I live in a small community & while I'm out running most people pass with a wave. Some offer encouragement when they slow & shout from the car to keep working. The ones I see in their yards or walking, will ask if I'm training for a specific run, they tell me that they are sure I can do it. In the last week, I have seen many more people from outside our neighborhood driving around w/ friends or family, I imagine to have somewhere safe to go. They have all offered big smiles & waves. Even the truckers have been waving or tapping a horn. From a distance, I've seen the occupants from houses that never have anyone home. I've seen the kids, spouses learned the names of a couple of their dogs - I hope they remember me.
Hi Terrell, That's great that you're getting more running in! Where I usually do my workouts, people have acknowledged each other (as you described) for years, but now there's almost nobody around. Keep up your 5Ks! Maybe you can adopt my mantra (in the rhythm of the adage, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."): A 5K a day keeps the doctor away! (It used to be "a 10K a day" until an extended illness shortened it, but I'm heading back to my 10K a day!)
My quote of the week nicely sums up the emotion of the cancelled races: “How hard it must be to live only with what one knows and what one remembers, cut off from what one hopes for!” ― Albert Camus, The Plague.
It took me most of the week to come to terms with the virus, the disruption in my schedule, the need to run and get it all out of my head. I forced myself out the door every day for at least a walk, and was always glad of it. I’m grateful to be saving a lot of money on tolls and gas, and expensive lunches at work. But I’m still worried about the effect on the economy and the future of my employment.
Still, I pushed myself to do a hilly virtual half marathon on Saturday—much more relaxed pace than the actual event would have been—and found myself buoyed by the number of new people waving on the trail. You get to know ‘the usual’ runners after a while, and as you note, more people are taking up running to kill boredom, get out of the house, and counteract the detrimental effects of the hunker-down snacks :)
I also started a ‘bear hunt’ in my neighborhood yesterday. Saw the idea on Facebook, apparently inspired by a children’s book, “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.” The idea is to put a bear in the front window so kids can ‘hunt’ while they’re out on a walk. Frankly, I’m excited about going for my run this morning so I can do a little hunting myself! Something to hope for....
Thus, we come to a new and more hopeful quote for this week: “What’s true of all the evils in the world is true of plague as well. It helps men to rise above themselves.”― Albert Camus, The Plague
Steph, I shared your idea about the "bear hunt" with my wife and she LOVED it. We're going to try that in our neighborhood. I also love the quotes you shared -- so much to think about.
I just read an article about a French man who was registered for the Barcelona marathon on March 15 and the Paris marathon on April 5, both of which were canceled. He is under a stay-at-home order, so his response was: the race must go on! He entertained his neighbors by spending 6 hours and 48 minutes running 26.2 miles in laps around his 7-meter balcony. Now THAT'S the mindset I want!!!!
Its true, everyone is out and about, being extremely friendly considering I live in Seattle and the freeze is normally real. I've been quite pleasantly surprised. So many more runners have gotten out and about here as well than usual. My weekday run distances have gotten a lot longer since that is the only time I leave the house aside from my weekly trip to the supermarket and Seattle has been having such incredible spring weather it's really difficult to not want to spend as much time as possible outside. I'm really enjoying seeing extra faces on my runs. Fingers crossed it keeps when we all go back to normal life!!
So glad your weather has been nice there! Vegas has had a lot of clouds/rain/cool temps the past few weeks. I keep telling myself that come July I will WISH for this weather! 😜
I read all your emails but is my first time posting so hello :) it’s definitely interesting to suddenly see new runners. I’m still kind of new to this neighborhood. I just bought this house last June, but neighbors know I’m the runner on the block apparently and have started conversations with me out of the blue First, because my license plate is RUN4GOD and people have come out of their way to tell me they love it. Secondly I had one lady In our local Kroger tell me I’m known as “the Gap runner” because when it’s cold, I wear a 27 year old red sweater that says GAP in huge white letters.
Anyway my point is that people who are runners or walkers that I’ve met before on my morning jogs, have slowed down enough, or perhaps it’s me who’s slowed down, to chat about our love or desire to love the sport. Running is my peace of mind, and my time to have “conversations” with God, or just think. Now that I’m not rushed to get to work and finish my morning run by a certain time, it’s given me that freedom. In a surreal time when my company is making me work from home, something I normally welcome, I’m now able to realize, more than ever, how grateful I am that I’m healthy and running and in general at peace during this chaotic time. It’s helped me to slow down and think twice when I start to get upset at little things that were once big to me. My kids are healthy. I have a great job that cares for my health and well-being. We have a home, crowded but none the less, together. I’m, in a way, grateful for this all, praying for the rest of the world to come through this better than when this started.
Love that you have conversations with God when you run & think. I do that too. (Love your license plate!) It also sounds like you have great neighbors! Thanks for sharing. 😊
Terrell—I’m glad you have more time to run! That is awesome!
My running times have switched from afternoons to mornings. It’s a great way to start the day. (During the school year I run in the afternoons since I have to be at work by 6:30.)
I have noticed less cars on the roads around me. On my Saturday morning run, I usually see a lot of cars & the same 2-3 people out walking/running. Yesterday I saw way less cars & a few more people venturing out! I waved & smiled. By the way—I’ve been working on smiling when I run. Hopefully it’s inspiring people, not scaring them! 😜 Trying to do my part to make the world better!
Apart from cabin fever, I am enjoying not rushing to something every day, all day long. I don’t want to go back to that. I’m wondering how I can cut back on stuff when this is over. I feel better. I’m thinking more, writing in my journal more, & checking on family/friends more often. My parents are in their late 70’s & I’m cherishing our time together more. This has been a good thing for me. Even with cabin fever. At least I get to go run and walk every day! 😊
I think you're onto something there, Corrina. I had a conversation earlier today with my mom, who grew up in small town in South Carolina. Back in the 40s and 50s, she's always told me, there was no TV and no air conditioning, so all you did really was walk around the neighborhood and see your neighbors out on the porch. I've thought about that a lot this week, as there's really not a whole lot else for us to do after work/school at home is done. Interesting time travel!
It's great to see someone logging more consistent running miles. I feel I am currently in a rut. My latest race has been cancelled and my schedule turned upside down. However, I feel inspired to see others continuing to run and refusing to let this virus defeat them. I hope to follow in your footsteps this week.
I live in a small community & while I'm out running most people pass with a wave. Some offer encouragement when they slow & shout from the car to keep working. The ones I see in their yards or walking, will ask if I'm training for a specific run, they tell me that they are sure I can do it. In the last week, I have seen many more people from outside our neighborhood driving around w/ friends or family, I imagine to have somewhere safe to go. They have all offered big smiles & waves. Even the truckers have been waving or tapping a horn. From a distance, I've seen the occupants from houses that never have anyone home. I've seen the kids, spouses learned the names of a couple of their dogs - I hope they remember me.
I bet they will, Shari! Love hearing that.
That is awesome!
Hi Terrell, That's great that you're getting more running in! Where I usually do my workouts, people have acknowledged each other (as you described) for years, but now there's almost nobody around. Keep up your 5Ks! Maybe you can adopt my mantra (in the rhythm of the adage, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."): A 5K a day keeps the doctor away! (It used to be "a 10K a day" until an extended illness shortened it, but I'm heading back to my 10K a day!)
Stay well and safe,
Faith
My quote of the week nicely sums up the emotion of the cancelled races: “How hard it must be to live only with what one knows and what one remembers, cut off from what one hopes for!” ― Albert Camus, The Plague.
It took me most of the week to come to terms with the virus, the disruption in my schedule, the need to run and get it all out of my head. I forced myself out the door every day for at least a walk, and was always glad of it. I’m grateful to be saving a lot of money on tolls and gas, and expensive lunches at work. But I’m still worried about the effect on the economy and the future of my employment.
Still, I pushed myself to do a hilly virtual half marathon on Saturday—much more relaxed pace than the actual event would have been—and found myself buoyed by the number of new people waving on the trail. You get to know ‘the usual’ runners after a while, and as you note, more people are taking up running to kill boredom, get out of the house, and counteract the detrimental effects of the hunker-down snacks :)
I also started a ‘bear hunt’ in my neighborhood yesterday. Saw the idea on Facebook, apparently inspired by a children’s book, “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.” The idea is to put a bear in the front window so kids can ‘hunt’ while they’re out on a walk. Frankly, I’m excited about going for my run this morning so I can do a little hunting myself! Something to hope for....
Thus, we come to a new and more hopeful quote for this week: “What’s true of all the evils in the world is true of plague as well. It helps men to rise above themselves.”― Albert Camus, The Plague
Steph, I shared your idea about the "bear hunt" with my wife and she LOVED it. We're going to try that in our neighborhood. I also love the quotes you shared -- so much to think about.
I just read an article about a French man who was registered for the Barcelona marathon on March 15 and the Paris marathon on April 5, both of which were canceled. He is under a stay-at-home order, so his response was: the race must go on! He entertained his neighbors by spending 6 hours and 48 minutes running 26.2 miles in laps around his 7-meter balcony. Now THAT'S the mindset I want!!!!
Same here! I love that story, Faith!
Its true, everyone is out and about, being extremely friendly considering I live in Seattle and the freeze is normally real. I've been quite pleasantly surprised. So many more runners have gotten out and about here as well than usual. My weekday run distances have gotten a lot longer since that is the only time I leave the house aside from my weekly trip to the supermarket and Seattle has been having such incredible spring weather it's really difficult to not want to spend as much time as possible outside. I'm really enjoying seeing extra faces on my runs. Fingers crossed it keeps when we all go back to normal life!!
So glad your weather has been nice there! Vegas has had a lot of clouds/rain/cool temps the past few weeks. I keep telling myself that come July I will WISH for this weather! 😜
How are things in Seattle? Been reading lots about it, and thinking about all of y’all living there. How far are you running?
I read all your emails but is my first time posting so hello :) it’s definitely interesting to suddenly see new runners. I’m still kind of new to this neighborhood. I just bought this house last June, but neighbors know I’m the runner on the block apparently and have started conversations with me out of the blue First, because my license plate is RUN4GOD and people have come out of their way to tell me they love it. Secondly I had one lady In our local Kroger tell me I’m known as “the Gap runner” because when it’s cold, I wear a 27 year old red sweater that says GAP in huge white letters.
Anyway my point is that people who are runners or walkers that I’ve met before on my morning jogs, have slowed down enough, or perhaps it’s me who’s slowed down, to chat about our love or desire to love the sport. Running is my peace of mind, and my time to have “conversations” with God, or just think. Now that I’m not rushed to get to work and finish my morning run by a certain time, it’s given me that freedom. In a surreal time when my company is making me work from home, something I normally welcome, I’m now able to realize, more than ever, how grateful I am that I’m healthy and running and in general at peace during this chaotic time. It’s helped me to slow down and think twice when I start to get upset at little things that were once big to me. My kids are healthy. I have a great job that cares for my health and well-being. We have a home, crowded but none the less, together. I’m, in a way, grateful for this all, praying for the rest of the world to come through this better than when this started.
Love that you have conversations with God when you run & think. I do that too. (Love your license plate!) It also sounds like you have great neighbors! Thanks for sharing. 😊
Terrell—I’m glad you have more time to run! That is awesome!
My running times have switched from afternoons to mornings. It’s a great way to start the day. (During the school year I run in the afternoons since I have to be at work by 6:30.)
I have noticed less cars on the roads around me. On my Saturday morning run, I usually see a lot of cars & the same 2-3 people out walking/running. Yesterday I saw way less cars & a few more people venturing out! I waved & smiled. By the way—I’ve been working on smiling when I run. Hopefully it’s inspiring people, not scaring them! 😜 Trying to do my part to make the world better!
Apart from cabin fever, I am enjoying not rushing to something every day, all day long. I don’t want to go back to that. I’m wondering how I can cut back on stuff when this is over. I feel better. I’m thinking more, writing in my journal more, & checking on family/friends more often. My parents are in their late 70’s & I’m cherishing our time together more. This has been a good thing for me. Even with cabin fever. At least I get to go run and walk every day! 😊
I think you're onto something there, Corrina. I had a conversation earlier today with my mom, who grew up in small town in South Carolina. Back in the 40s and 50s, she's always told me, there was no TV and no air conditioning, so all you did really was walk around the neighborhood and see your neighbors out on the porch. I've thought about that a lot this week, as there's really not a whole lot else for us to do after work/school at home is done. Interesting time travel!
Totally! A lot more conversations have been happening. 👍🏼
It's great to see someone logging more consistent running miles. I feel I am currently in a rut. My latest race has been cancelled and my schedule turned upside down. However, I feel inspired to see others continuing to run and refusing to let this virus defeat them. I hope to follow in your footsteps this week.
Interested in a 5K a day challenge? https://www.instagram.com/p/B-DDr9Bn3Wr/
Sounds like fun. I always try to log at least five miles a day