People Watching

I like to people watch when I run.  Most people think it is crazy that I do not listen to music when I run.  I view running as my me time—my time to leave my worries behind.  I see music as a distraction.  I have some of my most clear thoughts when I run—thoughts about life, where I want my life to go, what is important to me, and sometimes I see some really funny stuff too. 

I see of the funniest stuff when I run.  Tonight, I did my usual Thursday evening run at the local high school track.  My friend could not make it, so I went alone.  This was the most crowded the track has been for me this year.  When I went Tuesday evening, I saw an unusual older couple.  Just like on Tuesday, the older couple and I got to the track at the same time.  Just like Tuesday, they got out of their car and immediately started jogging, while still in the parking lot.  They stopped at the top of the curve and stretched.  They lined up at the starting line, and then ran the curve of the track hard.  Once they hit the straight, the women turned around and slowly walked back to where they had started.  She was walking against traffic.  The man kept running hard.  They met up again and did the same drill over and over.  I kept on with my own run, all while witnessing this.  Why, I thought, were they doing this?  Why would he run the whole track hard, while she would stop about a quarter ways around, and then slowly walk back to the start?  Why bother starting together?  These are some of the crazy thing I think about when I am running.

Another interesting thing I saw on the track tonight was a family walking very slowly, but carrying back packs.   These were not your typical high school kid backpacks—these were real hiking back packs, only empty.  Were they planning a big hiking trip?  Were they starting out slowly with less weight and distance?  I wonder where they are going.  I bet there real hike won’t be anything like walking on this cushy track that is so forgiving and flat.  These are some of the crazy things I think about when running.

In the middle of the track, there was a pee wee boys football team practicing.  Once they were done running, they boys ran the track.  Boy did that make me feel slow!  There was also what looked like a mother and daughter walking.  The daughter looked to be about my age.  Is this how they get in there quality time?  The last family I saw while running was a young father with two little boys, I would say around the age of four and six.  The father was really good with them.  They would run some and then walk some.  Was the dad getting them started in sports early?  Was he teaching them an active lifestyle early?  These are some of the crazy things I think about when running.

Now do you see why I don’t listen to music when I run?  There are so many interesting things going on all around me, why give that all up to listen to music.  I know most people that listen to music while running enjoy the music as a distraction.  I don’t need a distraction when all of this is going on around me.

Do you people watch when you run?  What are some interesting things you have seen when you run?

A dream is a wish…

--Amy

It has been so nice outside here in southern Pennsylvania over the past week. Spring is finally here! Time to run outside.  I much more prefer to run outside, but my neighborhood is hilly. It’s good for short runs, but I still had not found a good place for every day training runs—until now.

Last week, a friend asked me to meet her at our local high school track for a run. I immediately said yes, but I was not sure if I would like it or not.  I had thought about running at the high school track lots of times before, but always decided against it. Thoughts of running at my old high school track always brings back stomach churning memories of running during gym class in high school, wearing a hideously unflattering white gym shirt and ill-fitting black cotton shorts . One day each year we all had to run a mile around the track for the presidential fitness test. I hated it! It was the worst school day of the year by far. I never in a million years thought I would ever go back there to run again by choice, but I decided to give to give it a try anyway.

I pulled up to the high school at 6:50, about ten minutes before I planned to meet my friend. The first thing I noticed is that the place I used to park was gone. Covering “my spot” when I went to school there was now a building. I found a new place to park and met my friend. We started the walk toward the track as I felt my old anxieties coming back. As I stepped onto the track, my first though was that is felt a lot smaller than I remember. Four times around the track is approximately a mile. The track used to feel like running around an ocean to me, but now it did not seem so big. When I had considered running on the track, I always pictured it crawling with very fit teenagers running circles around me. That was not the reality at all. The track was not very crowded, there were just a few middle age to older people walking and running, none of whom seemed light years ahead of me in fitness.

I am so glad I went! It felt great to run outside in the nice weather. I have run at the high school track a hand full of times now. My friend and I have an ongoing running date Tuesday and Thursday evening. To moral of this story--Do something every day that scares you. What have you done that scares you lately?

A dream is a wish

--Amy

***Don’t forget to sign up for my virtual 5k supporting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.