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Ditch Lilies

One thing that I have seen a lot of during my many years as a runner is ditches.

I have spent countless hours running alongside of them on sidewalks and shoulders of the road.

I can’t say that I’ve seen much in the way of beauty in these ditches over the years, as they have a way of collecting runoff, roadkill, trash, and other unsightly things.

Back when I lived and ran in the country I’d come across the occasional discarded appliance or piece of furniture in the ditch, along with the occasional porno mag that I’m guessing was tossed there by a teen or husband  who didn’t want to get busted by their mother or wife when they got back home.

Something else that I came across in a ditch while running along the dirt shoulder of a country road was a badger. I heard some rustling in the grass just a few feet to the right of me, only to look down and see my home state of Wisconsin’s mascot.

Needless to say, the sight of a badger that close definitely put a spring in my step.

Most of the time, though, there’s not much going on in ditches. Except, that is, during the middle of summer here in west-central Wisconsin.

That is when flowers start to pop up in ditches along rural roads.

While I don’t know the name of most of these flowers there is one that I am familiar with—lilies. They are the biggest and brightest of these roadside flowers, which is probably why I got to know them.

They are officially known as day lilies and their blooms come in a variety of colors, the main ones being orange, yellow, red, pink, purple, and near-white. Orange is the main color that I see in the ditches here in west-central Wisconsin.

Seeing lilies and other flowers in full bloom this time of year while running or driving down the road is a welcome reminder of how summer has a way of bringing even drab things like ditches to life.

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Runners & Walkers Welcome

Among the news coming out of this year’s Boston Marathon—besides all of the fast finishing times–was a controversy created by a sign put up at a Nike store near the finish line of the event that said “Runners Welcome, Walkers Tolerated.”

Apparently the sign drew quite a few complaints, among them being that it was “pace-shaming” and exclusionary.

I first heard about it from a co-worker of mine who is neither a runner nor walker. He said he took no offense to the sign and thought that those who did so were over-reacting.

I have to say that I see my co-worker’s point. After all, Boston is a running not a walking event.

Not only that, it is a running event that you have to run a time standard to qualify for. The emphasis at Boston is on speed, so what’s the harm in using the occasion to poke a little fun at walkers?

At the same time, what’s the point of doing so? Walking may be done at a slower pace than running but it’s a great form of exercise.  Not only that, there are way more walkers in the world than runners.

Why run the risk—no pun intended—of offending such a large segment of the population by displaying such a sign? Especially when you’re a sporting goods company that sells gear to them?

I guess only the sign-makers at Nike know the answer to that question.

Apparently they thought better about their message after getting quite a bit of backlash about it. They took the sign down and issued an apology for it.

I mention all of this not to call out Nike—whose shoes and storied running history I’ve always been impressed with — but to share a few thoughts about walking. Because the older I get the greater the appreciation I have for it.

A big reason for this is that walking is considerably lower impact than running. It’s estimated that we land with about 1.5-times our body weight when walking compared with about twice that when running. That’s an important consideration as our bodies age and become less capable of absorbing the extra impact.

I’ve been running on a near-daily basis for over 30 years now and consider myself lucky to still be able to do so relatively pain-free. But the pounding definitely produces a few more aches and pains now than it did back when I was in my 20s and 30s.

Not only that, the pace keeps getting slower and slower.

A couple of years ago this slow-down bothered me a bit, but not anymore. Now I’m grateful just to be moving.

In recent years I’ve seen loved ones lose their mobility to age and it’s been heartbreaking. It also has given me a new-found appreciation for walking.

When my running days are over I’ll consider it a blessing if I’m still able to walk.

And when my walking days are over maybe I’ll tell myself what I told my canine buddy Caleb during the last months of his good long life (nearly 15 years) when his rear-end had become paralyzed.

“Walking and running are over-rated buddy,” I’d tell him. “Let’s go sit outside and get some fresh air.”

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Reasons to Participate in Events

The upcoming Spring Fever 5K/10K  in Altoona, Wisc. is a good reminder to me about the value of participating in run/walk events.

One benefit is that they help to keep us motivated in our training.

That is a point that was shared about at an ITC running club banquet a while back by former Spring Fever race director Mark Wise.

As a long-time runner, Mark said that he often gets asked how he stays motivated in his training.

“Sign up for a race,” Mark says.

Doing so helps to keep us motivated, he said, by giving us a goal to shoot for. It also gives us a financial incentive because most of us don’t want to see our money (entry fee) go to waste.

In addition to keeping us motivated, participating in run/walk events comes with a number of other benefits as well. One of these benefits is that they can be a great way to meet people.

I have made many good friends over the years in the hundreds of run/walk events that I have participated in. At the Spring Fever run a number of years ago, in fact, I met a guy named Jeff Miller who is now one of my best friends.

Jeff and I met in the same way that I’ve met many other folks through running events. After running near each other throughout much of the race, we chatted a bit after crossing the finish line.

I don’t remember much about our conversation, other than that Jeff asked about what I did for training.

When I told him that I did a weekly long on Saturday mornings, he asked if he could join me sometime. I said sure and gave him my phone number, not really expecting to hear from him.

Jeff followed up, though, and I will forever be glad that he did. Not only did we hit it off as training partners, a number of other good things came from our running together nearly every Saturday morning for over a decade.

One of the first good things to come of it was that we discovered we had a mutual friend who also was a runner. Pretty soon a wildlife biologist by the name of John Dunn was joining us on our Saturday morning long runs.

The three of us clicked and it wasn’t long before others joined us. Pretty soon our Saturday morning running group consisted of 10 to 15 runners.

We added a Tuesday night track workout to our weekly training regimen and that served to grow our group even further.

For a good 10 or 15 years, our Tuesday night and Saturday morning training groups were a great place to connect with friends and boost our fitness.

As we have aged, our Tuesday night track session has fallen by the wayside and our Saturday morning long-run group has dwindled in numbers. But one thing has remained the same—I have stayed close friends with many members of our Tuesday and Saturday groups, especially Jeff and John.

We get together most every 4th of July and Christmastime to catch up with each other. We also meet up every few months to do the same over dinner.

For a number of years, Jeff, his wife Jeanne and I traveled to Jeff’s hometown of Peoria, IL to run a 4-mile and 15K race called the Steamboat Classic. One of our goals every year—besides having a fun time visiting with Jeff’s family—was to place in our age group because the prize for doing so was a nifty “wooden Illinois.”

While my friendship with Jeff and Jeanne was forged through running, it has blessed me in many other ways as well. None more so than a little over a decade ago when I went through a hard time in my life.

Next to my family, it was Jeff and Jeanne who did the most to get me back on my feet again.

Which is only fitting, I guess. Because it was through a running event—Spring Fever—where I first met them. A running event that I will forever be glad that I signed up for.

So if you’ve been thinking about signing for a run/walk event, I encourage you to do so. Not only will it help to keep you motivated in your training, it might just introduce you to a lifelong friend.

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Happy Feet

This Sunday, March 1st my long-time running buddy Dave will be running his sixth of the six original “major” marathons.

He has already run Boston, Chicago, New York, London, and Berlin and will be running in the Tokyo Marathon.

Dave has been looking forward to his last major for quite a while now and it is for that reason that we both paid special attention to the results of last year’s Tokyo Marathon, which drew 37,000 participants from around the world. And why it was a topic of conversation during a Saturday morning long run about a year ago at this time.

Dave was more interested in the winning times of the 2025 Tokyo Marathon while I was more interested in the fact that Harry Styles had run it.

“Who’s Harry Styles?” Dave wanted to know.

He’s a musician who was in the popular “boy” band One Direction and now is a very successful solo artist, I told him.

That was news to Dave, as he mostly listens to classic rock and country. He seemed to be only mildly interested in Harry’s pop-star status but quite impressed to hear that the he had run a time of 3:24:07 at Tokyo.

I’m impressed as well. Obviously Harry has been doing a significant amount of time pounding the pavement in between cranking out hits such as “As It Was,” “Late Night Talking,” and “Adore You.”

Harry Styles’ running Tokyo got me thinking about some of the other musicians that I know of who are/were runners, such as Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and the late Joe Strummer of the Clash.

It also got me thinking about how closely related running and music always have been for me. I don’t run with ear buds, but I often have a good song going through my head while doing so.

I’m not sure if it’s music that helps to keep me running or running that helps to fill me with music. It’s probably a case of both.

Running and music do much the same thing for me. They help me to relax and to boost my mood. Some of my best runs are when I get a good song going through my head and get a case of what my late running friend Rick called “happy feet.”

It was Rick’s term for what is often referred to as “the zone” or “flow state.” It’s when things are clicking and our run feels easy and joyful.

Sometimes a case of happy feet on the run brings a fast time. Sometimes it brings a good time. Sometimes it brings both.

Here’s hoping that Dave gets a good song in his head while running the Tokyo Marathon this Sunday. It most likely won’t be a Harry Styles song, but hopefully it is a song that gives him a case of happy feet.

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Love is the Law

On this Valentine’s Day weekend I have been inspired to share about love.

The inspiration came from my daily reader, “Hope for Each Day” by Billy Graham.

Today’s Bible verse is Romans 13:8, part of which says that “whoever loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”

This verse—coupled with Valentine’s Day weekend– got me thinking about a number of things.

One of those things is one of my all-time favorite songs, “Love is the Law” by a ‘80s Twin Cities rock band called The Suburbs.

Songwriter Chan Poling got the inspiration for the song when he saw the words “Love is the Law” spray-painted on a wall of a pedestrian tunnel in Minneapolis.

While the song lyrics have nothing directly to do with the above-mentioned Bible verse, they are very much in the same spirit of it. Plus the music is super catchy and upbeat.

The song “Love is the Law” is probably some 40-years-old now but to my ears anyway it is still very much a “banger.” Plus it has positive lyrics to boot.

Its message—plus this being Valentine’s Day weekend—also got me thinking about the card (pictured with this post) that my friend and former co-worker Ma made a few years ago. It features a photo of my late buddy Caleb, who taught me a whole lot about love.  

I totally agree with what it says on the list of “Things We Learn from a Dog” plaque that I have hanging in my home. At the top of the list is “How to Love Unconditionally.”

Loving unconditionally is something that Billy Graham shares in his reflection on Romans 13:8 in the daily devotional I mentioned above.

“Prejudice or hatred of any person because of his or her racial, ethnic, or religious background is wrong,” he writes. “God labels it sin.”

“God created every one of us,” Graham writes, “and when we hate someone who is different from us, we are hating someone who God has made and who is valuable in his sight.”

With all of the hate that seems to be going around these days I find these words to be a great reminder.

On Valentine’s Day weekend, it’s a reminder that “Love is the Law.”

Not just with our sweetheart, but with our enemies as well.

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Critter Visits

It’s getting to be that time of year again here in the upper Midwest.

Time to check for and seal up gaps around doors, windows, and the foundation where cold air and critters may slip in during the upcoming winter months.

One place that definitely should be sealed up is where an HVAC/central air conditioning system makes its way into our home. As I learned the hard way this summer, apparently that is a popular entry point for pests.

For a week or so this past August, I had more mouse sightings in my home than I care to admit.

It was baffling—and more than a little unnerving, as mice totally freak me out—until a pest control guy named Steve pointed out what most likely was the source of the problem. There was a good-sized gap where the pipe from the air-conditioning unit ran into my house.

Sure enough, after sealing the gap the mouse issue went away.

But that didn’t spell the end of my encounters with small four-legged critters in recent months. My latest came in early fall while watering my outdoor plants.

When I went to pour from the watering can nothing came out. I checked the spout to see if it was clogged with leaves as it had been one other time but that didn’t appear to be the problem. I tried again but still no water came out.

Apparently the clog was below the spout so I decided to dump all of the water out and give the can a thorough cleaning. As I was doing so the culprit appeared.  A toad came out from inside the can and clung onto the top edge of it.

I have to admit that I was pretty startled. I am not afraid of toads as I am of mice, but I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of them, either. And I certainly didn’t expect to see one come crawling out of my watering can.

I took some photos of the toad before it hopped off. Then I picked up the watering can to finish cleaning it out.

That is when another toad hopped out.

This one was a brighter green than the other one. It also was more active. It only stood still for a few seconds before it hopped off.

Where the two toads came from and hopped off to I have no idea. And that’s just fine with me as long as they—and the mice—stay out of my house.

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Late Bloomers

As we say goodbye to summer and hello to fall one of the many things that I am grateful for is late bloomers.

While fall is a beautiful time of year here in the upper Midwest—what with the changing colors and abundant sunshine that we usually get—I have to say that it’s always hard to see summer go. Its abundance of warm air, sunshine, birds, plants, and flowers is hard to beat for the amount of joy that it brings into our lives.

Having to see these things go is one reason why I enjoy the sight of late bloomers this time of year. It is mid October as I write this and I have tomato, morning glory, and cosmos plants that are still blooming in my garden.

The sight of them helps to keep alive a taste of summer even as it comes to a close. It also gives me hope in my personal life as well.

Without divulging my exact age—yes, I am getting a little vain, defensive and probably in a fair amount of denial about it—I have to admit that I am well into what are often referred to as my “sunset” years.

Sometimes this realization makes me sad. But then I remember what my faith teaches me.

The Bible is filled with people who God used to do great things when they were well into their “sunset” years.

The Bible also tells us that for those who believe, our “sunset” years are actually a sunrise because the paradise of heaven awaits us.

It’s a reassurance that helps me to strike a happy balance between holding on and letting go. I can hold on to the sunshine of summer while letting go of my disappointment that it doesn’t last longer.

All while giving thanks for the tomatoes, morning glories, cosmos, and all of the other late bloomers out there!

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Favorite Colors

Back when we were kids my sister Betsy and I had a running argument about our favorite colors.

She maintained that there is more blue in the world while I argued that there is more green.

Looking back, I am willing to admit that Betsy was probably right. With the sky overhead and the numerous lakes, rivers, and oceans below, there is probably way more blue in the world than there is green.

But I still say that my favorite color is pretty well-represented as well, what with all of the grass, plants, and leaves that cover God’s green Earth.

There are a couple of reasons why I recently found myself thinking of green and blue.

One was a weekly visit to the family lake place in northern Minnesota. The sky always seems a little bluer and the trees a little greener up north.

The other was an excellent sermon at my church recently—Peace Lutheran in Eau Claire, Wisc.—about how we humans are a part of God’s creation. The Bible tells us that God made us from dust, after he created the heavens and the earth.

Science backs up this link between us humans and the rest of God’s creation in that we have learned that human DNA has much in common with the DNA of other living things on earth.

It’s good to remember the connectedness we have with the other parts of God’s creation, Pastor Ethan shared in the sermon, because it helps to keep us grounded.

As humans, it seems, we have a tendency to overemphasize the mental side of things. We can easily get so caught up in our head—our thoughts, worries, fears, and ruminations–that we go down the proverbial rabbit hole and wind up getting lost in our own little world.

One good way to prevent this from happening is to stay grounded in the physical part of God’s creation.  And one of the many awesome parts of God’s creation that he/she has blessed us with is color.

There are the aforementioned green and blue.

The brown and white sands of the beaches.

The brown and black soil of the fields.

The black, brown, gray, and red rocks of the mountains.

The yellow, red, and orange leaves in the fall.

And the brilliant greens, reds, pinks, and purples of the northern lights that I keep seeing photos of online but never seem to see in person.

Part of that is because I live in a fairly big city where bright lights, homes, buildings, and trees block my view of the horizon.

Another is that I don’t do my daily run after dark.

If I did run late in the evening, I’d probably come to an open stretch where I’d have a full view of the horizon and be treated to the sight of northern lights if they were out.

But I am mainly a morning—and sometimes early evening—runner. So the aerial display of colors that I am often treated to comes via sunrises, sunsets, and amazing morning and evening skies. And they are more than enough to remind me of a couple of things.

One is that my sister was probably right. There probably is more blue in the world than there is green.

Two is that with so many beautiful colors above, below, and around us, our world must have been created by a loving God.

The chance to enjoy all of this beauty is one of the many things that I love about running and walking outdoors for exercise.

Like many people, one way that I find God is in the G.O.D. (great out doors).

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Hydration is Good for the Nation

During a recent hot (85 degrees or so) and humid 9-mile run I found myself conjuring up some memories related to hydration.

One memory dates back to an event that I worked at a decade or so ago.

It was a “Safety Days” vendor demo that highlighted home and childhood safety products. A band called “McGruff and the Crime Dogs” played at the event and one of their songs was called “Dehydration is Bad for the Nation.”

This song popped into my head during the recent hot and humid run, probably because about halfway through it I was starting to feel pretty parched. The nearest water fountain—or “bubbler” as they are referred to by some here in Wisconsin—was at a park several miles up the road.

Fortunately I was able to make it to the park without any issues other than slowing considerably and sweating profusely. As I was rehydrating at the fountain I caught sight of another runner passing through the park, who turned out to be longtime friend John Konkel.

Our first and only topic of conversation was—you guessed it— the heat and humidity. John mentioned Grandma’s Marathon that was taking place that morning and how the last time he ran there it was a “black-flag” event.

An event that is black-flagged means that it is cancelled while a yellow flag means to proceed with caution and red with extreme caution.

John’s mention of Grandma’s brought back another memory I have related to hydration.

The last time that I ran Grandma’s—also my last marathon—I don’t believe there was yet any kind of flag system used for rating distance-event weather conditions.  There also wasn’t near as much knowledge about the importance of staying hydrated.

As I recall, it was a sunny, fairly warm day—probably in the low 60s. Besides that I don’t remember much other than that I finished the marathon and the last few miles seemed to take forever.

Back at my motel room afterwards, it wasn’t long before I had a splitting headache and was throwing up. I spent a long, miserable afternoon lying in bed with a cold rag on my head while learning a painful lesson about dehydration.

A couple of my takeaways from that unpleasant experience were that the marathon is not for me and that it’s important to take in fluids during a distance event.

During my last warm-weather race—the Steamboat Classic 15K in Peoria, Ill.—I stayed hydrated by doing something that I never would have dreamed of doing back during my more competitive days of running. I took the time to stop at the water stops and take in fluids.

It’s something that I’d never done before because I always figured that I’d lose too much in the way of finishing time and place.

What I found out, though, was quite the opposite. Whatever time and place I lost by stopping to take a drink, I more than gained back after I resumed running. Taking the time to stay hydrated, I learned, can definitely save time in the long run.

More importantly, I’ve learned that staying hydrated can save a lot of suffering. Not just in running but in life. As anyone who has been dehydrated can tell you, it is not a pleasant experience. Not to mention that it can lead to a whole host of health issues.

McGruff & The Crime Dogs are right–“Dehydration is Bad for the Nation.”

It’s almost always a good idea to take the time to take a drink of water.

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Celebrating Our Freedoms Through Running

This year I did the fourth 4th of July run of my life.

In Minnesota I have run the Langford Park 4-Mile in St. Anthony Park, the Firecracker 10K in Excelsior, and Grandpa’s Run for the Walleye 5K in Cross Lake.

Now I can add the Mondovi EMS 5-Mile in Wisconsin to the list of 4th of July fun runs I have done.

When I say “fun run” I can just hear a chuckle from Landon, one of my former co-workers.

“Huh,” he chuckled, when I invited him several years ago to a fun run that I was helping to organize through the ITC running club that I am involved with. “Fun and run do not go together.”

I totally understand why running is probably not on many people’s list of fun things to do on the 4th. If you’re not trained for it—and oftentimes even when you are– running can be pretty painful.

This can especially be the case when the weather is nasty, such as on hot, humid mornings like we had this year on the 4th.

Despite the steamy conditions, however, running the Mondovi EMS 5-Mile was a great way to kick off Independence Day. And a very fitting one as well.

Some of the many things that running on a regular basis helps to give us freedom from are obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, anxiety, dementia, and depression.

Another thing that participating in fun runs can help to give us freedom from is loneliness, which many reports have found is a significant problem for many people these days.

While it’s certainly possible to participate in a running event and not talk to anyone, my experience has almost always been quite the opposite. At most every running event I have participated in over the years—and there have been hundreds of them—I have almost always made some new acquaintances and/or reconnected with some long-time friends.

While running is not a cure-all for any of the above-mentioned issues, it definitely can be very helpful in giving us freedom from them. That is why I plan to keep running and walking for exercise on a regular basis for as long as I am able to do so.