Category: Well-being

Running With a Mask at the Ready

, , Slice of Life, Well-being1 Comment on Running With a Mask at the Ready
Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 2.671mm, f/2.2, 1/550 sec, ISO100
 “Covered Up” Cedar Park, 2020

During this pandemic, I stay away from routes where there are a lot of people, specifically the hike & bike paths that are too narrow to keep a safe distance from other people. So that means I stick to my neighborhood streets where I can run in the road or easily cross to the other side to stay socially distant. However, there are some parts where I have to run on a narrow pathway or sidewalk, which is why I always carry a disposable mask.

I will just put the mask around my wrist, and it’s so light that it doesn’t interfere at all with the running experience. But when I am running on one of these narrow sections and I see another pedestrian or cyclist, I’ll put the mask on. It literally takes just three or four seconds, so why not? Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly?) I haven’t seen any other runners using masks, but maybe now that they’ve seen my put on my mask, it will normalize it to them (or maybe they will feel a little ashamed), and they will start doing the same. Hey, we have to look out for one another!

In other running news, I saw this really great sidewalk art version of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Very cool!

Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 3.95mm, f/1.8, 1/1500 sec, ISO100
 “Sidewalk Art” Cedar Park, 2020
Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 3.95mm, f/1.8, 1/2000 sec, ISO100
 “Sidewalk Art” Cedar Park, 2020
Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 3.95mm, f/1.8, 1/1600 sec, ISO100
 “Sidewalk Art” Cedar Park, 2020

I hope you had a great day!

“I Don’t See Color”

, , Misc., Slice of Life, Well-being1 Comment on “I Don’t See Color”

I was reading a thread in a forum, and one of the commenters said “I don’t see color”, with the intention of conveying that race shouldn’t matter. Honestly, I thought this was an admirable sentiment, but soon learned how problematic this phrase is. I spent some time reading about the reasons why, and I now consider myself a bit more educated than I was a little while ago. I’m linking the articles below:

After 51-years of life, I’m still figuring out what it means to be mixed/multiple-ethnicity. It’s complicated, but fascinating, and surprisingly challenging to find information or groups that discuss mixed-Asian ethnicity (Asian-Asian, not Asian-Caucasian, Asian-Black, etc.).

******************

On a side note, the original commenter’s reaction to the links to the articles was defensive and hostile, instantly devolving into name-calling and personal attacks. Which reminds me of the saying, “when you resort to ad hominem attacks, you’ve already lost”, as in the entertaining feud between James Altucher and Jerry Seinfeld.

Snapshot While Running

, , , Slice of Life, Well-beingLeave a Comment on Snapshot While Running
Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 3.95mm, f/1.8, 1/2700 sec, ISO101
 “Cloud up the Hill” Cedar Park, 2020

This is one of the longer hills near our house but the school bus gave me an extra bit of motivation to power up it today.

When facing a big hill, I usually think of a saying: “Just keep your legs moving and let the top of the hill come to you.” It’s worked every time! 😊

Have a great day!

Triple Exercise

, , , , Cycling, Slice of Life, Well-beingLeave a Comment on Triple Exercise
“Evening Stats” Cedar Park, 2020

Wow, what an active day that I had! The weather was fantastic in the morning, so I headed out for a short 2.5 mile run. I often run (and bicycle) to the elementary school that Bay and Koa attended, and it is always a mental pick-me-up as I remember the good times watching them grow up. It seems like just yesterday they were attending Cox Elementary!

As I ran by the front, I took a photo of this sign, which shows the first phase of the re-opening during the pandemic. I hope this the the only time they will have a sign like this on display.

Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 3.95mm, f/1.8, 1/1200 sec, ISO100
 “Reopening” Cedar Park, 2020

In the evening, I had to go for a bicycle ride around the neighborhood, and that included both Cox Elementary again and the other elementary school on the other side of the neighborhood and the football stadium that is used by the district’s high schools. At that time I was treated to a nice sunset:

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec, ISO200
 “Sunset” Cedar Park, 2020

On my way home, I received a text message from Koa asking if I wanted to throw the baseball over at the school, so I headed over to Cox for the third time today! We threw the ball until it got dark (and my arm was tired) and then came home to my second shower of the day.

It was a lot of physical activity (running, cycling, baseball) but I feel great! Thankful for my relatively good health as I approach age 52. Whee!

10K Challenge Complete

, , , Slice of Life, Well-beingLeave a Comment on 10K Challenge Complete
“11k” Cedar Park, 2020

Today there were plenty of clouds and the temperature was only 89° F when I headed out for a run. These cooler conditions let me run farther today than I did a couple of days ago when I wilted under the intense Texas sun. There was also a really nice breeze so I totally enjoyed the run (more of a jog, really) and was able to complete my September 10K challenge early. Yay!

Hitting that milestone again is great, but what is really neat is that I wasn’t tired. I could have gone farther if I had more time.

When I was in my twenties, I used to run a lot and I noticed that there’s a point in your training at which it seems you can just keep running indefinitely. It’s a really neat feeling because you stop worrying about how far from home you can go on your route, and instead are free to wander down different streets and trails on a whim.

I used to enjoy exploring the city of Monterey Park where I lived at the time, and later when I moved to West Los Angeles and the area around UCLA. It’s kind of my goal to keep my legs in just enough shape to stay in this level. When I visited China a couple of years ago I could explore around the hotels without worry, and when we visit my mother-in-law in Osaka, I love cruising around the city. Even visiting my folks in my hometown of Torrance, I can run to the ocean and back. It’s so fun!

I like this kind of motivation for running, rather than something like losing weight. It’s something to look forward to for sure. I guess it’s about the journey rather than the destination. There are lots of cool things to see and hear while running (an bicycling too). I really enjoy it.