I never thought I’d say this, but jogging has become such an integral part of my life over the past six months that, when I was unable to jog for over three weeks in January due to cold, snow, and ice, I missed it.
Like, thought about it wistfully every day the way you’d think about a long-distance lover missed it.
Some background: The pinnacle of my running career was in middle school, when I ran the mile in gym class in 7 minutes and 51 seconds. I remember only because of the complicated mix of strong feelings it triggered.
When we ran the mile in gym class, everyone drifted into their established places quickly: athletes in front, followed by space that kept growing, then non-athletes, a ton more space, then the poor stragglers who got lapped by everyone and finished the mile looking like they were dying.
My fastest running speed placed me toward the front of the pack of non-athletes, which felt good. But, it also provided a clear visual that I couldn’t keep up with the athletes, which felt bad, especially because I myself was an athlete who played sports daily.
I was a tall and skinny middle schooler who couldn’t meet a new adult without hearing, “I bet you’re great at sports!” And I so wanted to be, which was why I played three of them. But, unfortunately, I majorly sucked ass (a technical term coaches use, probably).
Then, I got even slower. Since age 14, I’ve been unable to run a mile in under 10 minutes, regardless of how hard I try or how fit I become. I had months-long “running stints” in both my 20s and 30s that largely ended in lightheadedness, disappointment, and proclamations that I’d never run again.
Last summer, I did a meditation that involved listening to the body. And when I “listened” to my legs, they said RUN! This shocked me, as I had a ton of fatigue at that point and couldn't always handle walking over a mile.
I told a friend about my body’s bulletin and she told me about the TikTok trend of treadmill strutting, which involves dance-walking or dance-jogging on a treadmill in time to music.
She’d begun applying the strutting concept to jogging outdoors, and I followed suit, approaching it as body-led experimentation. I listened to music and moved as my body desired, without pressure to speed up.
On my first day, I jogged two miles, with only a couple short walking breaks. This felt nearly miraculous, as I’d expected to jog for closer to two blocks. Without pressure to go fast, my body enjoyed moving in a slow-motion, up-and-down way that reminds me of the horse in that once-viral hip-hop dressage video.*
I’ve been hooked ever since. And while I haven’t gotten much faster (my average mile pace usually falls between 12 and 16 minutes), the distance I can cover continues to organically grow (my longest was 8.5 miles). Listening to my body has brought me many gifts, and jogging is one that I deeply treasure.
*I often listen to hip-hop while jogging. I swear Bongos by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion is thee best jogging song in existence. One time I jogged for an hour listening to only that song on repeat. (Note: it’s not a work or kid-friendly song).
🌐 This week, I created a new professional website for myself. It needs some tweaks, but I’m very happy to finally have FAQs about wellness coaching up. Also, writing my art story was a positive experience.
🎥 If, like me, you enjoy watching movies based on real-life women who did badass shit, you might want to check these recent watches of mine out:
NYAD, about 60-year-old woman Diana Nyad swimming from Cuba to Florida (!!!) (played by Annette Bening, who is fantastic). (Oh, and marathon swimming nerds have argued for years over whether Nyad’s swim was “assisted” or “unassisted,” which I don’t really care about either way but find amusing.)
Reality, about a young woman with the real name Reality Winner (!!!) who blew the whistle while working as an NSA contractor after finding classified information suggesting US elections were potentially compromised. (If you watch this one and wonder how she got caught…here ya go).