“What a brutal winter. Here comes a record breaking cold spell. The roads are impassible.”
These are heard daily on the local TV and radio stations. The broadcasters almost seem to enjoy bringing record breaking weather to our attention.
“ When is this winter ever going to end! Snow. Cold. Heavy clothes! Boots. Nowhere to run outdoors! Dogs don’t even stay outside. Blah! Blah! Blah!……”
The above are only a few of the words that are pouring out of my mouth lately. It was almost as though I were enjoying the torture of this winter’s weather by advertising the negative aspects out loud. To everyone and anyone who would listen.
Until this morning…..I was reading a Jeff Galloway article in Runners World magazine. Such a nice man! No, I never met him in person but I have been reading his articles since he began. When others are warning you not to walk during training runs or even races, Jeff tells you it is OK. Be nice to yourself. After all, you are doing more than most people in the United States. You won the battle when you walked out the door to run today. Such a nice man!
You might expect these training pearls of wisdom from someone who sits at a desk all day and has never run a mile in his life. After all, all of the other articles I read about training warn you not to stop and walk! And these are written by famous people, mostly runners. No nice from them….run until you can’t run any more. And then the next day rest by running only 15 miles. So, Jeff could not possibly know what he is doing. He can’t possibly be a famous runner.
But he is and was a famous runner. This is what the be all end all of references, Wikipedia, says about Jeff Galloway. “ lifetime runner, Galloway was an All-American collegiate athlete and a member of the 1972 US Olympic Team in the 10,000 meters. He remains a competitive athlete, continuing through a successful masters running career.” And it should say, “and a nice man who emphasizes the positives in life and sport.”
So, back to my original topic. There I was reading Jeff’s article right after I took my dog outside and grumbled for five minutes about the weather as I through the ball for her to catch. As always, he talks about doing a walk/ run thing and then I see the paragraph that changed my day…. It said (in paraphrase) that we shouldn’t say we HAVE to go running because that makes it seem like a chore. There are many people who cannot run and wish they could so we should feel excited about running. We should say,” I get to go out and run.”
OH MY. This changed me. He is right. I am normally a positive person but this winter it took Jeff to kick me in the butt and make me start seeing winter (and life) in a positive way again! Thank you Jeff. I remember deep down inside, standing on the patio and looking toward the trees in the surrounding woods and telling myself many times this winter, “How beautiful nature is.” Or hearing a solo bird chirping in the below zero weather and thinking, “Amazing1” I remember laughing at my dogs as they stuck their heads in the snow to look for God knows what and then coming up for air with snow all over their face. I remember watching the dogs run through the first snow like it was something they never saw before. Thank you Jeff. I AM ALIVE!
My positive thinking is re-energizing me and I have a new energy - to go downstairs and get back on my treadmill. I can go outside to play with the doggies without cringing about the cold and I think my renewed positive attitude has re-energized my dogs. They are back outside playing again! Go ahead, people. Start with one positive, enthusiastic winter thought. Start looking at seed catalogs, and before you know it the snow will be gone and the grass will be green again. You can do it!