Writing Reality

    In November 1990, I met a man named Marcus. If there was ever a Bodhisattva in my life, it would be Marcus.  Quite often when I would go to have bodywork done on me by Marcus, it was like scene out of the original Kung Fu television series.  There would be Marcus not saying much.  Nodding, and shaking his head; then looking above my head, as if I were a foot taller.  Later I figured, knowing him, he was probably reading my aura.     I did everything to keep from laughing.  He was out there in his thinking...   Every session was an adventure... https://www.amazon.com/Therapy-Run-Jody-Lynn-Reicher/dp/1987532813

    ...I continued, "Well, I have a quick question first.  This guy, I just don't think he's a knife or a gun type.  This is personal.  So I'm thinking a Louisville Slugger.  What do you think?"     Phil responds, "Okay, let me show you, and tell you how and why it would or would not be used."

    As we walked back to Todd's white 1978 Mustang, I stayed quiet.  Figuring, he'll break up with me tonight.  I'll just go be a U.S. Marine and have nothing to do with dating ever again.  I'd been hurt was too much.  Mainly because I was too proper.  I wasn't like the others.  I avoided proms I was invited to on six occasions, over the high school years.  I feared dishonoring my family.  Or being tempted to do something wrong, which would upset my mom.     Soon we were at Todd's car.  He opened the door for me, like the gentleman he was... Todd started up the car and we drove onto Knickerbocker and then towards Woodcliff Lake... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P47XAQK/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i2  

    One day in early October 1977, it was a Friday.  It was a warm, cloudy, sixty-two degree autumn afternoon.  We were doing our usual Friday fourteen quarter mile repeats.  Every Friday it went like so:  stretch together in a circle; then do a one mile warm-up run on the cross-country course; then run a quarter mile at the pace Mr. Scullion told you to do...     ...Now here's the fun part, everyone despised this workout...Well, except for me.  I actually looked forward to it.  And this is when you know you're different..." https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P47XAQK/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i2

    ...So Dad would either be putting down good six pack or so. Then on some rare occasions when driving up to Maine, which should be a relaxing twelve hour trip. He made it there in under eleven hours,  bottle in hand, "Hold the steering wheel..." One would hear him say...as he had to light up once again... https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/author?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B00R3VUZ18

    ...We'd be running around barechested on our rented property, me at least till age eight. Then Mom said,  "You're a girl, you need to start covering up..."      I remember looping around my parents and local neighbor's lounge chairs near our half acre garden. It was where the adults would sit and chat and drink beers or spritzers or both on hot summer weekends.  It was the freedom of the sixties.       I'd run by my Dads chair and to my mother's chagrin I'd ask, "Daddy can I have a sip?"       He would respond,  "Well Jo, just a sip."  And he would hand me his can or his bottle of beer. I'd be so thirsty,  and take in a sip and a gulp.  Then I'd hear, "Whoa! Young lady.  That's enough. "     I'd respond, "Okay Daddy.  Thank you."  Then hand him back his beer, and go run around playing tag, freeze tag, or another game of hide and seek with the boys. https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs

    The following Friday, June 20, 2014, one of Phil's young fighters died.  And due to his new job with a new company, I knew no way could Phil leave for the funeral.  They would fire him.  I worried once more for his health.  And I checked in with his girlfriend making sure they stayed connected when he needed her now more than ever.  She was still on the east coast.     I reassured Phil, that there was nothing he could do... I tol Phil that his health was more important than anything else in the world.  I told Phil, "I'd rather have you happy and alive 2,000 plus miles away, than dead or unhappy close by." https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072HN2GFV/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i1

    So there I sat with our three year daughter on my lap, puzzled by my own ambitions and lack of support by some from a couple of the charities, which I couldn’t comprehend for the life of me. In my distress I called Dante Ciolfi, my ultrarunning coach in Florida. I needed help in my thinking.     Dante picked up, “Well, hello Jody-Lynn. Whats going on?”     I responded, “Well, I’m so, ugh. I’m overwhelmed. How can I get this run done? I’m scared, I’m fearing failure, help me.”          Dante said, “Well, Jody this is normal… You ever been to Florence Italy?”     I responded, “No. Never been to Europe either. Why?”     Dante came back with this thought, “Well, there is this statue in Florence, Italy of King David. You remind me of that statue.”     I was aghast. Yes, Dante and I had ran many long runs together of thirty-five to over fifty miles, some of those miles on rocky trails, the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, through sandy trails for miles an

    ...Distractions keep arising so I better close this letter. How is Steve Spence? He ran Columbus in 1991. It was freezing cold, twenty-four degrees, in November, and he looked so good. I have a running friend...haven't seen her for a year, Donna Anderson, who knew Steve Spence personally. Donna is from Pennsylvania, working on her doctorate at Michigan State University. She's a quick runner.     Take Care, Jody. Good luck with your training. I am looking forward to your running a fantastic Boston Marathon. Boston is an experience unlike any other marathon. I wish I could watch you finish.     Tell me about your minor surgery screw-up and your major surgery. I remember you were telling me about your running with a catheter, but in the short time we were together, I could not absorb and retain everything you told me.     How long does it take you to do 1,000 sit-ups per day? Wow!! Your stomach must feel like a rock. I truly admire your discipl

       ...In my mind's eye I saw blood.  I saw body parts.  I had already dismantled them in my mind, now all I had to do was finish the job physically, and I would stop at nothing.  Not one part of me shook.  I was quite confident like never before, that I would walk away unscathed...     https://www.amazon.com/Not-Exactly-Juan-Liberated-Woman/dp/1545243603

     ...On October 18th, 1992, I met Jody-Lynn Reicher on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit. Jody had just completed the Detroit Marathon, placing sixth for women in 2:58:26. At the moment we met, I knew nothing about Jody. I was with my friend Joan, whom I thought, knew Jody, so the three of us walked and talked to the Marriott in Ren Cen .       Jody talked about getting a cab to the Detroit Airport. I offered to drive Jody, fibbing that the airport was on my way home...      ..Since meeting Jody, she has been a daily inspiration. I aspire to be my best in every action.      As in running, Jody has taught optimism, patience, forgiveness...hope... to me, and to all who have been blessed to know Jody's enthusiasm for living life fully. Thank you, Jody! I love your spirit.---Nina Bovio June 8 th , 2018 https://www.amazon.com/Jody-Lynn-Reicher/e/B00R3VUZ18

    ...For a dollar fifty an hour i cleaned out grease vats, swept floors, stocked stuff... Chicken Delight place owned by a guy named Morty...  ...I was so used to calling him, 'Sir', I really didn't know any better.  I was just so happy to work a real job, and wanted to show respect to my boss.     From that time forward most times when I called him "Sir", Morty would correct me.  I'd apologize.  But he was not a harsh man.  He appeared gentle and kind.  We had conversations at the eatery when no one else was around.     He said, "You really care about your work.  These other kids (referring to the high school and college kids) I hire, don't work the way you do."      I responded, I'm so happy to have a job.  And it's real Sir."     ...weeks later someone found out I was underage to be working... https://www.amazon.com/Reaching-Gods-Perfection-Stories-Gratefulness/dp/1503237516    

    ...We go to dinner; she has no interest in anything.  Norman and I carry everything with us for her.  Nothing works.  We try an orange cracker with peanut butter, Lauren offers me.  Sarah QiQi won't take that either.  We try to enjoy dinner with the two other couples and their babies.     ...Norman gets Sarah QiQi to take in four ounces of diluted fruit punch Gatorade.  We celebrate... https://www.amazon.com/Priceless-Changsha-Jody-Lynn-Reicher/dp/1542599083

    'Phil goes to the bin, as I pray under my breath.  Phil gets a pair of matching four ounce MMA gloves and puts them on and we begun to spar.  I wanted to show him that I had been training on my new water bag at home, that weighs about 270 pounds.  I bought it for just over one hundred dollars as a reward for lasting through my first MMA fight.     And we begin sparring.  I'm working, taking angles and trying to land punches on him.  ...my cross is not coming out as the punch I thought it would.  Yet, Phil sees me trying.     Then all of a sudden I go to throw a cross....I feel the pain shoot through my scalp...' https://www.amazon.com/Not-Exactly-Juan-Liberated-Woman-ebook/dp/B072HN2GFV/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

    What is the portrayal we give and have of ourselves?     When I was in the beginning of my running career in the mid 1970's till about 1983, was when I was most effected, feeling almost helpless by "Cat-Callers", out their car/truck windows or from a stoop or store front.     That changed.  I learned how to fire back, even if it seemed unsettling to me.      And as my first fight coach said to me one day, "I'd really not want to see you angry at me..."     True, someone with a long fuse, might just have more power than an 800lb gorilla. https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/author?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B00R3VUZ18

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/author?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B00R3VUZ18

    She sleeps as I approach our driveway.  I quietly open up our garage door.  I get the baby jogger into  the garage with our youngest fast asleep in the jogger.  I slowly close the garage door. and get through the next two doors quietly, and into our laundry room...     I get ready for my shower and in the middle of it, I hear, "Dah, dah. Ba, Ba, Dah!"     I respond, "Yes, Mommy is right here.  I'll be out soon."     ...We passed out together on the couch, till two in the morning...Nothing like a late night run to calm a restless baby... https://www.amazon.com/default/e/B00R3VUZ18/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_10?qid=1418802234&sr=1-10&redirectedFromKindleDbs=true

 ...Our six year old chimed in, "You know, you look a little uh... Psychedelic."  As she pointed to her face. https://www.amazon.com/Not-Exactly-Juan-Liberated-Woman-ebook/dp/B072HN2GFV

    "...I spun. I fouled out.  He said, 'Don't spin, just throw from the front, forty-nine feet.'      I felt bad, I wanted us to win.  So I went up and threw sixty plus feet from the front.  No foul. I then stepped properly out of the back of the circle.  Freddie Bear said, 'Nice throw! Mighty Mouse!'      Then I realized he was calling me Mighty Mouse, not Mighty Mouth..." https://www.amazon.com/Reaching-Gods-Perfection-Stories-Gratefulness-ebook/dp/B00P47XAQK

    "Name three reasons why today is a good day..." https://www.amazon.com/Reaching-Gods-Perfection-Stories-Gratefulness/dp/1503237516

    "...Medicine has changed so much in the last twenty-five years... Basically, with our demands of not tolerating our bodies adaptations to pain... we have tied the hands of MD's, Nurses, PA, PT's, and the like.  We have even destroyed the efficacy of the holistic health care system, which includes:  Acupuncturists, Chiropractors, Nutritionnists, Massage/Bodyworkers, and other Somatic Therapies, just to name a few." https://www.amazon.com/Jody-Lynn-Reicher/e/B00R3VUZ18

    "...Yes, but not everyone does that. Why do you?" He asked.     I replied, "I don't waste time.  I figure I'll just practice in my head when there's not much else going on.  I like to work, I love run."     He replied, "You'll be a good facilitator."  Just what I wanted to hear. https://www.amazon.com/Jody-Lynn-Reicher/e/B00R3VUZ18

    "...There was a time I lay in a hospital bed for five days after having just under eight hours of spinal surgery.  I ran in my head so much that my legs started to jitter.  I was running on a track using someone else's legs.  Because I couldn't use mine.  I would go to track practice in my head a few times a week while laying in bed..." https://www.amazon.com/Therapy-Run-Jody-Lynn-Reicher/dp/1987532813/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8