Let the Mystery Be

Je really don't have anything today. 

Life - thankfully - has been uneventful. Even I can only write about running so much. 

The reality is: sometimes life is just a bore. 

That isn't great for the blogging world, but it is true nonetheless. 

...but since I mentioned it......

I was running on Saturday. By my lonesome through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park on the towpath along the Ohio & Erie canal. It was a long run - 16+ miles, and it just didn't fit into a schedule with either of my running groups so I went out on my own. 

Ugly it was. HUMID too.

I started out so early I was in mile 6 before I saw my first human. The path is usually filled with hikers, bikers and birders. ...and runners, but mostly the others. 

As I was approaching mile 14, I saw this specimen of a man running towards me. It was full-on Monet - kind of. From 50 yards he looked amazing. And so much chest hair - as he was running shirtless. As he got closer, I realized it wasn't hair, but ink. Massive tatts on each side of his chest. 

It was then I noticed his legs and arms, all covered. And then I realized it is a man I see several times per week at my gym for the last few years. 

He's nice to look at and a good body, but ehhhh...... he is all about death metal, speed metal and hard core punk. He wears shirts that say things like Death Maggot - which of course I read slightly differently. 

We have never spoken. We have never even done the cursory head nod acknowledging either of us exists that usually goes on in the gym. Now here we are out miles from either of our natural habitats. I mean, what are the odds? 

Oh, and never once have I seen him use a treadmill. Just FYI. I didn't know he did any cardio. I have never seen him do any kind. Yet he as a nice, easy, natural gait. 

We passed. No words were exchanged, but he slightly lifted his hand. 

Now, for runners, that is kinf of the thing. I'm not 100% sure he knew to whom he was waving or just a similar minded being. Hell, I don't know if he recognizes me from the gym or that I exist at all. Or that he raised his hand before realizing it was me. 

I guess the test could be this morning if we are both at the gym at the same time and if someone breaks a three year silence......and if so, who will it be? 

Song by: Iris DeMent