“Are you vaccinated?” Michael asked as I saw him at the AVA gallery parking lot.

I hadn’t seen him in a few years, my art teacher. I was so happy seeing him after so long, I wanted to hug him. When he asked me if I was vaccinated, I knew it was because he wanted to hug me. He stepped toward me and me towards him.

“Yes, and I am boosted too,” it felt so good to say.

We hugged and caught up on the happenings of the last few years.

Today was day 511 on my running streak but this morning I thought I might quit. My rules are at least one mile running and it must be outside. My goal is 1000 days in a row. I usually do two miles but I wanted the daily goal to be realistic and easily attainable. The outside part is the hardest for me. Lots of people say they are an outdoorsy person. I’m not. I grew up in the city, afraid of dogs. So running outside really challenges me.

I’m getting sick of it though and I feel like quitting. Why bother with this? Why even have this goal? I just did the Hanover Turkey Trot and I was the last to finish. No matter that my pace was a 12-minute mile which is fine for me, I was still last. But worse was that I was out of breath, sore and tired.

Deconditioned, or out of shape. I like the term deconditioned; it sounds more athletic. But I need to get stronger. I’ve been doing yoga on Mondays but nothing else besides the daily run. My once a week long run has dwindled to as little as six miles. Ugh.

So today I thought, “This doesn’t really matter, I am going to quit, it’s not doing me any good, I am getting old and weak. I need to do classes at the CCBA or something.” Somehow my brain was thinking if I wasn’t doing a daily run, I could more easily do classes at the CCBA. As if it has to be one or the other. But I thought, “Come on, do at least one mile.” I parked at the Lebanon Green, put on map my run and started out. I decided to run through the AVA Gallery parking lot to get some inspiration for art. I like to paint and draw. That’s when I spotted Michael. What a gift and a joy to see this old friend. He explained he’d gotten cancer, another scan coming up to check on what he hopes is remission and he recovered from getting hit by a car as a pedestrian. I got a reward for running today. Then I came home and did a virtual strength class at the CCBA. I don’t have to do this all or nothing. That’s my tendency- black and white thinking. But today I saw that getting out in the sunshine, feeling the cool air on my face and the fresh air is also a reward.

Why do I run? Why run outside? Why a streak? The streak gets me out the door. Many days I might have been indoors all day if not for the run. The run outside gives me time for myself. If I run on my treadmill, I’m still available for questions from my kids. So running outside is good for my mind and good for my body because I get vitamin D. I think the sunshine and running helps me not get depressed.

Why do you run? I’ll keep going.