WoT work

This morning, my wife and I started our day with a slow yoga flow together, then she moved onto getting ready to leave for her day, while I ate some breakfast and prepared for a (virtual) support group meeting. After the meeting, it was no longer early morning. And that means it was already getting very warm outside – verging on hot! But I really wanted to go for a run, so I geared up and headed out!

There were not more than a few wispy clouds in the sky within any direction today. The heat was coming on fast!

Running in direct sun on a hot day absolutely saps me! I think maybe this is where my age (and likely conditioning) really gets me! A couple weeks ago, I ran ten miles one day, a shorter four miles the next, and then eight the following. No problem. But that was in significantly cooler conditions, and with intermittent shade.

There’s a narrow road not far from where I live. It’s just over a mile long, with several hilly sections. Okay, to be more accurate, it descends for about half a mile and then ascends for the other half. It’s also almost entirely shaded, with trees lining both sides and only brief areas where the sun reaches the pavement.

Often, when running from home, I will run that road, then turn onto another one that will connect back with a third road, creating a sort-of triangular shaped 5K route (3.1 miles). I will stretch out the distance further by turning the opposite direction and including an out-and-back section on either of the two other roads. But today, by the time I was getting started, the other two roads would’ve been entirely in the sun!

I decided to just stay on the first road. I still wanted to run longer than just one mile out and one mile back. So, I made the road “longer” by doing “shade fartleks” – which also meant I was doing “hill repeats”. A fartlek is a Sweedish term for “speed play”. Basically, the idea is to pick a marker in the distance (road sign, tree, blade of grass if your vision is that good) and run to it – a little faster, a little harder than usual. Then resume usual pace for a while before picking another marker and running harder/faster to it!

In my situation today, the patches of sun on the road were my markers. So, I went up & down, down & up sections of the hilly road, staying primarily in the shade. But I got quite a workout and ended up running just over four miles before I finished.

When I made it back home, I was a hot, sweaty mess. But I felt pretty good about my run. It was hard, but not so hard that I outran my body’s abilities. Not so much sun that I wound up getting fully sapped. And then I went to my back porch area and cooled off while listening to the wind chimes, watching the hummingbirds play and fight (wow they’re aggressive) and started writing this post.

In the psychology world, there’s a term called Window of Tolerance, or WoT for short. We all have one. It’s emotional, mental, and physical. When we get outside that window, stuff happens – not good stuff!

I could’ve decided to run four miles mostly in the sun. I probably would’ve survived. But I would’ve been fatigued the rest of the day. And it’s likely I would end up with a major headache (probably from heat exhaustion), or worse. I know, because I’ve done it. I get lost in the moment, exceed my body’s WoT, and pay for it later!

But today, I didn’t.

This same thing can be done with situations that could be emotionally or mentally difficult, leaving me outside my WoT and scrambling for regulation. As I practice my WoT work, I don’t get “triggered” as easily. Stuff that once would send me into a state of anxiety, fear, or dissociation now happens almost without notice. Or, I do notice, practice self-awareness, employ creativity to work through it, and keep on going. It’s a relief to just be me, without constant fear of a relapse.

Today I used self-awareness and creativity to accomplish what I wanted for myself, while also being kind to myself and staying within my WoT – even while simultaneously stretching it a bit! Several hours later, I’m still feeling at ease – feeling like myself. A bit hungry, but I’ll remedy that next!