LET'S TRY NOT TO GET ON EACH OTHER's NERVES: BAD, GOOD, BAD NEWS

Boat loops lot. Taken by PKSenagore April 3, 2020.

​GOVERNMENTAL DIRECTIVES TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS ARE REQUIRING that we not leave our homes except to accomplish essential tasks. That’s the bad news that is no longer news to hardly anyone.  The flip-side good news has been that exercising is officially deemed essential. Yay!!!  
 
Of course, there are warnings that we should not be driving to faraway sites but rather staying within our own neighborhoods, that we not gather in groups, and that we still maintain the 6 feet of distance between ourselves and others.  
 
As wonderful as this might seem, suddenly we are stepping outside to find our usual beloved paths, sidewalks, trails, and parks filled with other people, even crowded at times.  There are more dogs than ever walking and running with their people with on these surfaces, doing what dogs do, like doo-doo. 
 
The crowds include walkers, runners, bicyclists, ambling families with strollers, toddlers, and children on scooters; there are oldsters with canes. On my favorite running route near the lake there are oodles of fishermen and women leaning on the sides of the boardwalks and walkways, angling for a catch and peace of mind. 
 
You know what I’m talking about. And we’re starting to get on each other’s nerves.  

It's bad news. We’re irritated at each other and anxious about our health.  
 
As cloth masks are soon to be blooming on faces, contagion-risk fears might lessen even as health leaders say these coverings should not replace distancing.  How can we remain pleasant and supportive members of this new COVID-19 society while outdoors exercising? 
 
Here is my list of suggestions:

• Intellectually accept that every person has the right to use outdoor exercise to boost health, even if your gut reaction is different.
• Assume you/everyone might be infected yet asymptomatic (this concept was called ‘universal precautions’ in the early days of AIDS); follow directives to stay 6 feet away and wear a cloth mask. Even if it means stopping and surrendering the right of way to on-comers to be safe.
• Exercise in the area surrounding your home; don’t travel to find a location you think may be less crowded or more scenic it’s likely to be worse. 
• Use your own driveway, yard, outdoor space to accomplish some exercise goals when possible
• Walk dogs close to home then leave them at home during exercise sessions if bringing them along will add to crowding of outdoor spaces.
• When exercising with children limit bicycle and scooter use if it adds to crowding. 
• Avoid the busiest times of the day for serious outdoor exercise in public spaces; slow down to be courteous when needed.
• Substitute workouts aimed at building strength and improving balance and mobility for one or more aerobic distance sessions.  
• Utilize empty parking lots*/areas/ramps when possible; consider them to be like indoor gym tracks that are used in bad weather months, which typically measure 8-12 or more laps/mile
• Accept the fact that respectful sharing is required in times like these.

I’ve noticed that as the days/weeks of restrictions continue the attitudes of exercisers have improved. It seems like there is a softening occurring in our treatment of one another; we are in it together. 
 
And I think we may have realized it’s better to find smaller less crowded spaces than our usual and popular, but now very busy, routes. Because my state park neighborhood has so many additional exercisers these days I’ve taken to running/walking loops of a nearby marina’s parking lot underneath boat hulls. 
 
It’s safer and quieter.
 
RUN & MOVE HAPPY!
 
*Back in the day at my small city’s Catholic elementary school, we got our outdoor recess and lunch exercise on a parking lot. The school did not have playground equipment or places to sit, just a surface for running around, jumping rope, and playing ordinary stand-up kid games. Kind of the like the playground in the movie “The Christmas Story” where Ralphie’s friend Flick took the dare to touch his tongue to a frozen fence pole. https://www.cinemablend.com/new/How-Christmas-Story-Actually-Filmed-Infamous-Tongue-Scene-101537.html