Good Morning!

I think we can all say we've been there...just walking along the street, blank look on our face, just completely spacing out. Sometimes we're upset, sometimes just plain bored, or even grouchy because we have way too much work to get done. Then all of a sudden, you hear a cheerful "Hello!" or "Good morning!" and look up only to find some kind stranger walking past with a smile on their face. No matter how you felt beforehand, that random stranger managed to make you feel at the very least a tiny bit better.

Being in a running program, I have been lucky enough to experience this random act of kindness on quite a regular basis. As we run along the trail in our little packs, we always pass other people...whether it be another pace group or someone else out for a morning jog, everyone says good morning. Maybe it's just the fact that we are all sharing in the misery that we're putting ourselves through and the only thing left is to be nice...misery does love company. But let's face facts...none of us are really that miserable, we've got endorphins running out the wazoo!! Everyone really is just nice to each other.

But it's not just running that brings about a random hello. As we drove back from our run today, we saw Rolling Thunder passing by on the other side of the highway. Regular traffic had been stopped to allow the parade of motorcyles to continue on their way. Generally speaking, dead-stopped traffic on the DC-area highways would cause for screaming and frustration. Instead, people started to get out of their cars, waving at the bikers as they passed by, receiving kind waves in return.

This may be making some of you think of those ultra super peppy people that go a bit overboard, driving us all nuts; those aren't the people I'm talking about. I'm not talking specifics, I'm talking about people generally just being nice to other people. We seem to live in a world where the general custom is to just ignore each other. If we're not doing that we'll find any reason to argue. But luckily, sometimes, there's still that kind, human interaction that keeps us all together.

MCM Training Update: 9 mile run this morning was tough, but went well. Getting into a good routine and am feeling better about this great undertaking every day.