Just Get Out There

 

A few first things that I do every morning are stretches, yoga, meditation and five days per week I do some Qi Gong. All that aside from my usual self-care, household chores and prayers which are constant. To the point a priest in my office said to me, “You’re the most prayerful person I know.” I remarked, “You know what God says when I pray?” He wagged his head ‘no’. I continued, “Oh my Me! It’s her again.” We laughed.

Last week I called one of my former military superiors, it was minus 37 degrees not including the windchill factor she’d remarked. She stated, “Jody, it was so cold as I was pumping gas and the wind picked up a little. I was wearing long johns, regular pants over them and snow pants over that and I felt the cold go right through me as I set the pump. I got into my car and waited as the gas pumped into my car.” I remarked, “Well, you were around metal, plastic and the ground was either cement or macadam in a shaded area, right?” She concurred.

We talked about energy. I said, “How does Bernie Sanders do it? I mean his energy is amazing! I’ve lost that and I’m 20 years younger than Bernie.”  She replied, “Well, Bernie Sanders hasn’t run like you.” That hit a cord. I didn’t tell her it had. But I realized something. I waited with that thought for over an hour after we’d gotten off our phone call together. Then, I realized that running, especially outdoors no matter what the weather, gave me my energy. That I couldn’t have accomplished in my life all I had, had I not been a long-distance runner. As a matter of fact, I am quite certain that I wouldn’t be alive today if I hadn’t discovered long-distance running nearly 50 years ago.

I’ll go out on a limb here. Non-long-distance runners will never understand long-distance running. Fair weather runners will never understand the commitment to running as a true long-distance runner year-round. Not even walkers or hikers will understand if they’ve not been a dedicated long-distance runner for decades running outdoors year-round.

Long-distance running has its own love-hate-relationship with itself. You want to get out because you know it’s good for you. Yet, so much pulls you back in. Many times, in my 36-year marriage hubby would ask me how I did it. Even though he ran outside year-round since 1973. There are more false negative things said about running than positives, especially if you’re a woman.

I remember the big snowstorm of 1996; there were twenty snowstorms in our area that year. My husband would shake his head when I’d come back with icicles on my face. “Jody, I don’t know how you do it.” I’d remarked, “Well, once I get out there, I don’t have an excuse. I promise myself at least two miles of trying to run.” He’d question my energy over the years as he wanted me to say something to motivate him. My responses were, “Put your running gear on. Just get out there. Run for 200 meters slow, then see how you feel. Check every 200 meters on the feeling and where it’s coming from, go slow. Slow is moving. Slow can still be running. Then if you get a quarter mile in and you feel worse, stop and walk back. Remember, if you get a half mile in, worst case scenario you get a mile in. That’s a run.”

I mentioned low energy; however, up until last week I’d felt fatigued most days since September 2016; however, I’d accepted the fact that between children, marriage, my work/business and my decades of athletic training it was time I’d felt tired to get myself to recover. So, I began to acquiesce my fatigue, still doing much. Yet turning it down a notch till I felt revived once again. Get six hours sleep most nights instead of three to five hours sleep on an average like I had been since 2003.  I figured that’d fix it.

It fixed some of my general feeling of fatigue, but not the fatigue that affected my desire to run long-distances which I’d been doing since 1976. There’s no magic bullet to rest or the  need to rest. Quite often it’s what is the remedy when you’ve been pushed and pushed most of your life. I explained this to our oldest about a year ago, when she’d finally gotten smarter than me. I said, “Hey kiddo. I taught you something that I want to unteach you. You need to back off on working too much.” Here she was now age 22 she’d been working since age 14, getting good grades working year-round. She’d have as many as four jobs at once in the summer and in the school year had mostly two jobs at the same time, working as much as 40 hours in a week in her senior year of high school. Summers were 40-70 hours per week. I remember the summer after her high school graduation; she’d hit that 70 hour week of work mark. The next summer as she’d worked three jobs, she’d taken college courses that same summer although remote. I thought to myself, ‘boy, did I screw up. At least my husband knew when to rest.’ He’d demonstrated it as he worked, read, ran, lifted weights, played his guitar, did house chores and the like.

She explained that day, “Mom I want to take off and enjoy my college graduation this year. So, I’ve given about three week’s notice to the gas company and working at the college gym ends a few days before graduation.” I said, “Good girl. So, when do you start your new job?” She was going to start three weeks after graduation; however, she stated. “Mom, they gave me the option to start a month later than that.” I responded, “So, that’d be close to seven weeks of no work at all, then?” She replied, “Yes. I have to move, set things up. And I just want to have some time, go for walks. You know.” I remarked, “Smart move. I’m glad. That’s good to avoid burnout.”

Going back to fatigue. The fatigue I’d experienced came from many facets of my life. Loss of a spouse of over 30 years, getting our children to visit colleges and into college during covid. Closing a business of nearly three decades. Creating a remote business that I knew would not be constant or much money making for years. Doing my chores along with my now deceased husband’s chores, taking care of all three pets and so much more, as well as the political atmosphere in our country, didn’t help.

The one thing I knew was to remain focused on doing gentle stretching and getting outside year-round running, doing some walking and hiking when I could. I also had incorporated in my business weekly charity work mostly in my office. I figured a way to have that in my life after my husband’s death and after covid.

I’d shifted my diet about nine weeks ago, that helped. About five weeks ago I set a goal; then a secondary goal. The third goal was easier to accomplish than the other two goals. None involved weighing oneself. No demands of the sort. I lowered my caffeine intake. Increased the warm fluids I took in. I had gone back to taking fish oil by the spoonful, as I’d reckoned it’d been over three years since I had done this. Raising children for me gave me better dietary habits, a reflection knowing children were witnessing an adult’s eating habits motivated mine.

I became more committed to my chlorophyll and grasses intake once again. I’d gotten in and out of the habit of those daily intakes since the summer of 2021. The goal of putting my running gear on every day and stepping outside to run every day no matter the weather became my primary goal before the end of 2025. The slack I cut myself is the time of the day I decide to do so. No other hard and fast rules do I allow. It’s get your running gear on and Just get out there. If my body says ‘no’ at the end of the block, I continue running and contemplate as I pray for direction. If it says ‘no’ again, I turn around and run back unless I feel something is too unsafe, then I walk back.

The other day it was sunny as I’d just finished a nine-mile run and was doing a 300-meter cooldown walk. It was 20 degrees, little breezy as a neighbor from down the street pulled up alongside me, she rolled down her car window. “I can’t believe you’re walking in this cold weather Jody.” I replied, “I just ran about nine miles, I’m doing a cooldown walk now.” She remarked, "Oh Jody, that’s dangerous.” I bantered back, “Nah. I’ve ran in minus 45, now that’s cold. This isn’t cold. I’m used to it.”  She’d shook her head in disbelief. We said ‘good-bye’. I walked back home.

Later that evening, I mulled over the words said between my friend and the neighbor down the road. There was no logic there. I realized because I’d pursued my just get out there attitude I now feel I’ve gotten closer to attaining that Bernie Sanders energy I’d once appeared to have.--- Jody-Lynn Reicher, Author of “Therapy on the Run”