Get to Gallivanting

Well, we finally had zero excuse to bypass running; this weekend’s weather was a full 20 degrees cooler than it has been (yes, I’m excluding Sunday—it helps my story flow a little better if I do), which made each step seem just that little bit easier.  3 miles became 4 (with the same amount of effort you put in last week to make it those 3), 5 miles became 6, and 10 miles became 12 (these are just arbitrary numbers, but you get the picture).  I saw more people out gallivanting than I have in a long, long time…and it was a welcome sight indeed.  I recently did a podcast (as a way of advertising a talk I’ll be giving in a couple of weeks), and was asked why I thought bringing running to the masses—specifically in Savannah—was such a valuable thing.  And my answer was this: that running—or anything that keeps you active, honestly—tends to make and keep you happy.  There are countless studies out there that prove this…but unscientifically, I see it day in and day out both in the store and at races: people that are active life longer, happier lives because they run into less health problems and are able to do more with the years still ahead of them.  Essentially, being active keeps us younger longer.  And who doesn’t love that?!  So when I saw car after car pull up to the store for their run on Saturday morning, and saw people walking their dogs and jogging with their strollers as I drove through my neighborhood Friday night…well, I found myself smiling, because I knew how happy they were, too.  And all it took was a brief weather respite to remind us all how much we love all those miles we pound through, month after month and year after year.  I can’t guarantee the weather—heck, I can barely guarantee that I’ll make it a full 45 minutes without eating something—but I can guarantee that if you’re not running (which I highly recommend, obviously), do something; you’ll be happier for having done so.  So don’t just stand there: get to gallivanting already!