Plunging Like An Elder

Last Saturday I turned 57. My strength training teacher has been inviting me (and other women from the gym) to go running and plunge in the lake afterwards every Saturday morning for the last six months. I’ve mentally committed to going several times but bailed every Saturday morning. Then, last week, the run-plunge fell on my 57th birthday and I took it as a sign that it was time.

Kate and I used to run in the trails of Seward Park almost every weekend. At some point I faded out of that routine and I rarely run anymore. When I said yes to running on my birthday, it had been almost a year since I last ran. 

My partner Nancy agreed to come running with me which helped me stay committed. At 7am, we met six other women by the tennis courts at the park. All of the women were at least ten years younger than me, a few at least twenty years my junior. 

The plan was to run for thirty minutes and then jump in the lake. It all felt manageable. It was a balmy 55 degrees out — a clear and beautiful day. I kept up with my teacher for the first half and then slowed down for the second half, finding a running mate who matched my pace.

It turned out she was also from Chicago. Like me, she wasn’t much of a runner, but loved coming out to share the morning being active outside with other women. 

“I haven’t run since the Turkey Trot last year,” I told my new friend, “but today is my birthday. I’m turning 57 and this seems like the perfect way to start a new year.”

“Oh my gosh!,” my young running buddy said, “that’s so inspiring.”

And in that moment, I felt it. “I’m old,” I thought to myself. This young woman can’t imagine what her life will be like in twenty years but she hopes that when she is 57, she’ll want to do a morning run on her birthday. 

I’m not a great runner and thirty minutes isn’t that challenging, but I recognized something important happening between me and my new friend in that short exchange. “I’m like an Orca Whale,” I thought to myself. 

In her book, The Upgrade, Louanne Brizendine writes, “The female brain has tremendous unique aptitudes — outstanding verbal agility, the ability to connect deeply in friendship, a nearly psychic capacity to read faces and tone of voice for emotions and states of mind, and the ability to defuse conflict."

Orca whales live in the wild, helping younger generations find enough food to sustain their pods. The Orca elders use their experience to guide those with less wisdom. Now that I’m older, this is my job too. “We can do this,” I’m signaling to my younger friend as we do our best to run to the finish. “We can keep on running even though we’re tired.”

When we finished running, we braved our way into the lake in our bras and shorts. My teacher had a thermometer and a timer. “The lake is at 55 degrees,” she said, “let’s plan to stay in for five minutes.” We talked and joked and before we knew it, it had been six minutes. Our pod had survived. 

This is how I feel when we all come together for Launch Your Pause events. Sometimes I’m the elder and sometimes I’m among my peers, but it’s always inspiring, satisfying and perspective-shifting. Whether it’s six minutes in a cold lake or a weekend in the woods, make time to find your pod.