For weeks now, I’ve been running/walking laps around a local park in the wee hours of the morning. A mid the various individuals (that I can count on one hand) I have seen at the park, I’ve formed a “wave” relationship. You know like the one that you have with the neighbor down the street. You recognize him and never had said a word but you wave at each other when you see each other as you drive by in the car and what not. Well, that in a nut shell is my relationship with Mr. Mario Brothers. I have personally to myself referred to this short Latino man that I see almost even morning run at this park. He rather looks like a Mario Brothers. He always wears a ball cap and has a rather prominent mustache.
Mr. Mario Brother runs the opposite direction as me on the outside running trail of the park. I don’t trust myself to be coordinated enough to run on the trail; so thus I keep to the flat even cement. He is always running smoothly, and always has a perpetual smile under his mustache. He is also always wearing long sleeves and pants even in the middle of the hot summer mornings. Why? I don’t know, but he’s out there running fully clothed each time I see him.
So each morning as I run counter clockwise and Mr. Mario Bros. runs clockwise, I get a wave from him each time we go past each other. I wave back to him of course. Lately, I’ve noticed that when I’m walking I just get a wave from him but if I’m running I get a wave and a thumbs up from him.
So to make my morning run/walk a little more interesting I’ve turned this into a game. A moderate workout equals two waves. A good workout equals two waves and one thumbs up. A real good workout equals three waves and two thumbs up. I’m working towards four waves and three thumbs up—but I may have a heart attack before that ever happens!
