mixing it up

Trainers and other crazy exercise people often extoll the virtues of changing your exercise routine. Now, my routine consists of trotting around the park for a while and/or doing some situps, pushups, etc. Sometimes I run around in the opposite direction but that's pretty much all of the variety I need. Since it's rained so much the past few days I knew the low part of the park would be completely flooded, I decided to hit the trail that runs a few miles through a fun part of town. Fun, as in "antique shops, drug deals and a gravel path, oh my!" thinking the water on it would have drained away. Well, it mostly had, but because the sprinklers were on in a few spots, there were still floody bits. It was energizing to take a different route, to see different people and to run on gravel rather than concrete. The sad part was that these people don't say hello. I don't know their dogs so I don't stop to pet them. They are mostly crazy runner types rather than "maybe I should work on this spare tire" types like me. So, while it's nice to change it up a bit, I think I'll continue to hit the park more often than not.