For the past 12 years I have had the good fortune of serving as race director of the Carson Park 5 & 10 (Carson), 5K and 10-mile run/walk in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

A big reason that I consider it good fortune is that I have long had a deep appreciation for the history of the event.

Founded in 1969, Carson is the first organized run/walk event in western Wisconsin, as well as the first put on by the ITC running club that I have long been a member of.

In my view this long history is a cause for celebration both because of the numerous health benefits that running and walking provide and the friendships they help to build.

Not only has my participation over the years in Carson and numerous other run/walk events done much to help keep me both physically and mentally fit, it  has helped me to make many great friends.

Running can definitely be a solitary pursuit, which is one of the many things that I love about it. Spending some time alone on the run is one of the best ways that I know of to clear my head and focus my thoughts.

Just as running together is one of the best ways that I know of to spark great conversation and develop a friendship with someone. I’ve been fortunate to have made many great friends over the years while logging miles with them, not just during training runs but during races as well.

Back when I was a competitive runner, some of my biggest rivals became some of my best friends. There is something about pushing each other to our limits that makes us grow and appreciate one another.

Now that I am more of a running event organizer than a competitive runner, I have found many of the same things to be true. In organizing the Carson Park 5 & 10 for the past 12 years, I have grown friendships with many wonderful people. In fact, probably even a broader spectrum of people than when I was strictly a runner.

In organizing this year’s 53^rd annual Carson, for example, I had the pleasure of working with and getting to know Rachel Lange of the Wisconsin Logging Museum and Rachel Meyer of the Chippewa Valley Museum.

I also was fortunate to have the help of a number of my co-workers, most of whom are not runners themselves. Shown with me (center) in the posted photo are co-workers Joe Mabie (aka Joe Bunyan) who did the PA announcing for the event and Logan Enerson (aka “The Dude”), who helped with course setup and giving out awards.

Joe is an occasional runner while Logan to my knowledge has little to no interest in running.

But they both are good friends who I have grown to appreciate even more thanks to running.

If I had to choose a favorite part of the day it probably would be morning.

This has not always been the case, as for much of my life I was more of a night owl than a morning person.

This began to change about 12 years ago, however when I switched from being an evening to a morning runner. Instead of running after work I began to run before work.

Another big change in my daily schedule came when I added morning prayer/meditation/Bible reading to my daily routine.

Every morning I sit at my kitchen table and let God fill me with his love.

The longer I do this the more convinced I am that my morning prayer time is the most important part of my day. It is when God charges me with the power to have a fruitful day.

I got a wonderful confirmation of this during my prayer time yesterday when I looked out the patio door window next to my kitchen table and saw my first morning glory bloom of the season. I’ve always liked morning glories for their hardiness, colorful blooms, and vigorous way that their leaves climb and spread.

Seeing my first morning glory bloom of the season during my morning prayer was a wonderful confirmation of how–when we give God the glory–he puts glory in our day.

On this Independence Day weekend we celebrate our freedom.

So it seems like a good time to celebrate the freedom that Christian faith and aerobic fitness give to me.

It’s a long, wonderful list of freedoms that I could go on and on about.

I’d rather not do so now because I, like many others I am sure, am looking forward to spending much of my Independence Day weekend enjoying a whole lot of down time.

So in the interest of brevity, I will simply share a list of some of the things that a regular Christian faith and aerobic fitness practice—which for me is running, dog-walking, and spinning, with a little bike-riding thrown in– give me freedom from.

They are, in no particular order: worry, fear, inactivity, brain fog, extra weight, low self-esteem, emotional baggage, and negativity.

I know that a regular faith and fitness practice will never totally free me from all of these issues. And that’s just fine because having to wrestle with them from time to time can often be a good thing.

I’m just grateful that a Christian faith and aerobic fitness practice do for me  exactly what is shared in Hebrews 12: 1-3. It helps me to throw off all that hinders and run the race marked out for me.

On this Independence Day weekend and every day, that definitely is a freedom worth celebrating!

Probably my favorite part of my favorite morning running route is a short stretch through a small neighborhood park.

One thing that I like about it is that it puts me onto my community’s ever-expanding trail system.

I live in a small to mid-sized city—Eau Claire, Wisconsin, population 68,000–that boasts more miles of fitness trails than any city in the Badger State other than much-bigger Madison. That is definitely one of the big things that I love about living here.

Another thing that I love about it is that it has a good amount of natural beauty. Two large rivers flow through the area—the Eau Claire and Chippewa rivers. Adding to the natural beauty are pastoral, gently rolling hills with plenty of green grass, green trees, and green corn and soybeans. Oh yeah, there are a lot of cows too!

I live and run in the city now, so I don’t see cows anymore on my daily run like I did for many years when I lived in the country. What I do get to see on my current favorite running route, though, is a thick forest of tall trees. It’s not a big forest—about a block long by a block wide—but it definitely is a scenic one.

It’s where I often see wildlife—mostly deer. Where I find shade on hot morning runs. Where I often see and say hello to other runners, walkers, and bikers. And where, most importantly, I get to soak in some of God’s amazing natural beauty.

In wellness circles I’ve been hearing the term “forest bath” being used for describing the benefit of getting out in nature. While that term may be a bit “new agey” for an old-school native Midwestern like me, it is an excellent way to describe it.

I definitely consider myself blessed to have a convenient place to take a “forest bath” on my run most every morning!

Two of the greatest gifts that my parents passed on to me are an appreciation for Christian faith and running.

I will forever be grateful that while I was growing up they brought me (and my brother and sister) to church.

We didn’t have far to go, as our church—Como Park Lutheran in St. Paul, Minnesota—was just a block and a half down the road. It took some doing to get us there, though, as none of us kids were exactly early-risers.

One of my fond childhood memories is of my Mom and Dad more or less “dragging” the three of us kids down the street to church.

I sure am glad they did so, because the Christian faith that they introduced us to has been a huge life-saver and life-giver to me over the years. I can’t imagine trying to do life without it.

Another huge life-saving, life-giving gift to me over the years—also introduced to me by my Father—is running.

I took it up during my college days, after I was done with the organized sports (mainly hockey) that kept me in shape during my younger years. It was pointed out to me by my girlfriend at the time that I was putting on some weight around the middle.

What can I say? I definitely have some vanity when it comes to my physical appearance.

Fortunately my Father was way ahead of his time and was running for fitness back in the mid-1970s. For him it was not for vanity reasons but because the aerobic exercise of running made him feel better.

It took me a few years to catch on, but I sure am glad that I did. Running has done a ton over the years to improve my life by boosting my mood and energy level and lowering my anxiety level. Not to mention all of the friendships that it has brought into my life.

Looking back, it’s pretty awesome that it all started with my Father on the same street—Hoyt Avenue—that borders Falcon Heights and St. Paul, Minnesota. It’s the street where I was first led to the gifts of Christian faith and aerobic fitness.

Thanks Dad!

Like many runners and walkers, one of my favorite things about getting outdoors during spring and summer is enjoying the beauty of freshly blooming trees, plants, and flowers.

Back when I lived and ran in the country, seeing orange and purple “ditch” lilies and iris always gave me a nice boost while logging miles on the rolling hills of western Wisconsin.

Now that I live and run in the city, spring lilac blooms are one of my favorite sights. Not only are they colorful they are super fragrant as well.

Yesterday during my weekly Saturday morning long run along the beautiful Chippewa River, I remarked to my two running buddies that we should make it our goal to be able to identify all of the flora and fauna along the trail. I was mostly joking, though the more I think about it the more I think that this would be a very worthwhile goal.

Much of what I know when it comes to flora and fauna is thanks to running on a weekly basis for many years with my good friends Jeff and John. One was a forestry major and the other a wildlife manager so they were rarely stumped when it came to the ID of trees, plants, flowers, or wildlife seen on the run.

Now that Jeff and John aren’t running with our group anymore—we’re still good friends, they just have cut back on their running—I guess I’ll have to figure out another way of expanding my flora and fauna knowledge.

I’m sure that it would be well worth the effort. One thing that I’ve learned from logging miles is that knowing the names of trees, plants, flowers, and wildlife only increases the enjoyment when getting some outdoor exercise!

If I had to choose a favorite season to run and walk outdoors in it probably would be spring.

Its warmer temps feel so good after a long, cold winter.  The sight of green grass, budding leaves, and colorful flowers also lifts our spirit and puts an extra spring in our step.

While the trees and flowers get most of our attention when enjoying the outdoors in the spring—and rightfully so– they aren’t the only thing that marks its arrival. At least not for me anyway.

For me, one of the first harbingers of spring is seeing worms in my driveway as I head out the door for my morning run. This tells me that the ground has thawed enough for a spring rain to bring them to the surface.

While worms may not be as attractive as trees and flowers, from what I understand they help both of them to grow by aerating and fertilizing the soil.

So when there are worms in the road after a spring rain, I do my best not to step on them.

I guess in that way worms, like spring flowers, also help to put some spring in my step!

Seeing the beauty of nature has always been a big part of what I enjoy about exercising outdoors.  It just seems to have become a bigger part of it as I have gotten older.

Maybe it’s because I’m moving more slowly and have more time to take in the sights.

Like many outdoor exercisers, I’m sure, one of my favorite sights when out for a run or walk is sunrises and sunsets.  The sunrise shared here was especially memorable in that it felt as though I was meant to see it.

It came into view just as I was cresting a challenging hill on a route that I hadn’t taken in close to a year. It’s the route that I usually run when I want to push myself out of my comfort zone a little. So seeing the sunrise felt to me like a sign that I was on the right track by picking up the pace a bit.

Seeing this sunrise on what was the first day of spring also felt like an encouraging sign. After a long, cold, covid-filled winter, it felt as though I was being told that brighter days are ahead.

On the morning of my run, my spirit was lifted by the beauty of the sunrise.

The following morning, I returned with my camera and got some photos of it, making sure to raise my shutter speed the way that a photographer friend, Cherrita, advised me to do when taking a photo of a sunrise or sunset.

It must be a sign of getting old that I am becoming more interested in shutter speed than running speed!

This past week I rediscovered some of the joys of cross training with a spin bike.

I first gained an appreciation for spinning way back in the 1980s, shortly after I ran the first of three marathons that I have completed in my life. Running 26.2 miles all in one shot left me feeling pretty banged up. For a week or so afterwards running just didn’t seem to be a healthy form of exercise to me.

 So I invested in a spin bike so that I could get my daily aerobic exercise in a way that involved less pounding.

I gained an even greater appreciation for spinning about 10 years later, when I ran my lifetime PR for the half-marathon off of an exercise regimen that involved roughly 2/3s running and 1/3 spinning.

Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t stick with that training “formula” for more of my time as a competitive runner, because it brought me such good results. The main reason I didn’t is that overall I enjoy exercising outdoors more than I do indoors.

Spinning does have a number of benefits, though, which I rediscovered on two days this week when I decided to spin rather than run.

One of the big benefits of switching it up through cross training is that we work different muscles. For regular runners such as me, another benefit is that it gives our body a break from some of the “pounding” involved with running.

Another thing that I enjoy about spinning is that one can read while doing it. Not only does this help to take some of the tedium out of stationary exercise, it helps to boost our brain power. Studies indicate that our brains learn especially well during and immediately after aerobic exercise.

For a detailed explanation about this phenomenon and the many other mental/cognitive health benefits of aerobic exercise, check out the book “Spark” by John Ratey, M.D.

As I get older, my guess is that cross training is something that I will turn to more often as a way to keep moving. My plan for now is to substitute it for running once or twice a week.

Not only will this help to give my aging body a break, it will help me to catch up on my reading list as well!

For quite a few years now, part of my fitness routine is to give myself some extra rest on the weekend.

Part of this rest—along with spending quite a bit of time reading on the couch– is to give myself a break from one of the dietary practices that I try to follow during the week, which is to steer clear of excessive amounts of sugar.  

I’ve always had a healthy appetite for sweet snacks. As a kid, for example, I stopped at the corner drugstore almost every day while on my paper route to buy an afternoon snack of five Reese’s peanut butter cups.

If I still ate like that I’d be obese, have diabetes, or both. So over the years I have developed what I believe to be a pretty good practice for keeping my sweet tooth in check.

During the week I keep a pretty close eye on my sugar intake. On the weekends, I give this discipline a bit of a rest and indulge a little.

The key words here are “a little.” As most anyone with a sweet tooth will tell you, it’s often a challenge to have “just one” cookie, piece of candy, or other sweet treat.

It will be a special challenge during the coming weekends in that my annual order of Girl Scout cookies just arrived. Next to M & M’s, Dove chocolate, and Red Vines licorice, it doesn’t get much better than thin mints and peanut butter patties for a sweet tooth like me.

This year is a special treat in that I have what is for me a new variety to sample—s’mores. Based on what I’ve heard about them, it’s a fitting name in that it will be a challenge not to eat s’more of them than I should at one sitting.

I am confident that I can meet the challenge, however, thanks in part to being called out several years ago by a friend who saw my weekday/weekend dietary practice in action over an extended period of time. She pointed out that I was likely negating any dietary gains I made by avoiding excessive sugar intake during the week by taking in excessive amounts of it on the weekend.

The key, I have learned, is portion control. Several cookies is fine. Several boxes, not so much.

So during the coming weekends I’ll be doing my best to eat the s’mores and peanut butter patties one cookie rather than one sleeve at a time. But I’ll definitely be eating them!

The way I see it, life is too short not to eat Girl Scout cookies and other sweet treats.