, but I have to keep in mind that I am lucky I had the foresight to buy this used treadmill in the late Summer/early Fall last year because I knew with Covid-19 I wouldn't have other options a lot of days.  

So, I had created a plan in my mind on how to best try to accomplish this, if it did have to occur that I would have to run 13.1 miles (~21 km) on the treadmill in one sitting.  The sheer monotony of it, of never really changing position, of seeing the same damn basement wall the whole time, the infernal noise of the machine, and the extreme mental focus that I needed to make sure I would stay centered on the belt of the treadmill and not fall off or hurt myself... seemed very, very daunting.  

I tried to keep my plan simple.... I had to "do" something that would make the time seem to pass with as little monotony as possible.  First and VERY CRITICAL.... I put a "Post-It Note" over the digital display on the treadmill so I would not grow disheartened each and every time I glanced in that direction to check my step position on the belt and see the numbers SO, SO very far away from the goal.  Next, I estimated I would want to begin by first listening to 25 different songs as they played through my Pandora (focused as usual on the late 60s-early 70s groups on my Crosby, Stills, & Nash Channel).  During the quieter songs and during the commercial breaks, I would focus on working through my prayer of the Rosary.  I ended up listening to 27 songs by the time I finished the full five decades of the Rosary.  I then watched the daily Mass from the Capuchin Monastery that was posted from yesterday's Monday Mass.  Only at the conclusion of the last song at this Mass did I begin to consider lifting the "Post-It Note" to see if I was able to finally be finished for the day.  I hesitated for a minute or so, worrying I would still be short of the needed 13.1 miles.  But, I was exhausted, so while still running, I began to gingerly lift up the edge of the "Post-It Note".  Lo and behold.... I had reached 13.3 miles and was very relieved!  I did it!  I kept up my monthly goal of one 1/2 marathon run each month.... and did it on the damnable treadmill!  I will have to check for sure, but I believe this is the 18th consecutive month in a row that I have ran at least one 1/2 Marathon run.  I am awfully glad it is done.  I do so *hope* the March one will be able to be done outside.

I wanted to take a shower and have my coffee and eat, but I truthfully did not want to clean up and THEN LATER in the day have to out and shovel the porches, the driveway, and the sidewalks.  So, I went back upstairs, the dog was sprawled out deep in sleep across most of my part of the bed.  My wife was sitting up in bed, reading a book.  I slipped out of my running shorts, and then proceeded to don long underwear (tops and bottoms), a sweat shirt and sweat pants, and then went downstairs to put on my heavy snowpants and heavy winter coat and proceeded outside to get the shoveling done.  

I was able to get all this finished, and came in and hit the shower and was able to be dressed and at the computer to begin to cyborg just a few minutes before noon.  After all that effort this morning, I can my iced coffee tasted so beautifully and richly bitter that it seemed a gift, and my cereal with blueberries tasted so utterly sweet and creamy.  I felt quite ravenous, and consumed all the food in my lunchbox in less than an hour (I normally *try* to eat slowly and nibble through all the various foods throughout the day).  

I was able to get a reasonable amount of work accomplished for the U too.  I am actually on track.  Perhaps tomorrow, I can nudge myself to be a little ahead of schedule with U work.  

PipeTobacco