CLOSE

The CDC and a new study look at how long the coronavirus can live on surfaces. USA TODAY

CONNECTCOMMENTEMAILMORE

My friends at the Junk Yard Dogs have a curious way of greeting each other.

When I was first introduced to them, a little more than a decade ago, I noticed that they do not shake hands. Except for rare occasions, they do not hug. They don’t even first-bump. No. Whenever we encounter Stalwart (my good friend Krys Wasielewski) or BigDog (Mike Murphy) or DocDog (David Walker) or Guru (Alan Tousignant) or any of the other uniquely nicknamed JYDs – side note, my JYD moniker is, not surprisingly, PressDog – our standard mode of greeting is to knock elbows.

At first, I thought this was a simple germophobic, reactionary habit acquired from Stalwart, a now-retired sanitarian with the Dutchess County Department of Health. And perhaps that was the genesis of the curious replacement-handshake, which certainly is far more sanitary than a standard handshake.

Well, well, well. How prescient and forward-thinking my JYD pals look now, huh? Elbow knocks are all the rage!

Pacing in a marathon: What’s the best way?

Walkway One Mile event hopes to entice runners to test their mile speed

Walkway Over the Hudson announces race series for June

This is not to make light of the profound disruption of normalcy and unprecedented crisis through which we are living with the coronavirus pandemic. Handshakes are most definitely verboten now. Social distancing is the norm. Major sporting leagues and events – like the Boston Marathon – have been canceled or postponed (Boston will now be run in September).

Where does running fit into all of this?

On my wife Heidi’s Facebook page, she posted some things that are “not cancelled” in this ever-evolving moment of cancellations. On the top of the list is “getting outdoors.”

Running, most obviously, is best enjoyed outdoors. Because of the very understandable need to tamp down transmission of the coronavirus, social gatherings and crowds of any sort have been banned. The obvious casualty in the running world? Road and trail races. For the foreseeable future (however we define that), there will be no races.

But unless and until we are forced to stay inside our own residences to ride out this pandemic, we can get outside and we can run. Obviously, I’m biased when I say this: We should get outside and we should run (or hike, or walk, or walk the dog … just get outside!). Sunlight and fresh air can act as nature’s hand sanitizer. I’m not an epidemiologist nor do I have more than a rudimentary understanding of basic science, but the chances of transmission are greatly reduced in the great outdoors.

If you get together for group runs with friends, knock elbows and keep your distance during the pre- and post-run times. While you are out there running, “social distancing” kind of happens naturally. In my case, “social distancing” is a perfect way to describe the experience I have when my faster and fitter Hyde Park Early Birds friends leave me in the dust on tough uphill climbs!

Regular exercise is known as an immune booster. Take it easy and have fun. Speed work and other lung-busting workout sessions can actually cause temporary stress to your immune system. Chill out. Remember? There are no races in our immediate future!

The postponement and cancellation of races will cause a lot of anxiety and stress in the coming months. As runners, we prepare for weeks and months at a time for a faraway goal. When that goal race is snatched away from us, there are feelings of frustration and loss and even anger. This is normal and inevitable.

As this all unfolds, we’ll have to come up with alternative plans. All areas of our lives are being upended. This is one of them.

Here’s an obvious conflict that some runners now have to ponder: The Boston Marathon is now scheduled for Monday, September 14. The Dutchess County Classic is scheduled for Sunday, September 13. Can’t do both!

And this: Many runners who plan on doing Boston also have fall marathons – Chicago, NYC, Hartford, and many others – planned. This greatly condenses the recovery time between 26.2-milers and also throws into disarray the training for these races.

In the coming weeks and months, there may be more monkey wrenches tossed into our best-laid plans. For now, the best thing to do is get outside for some de-stressing exercise, and sort out the race planning details later.

Stay safe and healthy out there.

Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club member Pete Colaizzo, the track coach at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, writes on running every week in Players. He can be reached at runhed246@hotmail.com. For more club information, go to www.mhrrc.org

CONNECTCOMMENTEMAILMORE