Kids in Ethiopia having fun playing.
“FOR MY HEALTH”
It’s been a different kind of Spring for me this year. Where normally I would be out bike touring with Peter, my husband, for much of the season of rebirth, I had to settle on a 10-day trip that felt more like a tease than a trip when compared to the usual one-month journey we take. And this year, I biked with friends, not Peter, because he is on a real journey that began two months ago, and will continue for at least two more.
He is kayaking the Inside Passage, essentially from the Washington border up through to Alaska. This two thousand-kilometre ocean stretch is something he has wanted to do for two decades. Lucky for him, he has a friend who is just as nuts and decided to do the trip with Peter. It’s difficult being apart, yet I cannot help but feel happy for Peter because this is giving him so much happiness. He is realising a dream and when one is living one’s dream, the resulting enthusiasm and pure joy is contagious. I only wish I could be there with him. As an athlete in a sport that requires big, strong legs, sitting in a kayak for 3 or 4 months would spell the end of my life as a speed skater. I would have stick legs at the end and I can’t imagine how difficult, if not impossible, it would be to build back that muscle.
Instead, I’ve been all over Canada, and even to Africa, for various events. Instead of the normal bike training (save for the big-mile days of that short coastal bike tour in Northern California I did with my friends) I’ve been running instead. It’s more practical to put in hours running when in an urban environment, and I’d rather run on a treadmill than ride a stationary bike any day. There’s more bang for your buck while running, and though I am not a natural runner, I really enjoy being out on my own feet, without a machine. I feel a great satisfaction covering 20 kilometres by foot.
Every city or town I’ve been in, I’ve gone out running. These outings have been interesting, and sometimes scary, like the time last week when a car almost nailed me because the driver was in such a rush he forgot to look before turning. And I thought only the bike was dangerous….
What has been interesting is the amount of people I see out, shuffling along just like me, some faster, some slower. That so many people get out and exercise is inspiring. People that are obviously not athletes; they are out for their health.
When I was in Ethiopia with Right to Play, I went out every morning at 6am to run. There were hundreds of people out doing the same in the form of packs of running clubs and solo runners that were from all walks of life. One particular man joined me while I did loops outside our hotel. A lane of traffic was closed each morning, not with pylons or with police directing traffic; instead the drivers just knew that people would be out there running, and so they did not drive there. Simple as that.
This man’s tattered clothing and insufficient shoes did not inhibit his ability to run with the same ease I noticed in all the Ethiopians I witnessed running. He made it look easy, while I felt like a big white elephant, shaking the ground with every step I took. At least that’s how I felt.
“I run for my health” he said with a smile. He asked me what I was doing in Addis Ababa and I tried without success to explain speed skating and what I was doing there. “Are you a doctor?” was his reply, and I knew the language barrier was too great to explain further. Instead, we spoke about running. He told me that everyone runs in Ethiopia, “for health, for fun”. Like Skating is to Canadians, running is to Ethiopians. I asked him how much time he runs for each day, and he looked at me confused. I pointed to my watch and said “how long?” He looked at me and smiled, “God only knows. I run until I feel it is time to stop. That’s how much time I run.”
I tried to imagine Canadians running like this. Running for health, for the feeling it offers, for the joy of it. No, it’s not like this in Canada. We are so obsessed with time and usually physical activity is a chore, something we have to do. I thought of how much we can learn from my new friend, and felt saddened that people at home typically don’t know the rewards of being active, just for the fun of it.
And then I found myself in Toronto last week. I was at an airport hotel and had a long interval run to do early in the morning before an appearance at the Woodbine Racetrack. I set out on Dixon Road, where I almost got hit by that car, and felt disturbed by the noise, the pollution, the roaring traffic. After twenty minutes I had to find another option, and took the first road off to the right into a suburban area. I was hoping for a loop within the houses, and instead was rewarded with a good-sized park and school ground.
It was the perfect place for my intervals and I began to pick up my pace and find my rhythm. I wasn’t the only one out there. I began to notice all the couples that were out at this early hour, walking and talking, laughing and enjoying themselves in the warm early morning air. The noise of Dixon Road was but a murmur in this oasis of grass within the concrete jungle. Like me, all of these people sought it out and got out there even at 6am. For me, it was training; for these people, all of who said hello or laughing would yell out “you’re running too fast!” it was obviously for fun; for health. It was the same beautiful movement I saw in Ethiopia, people doing something for themselves, to make them feel good. They took pleasure in this early morning promenade, and I took great pleasure in seeing them out there.
All over the world, people are out exercising for the fun of it. My husband is out on the Pacific Ocean, for the fun of it. I only wish we could pass this on to the young people, who each and every year lose their chances of physical activity when programs and school sports are cut because of limited budgets. This movement is the key to well being, to happiness, and most importantly, to health.
I know when I am finished ‘training’ in four years, I’ll be out there, wherever I am, walking and jogging or paddling or biking, just ‘for my health’.
