I always found it a little difficult to put into simple words what running means to me when trying to explain it to somebody who does not run. Yes, not all days are good days. Sometimes you wonder why you even go out some days. But those days when everything falls into place, and you are in a “zone”, you just lose yourself in that moment, and everything is just perfect! You are moving smooth. Your breathing is efficient. You don’t even feel like you are working. The scenery around you is easy to lose your thoughts in. Most of those running times it is just me and my thoughts. No other outside stress. No other distractions. Just you. So the best description I can really have is that it is a feeling. A feeling like no other. Those days when that feeling is there, it makes all of the other days that may not be going well, worthwhile.
Like everything, it does not just happen. Practice makes perfect. You have to put the effort in to enjoy the rewards. This is not something that is just going to get handed to you. If you want it, you have to earn it. Getting started is always the hard part. It takes practice, patience, and determination. This week, Wednesday June 3, was National Global Running Day. It was the perfect time to get out and run. For those of you who can’t run, go out and walk. My walks in the evening are my recovery times. I always have my phone with me during those walks. I don’t have it so I can talk on the phone, but so that I have my camera. This last few weeks the sunsets at the Lake have been breathtaking. I went Friday night for a 4 mile walk, and ended spending an additional 45 minutes taking pictures. Peaceful. Relaxing. It was actually quite easy to forget about everything else. It would have been no different with running…but for me, it is tougher to stop and take pictures compared to walking. Once I get going, I just take pictures with my eyes.
I have had a permanent training partner with Sarah. We both love to run. That is how we started dating. I would run past her house and notice she would be watching me out her window when we were in Med School. Then we started running together, and have not stopped since. Running brought us together, and has kept us together. We plan vacations/trips to involve running. We have seen new places because of running. We have gotten all of our kids to run, so it is now another means of being able to spend time with them. Just wait until grandkids start coming! Running has been a huge part of our lives. Our social activities and friends are all due to running. I promote to my patients every day the importance of exercise. I promote by example. Someday we may not be able to run anymore, but I will worry about that then. For now, I will keep putting one foot in front of the other, and continue to see where this helps steer out lives.
Nothing is going to change this. It is who I am. It is who “we” are. It truly has taught me how to hang in there when times get tough, and to keep looking for the next finish line. I have to admit, I don’t know how to give up, and I hope I never do. After each tough “race” in life, it has always been worthwhile, and something has been learned. We learn from our experiences. That is truly how we continue to grow in life.
Sarah and I will continue to run until that final finish line comes. In the meantime, there are so many more adventures to enjoy, and life to live. Take advantage of what you have. We don’t know when we are not going to have it anymore. Live for today, and look with anticipation to tomorrow.
Enjoy the journey. There are lots of things to see and do yet. Enjoy each sunrise and sunset. They truly are all different. Enjoy the ride. There may be days where we have to hold on tighter, but they just seem to go smoother after a run, or a walk, or any workout. Move. Use it or lose it. You ask those people who have been runners, and for whatever reason they can’t now, what they think of it. How much do they miss it? How much did they enjoy it? How much more fuller was their life when they ran? Each of us needs to find out on our own. Keep trying…keep moving everybody!
The weather has been getting nicer, and this coming week it is going to get hot! Get outside and utilize the trail, and get some activity, and release the stress with everything going on lately. It is time to just get out and move! We have been waiting a long time for some really warm weather, and it is now coming. Running is my escape, but it is also relaxing to just get out and walk and enjoy the quiet, and just forget about things. It is much easier to do when going out the by the lake, and Jackson Park.
Whether sunrise, sunset, or middle of the day, whenever you have time, get out and enjoy the surroundings, and not worry about COVID going on. You feel charged up and ready to try and take on another day. Mornings are especially quiet, and hearing the birds all chirping, it is easy to let your mind go. It does not make any difference for our dog, Dakota, she will go out any time of the day, walk or run. She just wants to move. We could all learn a lot from her. Exploring, wandering, just plain moving!
The kids went for a bike ride going around the lake. They got some exercise, plus got to spend some time together. It is a great way to spend time with family. You all move together.
So what are you waiting for? Enjoy the Summer. Get away from the stress of things. Spend time with family. Forget all of the other problems going on right now. Keep moving everybody!
I was going through my emails the other day and I came across one that reminded me of everything going on with the COVID-19 pandemic. It stated: Dear Life: When I said “can my day get any worse”, it was a rhetorical question, not a challenge. We still have to follow the social distancing, and avoid large groups, and if going out, the CDC still recommends people wearing masks. Some days are tougher than others. Many facts, and myths, are going around. Listening to the news, and especially Facebook, you don’t always hear the truth. So, to start off with, some facts.
Symptoms of COVID-19 that truly have the most significance include cough, or Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing. These are the two main symptoms when considering testing. Other symptoms to consider include: Fever, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and new loss of taste of smell. We have to consider all things when deciding on who to test. We also have to consider who has had exposure to someone that they know of who has tested positive. Two kinds of tests are available for COVID-19: viral tests, and antibody tests. A viral test tells you if you have a current infection. It is a nasal swab. An antibody test might tell you if you had a previous infection, but a “positive” test is difficult to interpret due to the variable performance of the antibody test currently available. This one is a blood test.
You also hear of the terms isolation and quarantine. Isolation is for people who are already sick. It means isolating, or separating yourself from others to reduce the potential of the spread of the disease. Quarantine is for people who are not sick, but may have been exposed. They must stay at home, or another location, so they don’t unknowingly spread the disease. There are recommendations in regards to the decision to discontinue isolation that should be made in the context of local circumstances. These are taken directly from the Department of Health:
Time-since-illness-onset and time-since-recovery strategy: Persons with COVID-19 who have symptoms and were directed to care for themselves at home may discontinue isolation under the following conditions: –At least 3 days (72 Hours) have passed since recovery defined as resolution of fever without the use of fever reducing medications AND Improvement of symptoms (cough, shortness of breath, etc), AND at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared.
Persons with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 who have NOT had any symptoms may discontinue isolation when: at least 10 days have passed since the date of their first positive COVID-19 diagnostic test and have had no subsequent illness provided they remain asymptomatic. For 3 days following discontinuation of isolation, these persons should continue to limit contact (stay 6 feet apart) and wear a face mask to limit dispersal of respiratory secretions.
Individuals with suspected COVID-19 who have stayed home (home isolation) can stop home isolation after 3 things have happened: You have no fever for at least 72 hours without the use of any medicines to reduce fevers, AND you have had improvement of symptoms, AND at least 10 days have passed since your symptoms first appeared.
If you have fever with symptoms (cough, shortness of breath, etc) but have not been exposed to someone with COVID-19, and have not tested positive for COVID-19, you should stay home away from others until 72 hours after the fever and symptoms get better.
You have heard Governor Noem state many times that this COVID-19 pandemic is a marathon. I cannot think of a better description for this pandemic. For those of you who are not familiar with what a marathon truly is, let me explain. I have done multiple marathons in the past, and until you have done one, you truly do not know what this entails. This is also a perfect description of this pandemic. A marathon is not something you just jump into. It is 26.2 miles! Getting ready to run one can take 4 months, and even as long as a year. This is what we have been doing now in regards to this pandemic. Then the day finally comes and you think you are ready. The marathon starts, and it takes that first 5 or 6 miles to even get into a groove. Then you start feeling a little bit more comfortable and start finding your pace as you are building up with it. From mile 10-15 you are kind of in cruise control, and everything is going along fine. You get past mile 15, and then you start feeling it. Things start getting tougher. Your mind starts wandering a little bit more. You wonder if you have done enough to be prepared for everything of this. You keep pushing it, and then you get to mile 20. Things have been going along ok, and then just like that, it feels like you just got smacked with a 2 x 4. You only have 6.2 miles to go, but that 6.2 miles feels like another 20! This is where it gets tough. You are now monitoring things by the quarter mile, and half mile intervals, trying to get your way through it, and to convince yourself that you can do it. You get to the point where you do not think that you can finish. And then, finally, you get there. You feel relief…exhaustion…and the feeling of a huge sense of accomplishment that you did it. Just like we have all been doing during this pandemic. Where are we at in this marathon pandemic right now? I don’t know, but I think somewhere in that mile 10-15 where we are on cruise control. But, it is not over by any stretch of the imagination. It is still coming, and the numbers have been picking up. We need to focus, and hang on. The tough part is coming. Don’t let your guard down now. This is a marathon like no other…one that we have never experienced before. Finishing a marathon is a state of mind that says anything is possible. So, overall, while we are going through this, be somebody who makes everybody feel like somebody!
There will be light at the end of the tunnel! Keep going forward. Stay focused. And…keep moving everybody!
With all of the issues surrounding this COVID-19 pandemic, it is now even more important to get out and exercise, whether biking, running, walking, or whatever. The stress from all of this gets to a point where you just need to blow off some steam, and frustrations, and at the same time, just plain get away from everything that is going on now. You can’t listen to the TV, or the radio, without getting an every 30 second update on everything related to COVID. There are other things going on too. First and foremost, you cannot neglect taking care of yourself either! The weeks are stressful enough, and now with Memorial Day weekend coming up next week, it will be a nice 3 day break from everything. After all…
Exactly! It is time for a break. Utilize this opportunity coming up, and do yourself a favor, and shut off the TV, and radio, and your phone, and get outside and enjoy some activity. Whatever it is, just get outside!
Time to put a smile back on your own face, and enjoy some time for you. My walks after a day at the clinic have been a great way to unwind from the day, and Dakota loves it too.
There have been more virtual running events going on lately, and we have done two of them already. One was a 5k, and another a 10k run. Here Sarah is after finishing her 10k last weekend.
The bottom line with all of this, get outside, and forget about what is all going on lately. Take care of you, and your mind, as well as your body. You can’t under estimate how exhausting all of this can be, and the stress caused by all of this. Depression is a big deal, especially now! If you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t help anybody else.
This too will pass. Eventually…when though, is the question. Keep looking at the positives in your life. I had to go look through some other pictures here lately, and I found this next one of the Sunrise occurring over Lake Kampeska a few years ago. I could sit and look at the this picture for a long time, just like I spent a lot of time looking at the view that day I took the picture as well.
Someday, and hopefully very soon, we will be running with our run club twice a week again. We have been holding off, practicing the social distancing, but as the weeks have gone by, it has been tougher and tougher, and I miss running with my friends. We need to start getting back to some degree of reality. What that reality is though is unknown at this time. Keep trying. Keep being safe. Don’t let your guard down.
I definitely will be jumping for joy again when we can all get back together running, and actually post pictures about it as well! The Wednesday evenings, and Sunday mornings are now just leaving an empty space. I don’t know how much longer we can keep doing this. Continue on trying to get out at least on your own, and take in the scenery. Drive to the lake and take off walking or running from there. Especially early in the morning, or late in the evening. The view is breath taking.
Sarah and I just signed up for the Run From Covid Virtual 5k being held the weekend of June 19-22. How fitting to be having this now! Watertown DASH is sponsoring this, so start getting ready. Walk or run, it does not matter. Just get going! Keep moving everybody!
Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there! You know what you all do for your family! The sacrifices, the work, the love, and continuous caring you do for your kids and family. Where do you begin to say Thanks? You are always there when you are needed. To start with, a special note of appreciation to Sarah for everything you do for our kids, and me! Thank you just is never really enough. One thing I have noticed over time is that as the kids get older, the more they appreciate mom!
Sarah not only has time to take care of our kids, but also finds time to take care of everybody at the clinic…her patients. Then when time allows, she takes care of herself by trying to keep herself fit and healthy. No easy task.
Even with all this going on with the pandemic, she had to become a barber for me…her oldest, most challenging kid! Here I am praying before hand that I still had some hair left afterwards. But, as usual, she did a great job! She is always willing to help out wherever needed.
She is out every morning to walk Dakota, rain or shine. This is how she starts every day.
Then other days she is out with our daughter Megan as they take both Dakota and Dobby for a walk. Always full of energy, and always willing to step in.
And, of course, a special thanks to my mom. She lives in Sioux Falls, and they have been especially hit hard with this pandemic. She has been stuck in her house, and the boredom is getting to her. I have my sister, and several brothers living there too. They are helping her with everything they can. We have not even been able to go down and see her, much less help get things done. I call several times a week, but it is not the same. I am hoping this eases up soon so I can actually see her in person. I appreciate everything she has done for me and our family as well. So, to all you moms out there, this day is for you!
Thank you moms! You are appreciated, and loved, more than you know! Keep moving everybody!
