“Good for you,” someone said that to me, this morning, while I was out for my run. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this, and while I’m thankful for the encouragement, I wonder what the person really means. What I interpret it to mean is this: “Look at that old guy running; good for you!”  Is it the multitude of grey hairs in my beard that make me look older and physically more feeble than I really am?

Thanks for the verbal pat on the back but this old guy has been exercising for years. Running however, is something that I just started about 3 years ago. My transition from the gym to pounding the pavement, began after my former cardio and weight workouts stalled for me; I had fallen into a workout rut and needed a change.
At first I tried to stay active by just walking. Long walks eventually led to walk-runs; then they became run-walks, first in between street blocks, then fire hydrants, and finally I managed to run the entire route. So here I am, 3 years and thirteen 5-K road races later and loving running. Recently, I have even enlisted the help of a trainer, who supervises a weightlifting component at my gym. I’m also now making myself accountable by tracking everything I eat.

Running has become, not only my time to exercise, but a time to think. I don’t listen to music when I run; I just think. Today for instance, I was thinking about four very different podcast/blogs that I want to research for future posts. They cover a variety of subjects, from life and death, to American politics and food. Yep! – that’s quite a range of topics, but they are all things that made me curious.

When I started out this morning, running down our tree lined street, thoughts turned to memoir writing.  In the future, when I sit down to write my own memoir about running, (which I may call Old Guy Running), I will contact Lucy Kraemer to get started. Kraemer has given workshops on memoir writing and has many helpful ideas.
At the 2-K mark of my run, I notice there is still an abandoned lawn sign, from last October’s Canadian, federal election. While Canada has had its election campaign over and done with, the Americans are just gearing up for theirs, later this year. This prompts me to think about the webinar that I participated in about covering the American election. I make a note to myself to begin researching issues in the State of Michigan, specifically Detroit.
Half way through my run, the intoxicating smell of bread, comforts my cold nostrils. That warm, mouth watering scent is coming from a local bread factory on the route. Food! I start thinking about food and the heritage cookbook that I’m researching called: Menu Terms. This tiny reference book was written in 1908 by Chef Joseph Gancel.
As I reach the final stretch of my run, thoughts of a much heavier topic are milling around in my mind. A consultation session on physician-assisted dying, is being held in Toronto and I will be there as an independent reporter. This contentious issue, is slated to become law in Canada this year. My own thoughts waver between the realities of this issue and the complicated morality of it.  Either way, I know I will enter that room with an open mind.

And just like that; the run is over. Given today’s roller coaster of thoughts, I could have likely gone for a much longer run, but instead, I just spent 5.5 kilometres…thinking.
See you on the podcast!

Joe