Feels so good

As Mark Goodman makes his way along Kahiliholo Road in Kilauea, he sings the words to the Glenn Campbell hit song, “Rhinestone Cowboy.”

“I’ve been walkin’ these streets so long, singing the same old song.”

He laughs and smiles as he goes because this is fun. Life is good. It’s a sunny weekday morning and Goodman, as usual, is making his 7-mile roundtrip trek with swift footsteps from the corner of Kuhio Highway to the top of Kalihiwai Ridge.

He waves to many passersby. Some wave back. Some honk. “Faster,” shouts one driver with a big grin.

Seems they know this guy wearing a long-sleeved green shirt, blue shorts and red Asics running shoes. Whether uphill or down, he marches at a constant clip. This is not a casual, bantering pace. It is powerful, fast, steady, increasing gradually as he goes.

“I love to start off slow,” he said.

While some might think walking is boring, there is a spring in Goodman’s step. Each stride of his long legs eats up ground quickly. There is sweat on his face. It’s a good workout. It’s what keeps a lean 190 pounds on his 6-foot, 2-inch frame.

“You feel alive, and there’s no strain. You get to see everything,” the Kilauea man says. “You get the chance to be. We’re always doing. This is kind of a chance at being.”

Goodman’s commitment to walking began in 1981, when he lived in Laguna Beach, Calif. It helped him deal with the death of a younger sister.

“I liked walking uphill. It was a way of coping with the pain,” he said.

The former bond trader arrived on Kauai 12 years ago in search of a new start, a new life. He found what he was after — with the help of walking, of course.

He generally walks four days a week, covering somewhere in the range of 25 to 30 miles a week. Goodman is known as the guy who often walks while wearing a beekeeper’s outfit — long white pants, long-sleeved white shirt and a big, wide-brimmed hat. He loves heading out in the peak of the heat, just to be sure he’s getting a tough workout.

Most days, he stops at friends’ homes on his route to grab a drink of water.

“The most important thing is, I stay well-hydrated,” he said.

Goodman’s not goofing off on those three days he doesn’t walk. Then, he practices yoga in Princeville. That combination of walking and yoga has allowed him to stay pretty much injury free. And if he feels sore or perhaps has an ailing ankle, he believes in rest and ice.

“If you don’t let it heal, you’re in trouble,” he said.

After 35 years, he should know.

The reason he’ll keep walking is that it gives him that feeling he could go on and on and on.

“The more you do, the more you can do, physically and mentally, too,” he said. “The body is made to move.”

Which he does.

Goodman shakes his head when he talks about people who label themselves as old. In his mind, there is no old.

He loves to see people stay active because it keeps them young at heart, in mind and in body.

“That’s what I hope to be,” he said. “But it makes you feel good, it’s so healthy.”

And there’s no better place for that than Kahiliholo Road.

Lined with trees, beautiful homes, peace and serenity, there is most often sunshine overhead and friendly faces passing by.

Goodman doesn’t care if it rains. Doesn’t fret about humidity. Actually, the worse the conditions, the better. If that makes sense.

He has tales to tell from those miles, too.

He laughs when he recounts the day he was wearing a big straw hat and a gust of wind blew it into a field — where a horse took it and ran.

“I tried to get it back. I couldn’t,” he said.

Then, there are those days he’s hoofing it, focused and determined, and a tourist slows to a stop and asks for directions.

Goodman and his size 13 shoes keep moving ahead. The driver of the car has to keep driving to keep up.

Few on foot can match Goodman’s pace.

Sometimes, a friend will decide to join him. After all, a nice walk on a sunny day sounds pretty good — until they meet up with Goodman. Usually it takes one time, at most twice, and they say no more. Maybe this isn’t so much fun, they think.

“I’ll just meet you back at home,” they’ll say, turning around well before the turning point a few miles away.

So nearly always, Goodman goes it alone. And no headphones, either. Just a man and his drive within.

There are those days that the miles seem to fly by, literally vanish. He’ll find that walker’s zone and suddenly realize he’s covered miles and didn’t even know it.

“It’s like a wonderful blackout,” he says, smiling. “The highlight is when you’re walking and all of the sudden the miles just pass and you didn’t realize how far you went.”

This isn’t all for fun. Goodman likes to walk fast — and he likes to win. He remembers his first year of the Haena to Hanalei 8-mile race and he was walking with a group of people. Others were slowing down, so Goodman walked ahead, then turned around to rejoin them.

“I thought, ‘I can probably win this race.’ And I did. it was fun.”

He took first place in the Haena to Hanalei walking division for eight straight years before coming in second this year. His training, he said, wasn’t quite where it should have been.

“Right near the end I just kind of pooped out,” he said. “I was grateful I was able to finish.”

But most often, he’s out in front, alone. It is the only race he enters on Kauai. One year, another man stayed with Goodman for several miles.

“I couldn’t shake him, so I had to think,” Goodman said. “I started to talk. My talking was meaningless to me. I didn’t lose my focus. But he started talking about his daughter. That offset his thinking and he fell behind.

“It was interesting. I won,” he said, with a bit of pride.

Key to race walking success, he said, isn’t your legs.

“This is the key right here,” he said, pointing to his arms, pumping back and forth, rapid fire.

Another piece of Goodman advice: On downhills, keep your legs bent. It stops the strain on the knees.

Finally, breathing. Blowing out is what counts.

“Don’t think about breathing in,” he said. “Just blow out. Because you automatically breathe in, that’s the key.”

In his life, he estimates he’s walked about 37,000 miles, and notes that Earth is 24,900 miles around.

“I think I’ve walked around the world 1 1/2 times,” he said.

The thought of that accomplishment, he says, makes him feel pretty good.

“It’s a gift,” he said. “And you have to remain grateful.”

What’s ahead for Mark Goodman?

His walking helps him stayed focused in his career as a Realtor. He has found that sense of peace he sought since moving to Kauai. He has two dogs he loves at home, where owns a few acres. It is a simple, relaxed lifestyle.

“You’ve got to have balance. If I don’t have balance, I go crazy,” he said.

But certainly, there are miles of roads to go down.

“I think I’ll walk off into the sunshine,” he said.

And surely, he’ll be singing.

“I’ve been walking these streets so long, and singing the same old song …”