Running for My Mental

Last Saturday I ran the Big Tesuque Trail Run put on by the Santa Fe Striders with a special fundraising emphasis this year for Wings of America, a terrific organization that uses sport to nurture Native youth development. The sun warmed the chilly morning air and lit aspen show, a brilliant maize and gold, outrageously beautiful. The governor of the Pueblo of Jemez, Dominic Gachupin, welcomed us to his ancestral land, made a few comments about the spirit and history trail running, and blessed our mountain run with prayer.

As Gachupin prayed in a language I don't speak, I used the time to think about my own relationship to place and running. I didn't discover long-distance running until my 30s and much like biking, I quickly decided to avoid concrete and asphalt. Give me dirt, the quiet, leaf litter, and darting squirrels. While my attention turns to foot placement and avoiding roots and rocks, my mind releases, a free-flow of ideas and creativity. Walking and biking can sometimes produce this same effect but not as reliably as running. And although getting out the door can be a challenge some days, especially those days where I feel low or sad or bent on self-sabotage, running never fails to improve my mental.

That Wings of America primarily uses running for empowering Native youth and their families makes complete sense to me. Though I am not a competitive runner and my running has nothing to do with hill repeats, time trials, fartleks or VO2 metrics, my running connects me to a place, to the ground, the air, the seasons, and to the present. Running builds my discipline and resilience, opens my mind and releases healthy chemicals in my body. It's the best drug I can take for what ails me in body and mind.

Such were my thoughts that morning. As Governor Gachupin wrapped up his prayer, his warm smile ignited my own, and I felt connected to that beautiful place and to our shared human spirit, grateful I am a runner.