When The Pace Picks Up...

Last week events happened that left me feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. Summer is usually a time to kick back and savor a slower pace. Of course we didn't quite anticipate that last summer our pace would be slowed to a crawl but pandemic life forced us to slow down, notice things we might have allowed to rush by us and feel immensely grateful for health and simple pleasures.

The pace of life has picked up this summer with plans to return to in person work and school, signing up for races again and the once empty spaces surrounding magnets on our refrigerator are now filled with event invitations.

I am thrilled that we don't need masks in most settings, can safely socialize and life has resumed with activities we enjoy but it seems as though the pace has quickened beyond what I have become accustomed to during these past 16 months.

One of the ways that I manage feeling overwhelmed and frustrated is to push my pace on a run. Saturday, Ruth Anne and Tom paced me on our Jamaica Plain run. It wasn't planned. It evolved from the inside as my annoyance about last week's events needed to be released. 

Despite picking up the pace on our run, we made sure to pause savor the beauty around us. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the end of the run my mood was lifted and I enjoyed that feeling of being spent after a good run. We haven't been racing for the past 16 months {and I am still undecided about whether or not I am going to return to racing again}. There is a special feeling when you push yourself and pass people ahead of you and sweat pours even after finishing the run. 

The stillness of the water helped my heart and soul to settle and the endorphins enabled my parasympathetic nervous system to kick in.

When the pace picks up and the world seems to be resuming its pre-pandemic frenzy, I can pause, breathe and get my bearings. There's no need for me to get swept along in the current. 

I enjoy being my only competition these days. Initially, I missed our annual races complete with what we affectionately called "race-cations". I missed hugging friends and gathering with members of our L Street Running Club. I missed challenging myself going for PR's and the thrill of Facebook feedback when I conquered the clock at a race.

As we emerge from the pandemic, everyone should find their own pace just as we do when we toe the starting line of a race. There are no judgments for what choices people make and what suits them mind, body and soul. I do want to cherish the soul lessons we've learned and preserve some of the habits we developed during the pandemic. Some may choose to go out fast when the gun goes off and stay out in front resuming pre-pandemic activities at a pre-pandemic pace. Others may hang in the middle of the pack keeping a steady pace finding their way along the course. And still others, like me, will be at the back of the pack finding my way into a new rhythm of life emerging from the pandemic remembering that life is a marathon, not a sprint and to pace myself accordingly. 

From my heart to yours
In health and wellness,
Mary

Visit my website to learn more about my journey of transformation in the wake of paralytic polio and trauma to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond.

Be sure to listen to my recent conversation with Liz Brunner, award winning journalist, now CEO of Brunner Communications on her podcast Live Your Best Life. I share how I live my best life despite the challenges that I faced at an early age.

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