Jogging My Memory

A life-altering moment in the early 90's

Caused him to quit smoking

He was lucky

Since early teens

It had him securely

In its grasp

Then it happened

And he realized

It was time to stop

As part of rehab he walked

Then he jogged

Then he did four Eppies Great Races ("The World's Oldest Triathlon")

Then he did two Tower to the original Tower half-marathons 

(Sponsored by the once famous record stores)

Then he did two Chevy's to Chevy's half marathons

In between, he travelled as part of his job

Everywhere he went, he would ask locals what the most popular jogging routes were

Sometimes he simply jogged the heart of major cities

early in the morning

before the cities woke

and beaches whenever there was one near...

• In New Orleans - St Charles Avenue from downtown to and through the beautiful, amazing grand old lady Audubon Park.
• In Atlanta - A dry run for the famous Peachtree 10K from Buckhead to the City and on the Chattahoochee River Trail. 
• In Austin -  the great Town Lake Trail - a country setting right downtown along both sides of the river with pedestrian bridges crossing
• In Reno - right down Virginia street, early in the morning when it was closed to traffic during Street Vibrations bike week
• In San Diego - on the beach of one of the most beautiful islands (Coronado) on the planet
• In Santa Cruz - a great long,  flat, hard beach perfect for jogging barefoot
• In Monterrey - along the beach and through the town
• In San Francisco - through Chinatown and the square among those practicing Tai-Chi in the Transamerica Redwood Park at the break of dawn; along the Embarcadero past the wharfs, up the hills
• In Washington D.C. - the five mile Capital Mall loop from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capital steps and back and yes, he did the Rocky thing on the steps of our nation's Capital building and yes, he was blessed to be able do it during cherry blossom time in Spring
• In Little Rock - through the downtown streets where the city seemed to be dying 
• In Baton Rouge - around the gorgeous campus of LSU
• In Los Angeles - among the skyscrapers a world in its own
• In Cancun - on the beautiful beach lined with magnificent hotels
• In Miami - on South Beach and on a path around golf's famous Doral Country Club
• In Louisville - on a bridge across the Missouri River from one state to the other and back
• In the Black Hills - on trails to Lake Pactola and into Rapid City along Rapid Creek
• In Sacramento - most of all in Sacramento along the beautiful American River and through the postcard settings of Arden Park.

They say as you begin to jog certain distances with a certain frequency you will experience the "runner's high" when the endorphins kick in and you have absolutely no desire to be anywhere else, doing anything else.  He was there often... for years and he gratefully agrees.  Now he spins the elliptical machine in deference to a gimp hip but he remembers. Look for him.  He is still on the trails and in the cities throughout the greatest country on earth.