EXTREME HEALTH INTERVENTION CASTING
Jodi (36)
Mom, Elite Marathon Runner & Fitness Instructor
Grey, Maine
Jodi is a 36 year old fitness instructor who resides in Grey, Maine. She has been married to her husband for 10 years and has 3 children, Kaine (10), Valerie (8) and Mavrick (7). Jodi started her fitness journey 16 years ago in college as a soccer player and hasn’t left the gym since. Jodi admits to a party-heavy lifestyle in college wherein she experimented with various drugs. However, when she became pregnant, Jodi “loved something more than herself” and quit the partying, but she seamless replaced that addiction with what she deemed to be a healthier addiction: exercise. Jodi sought out an ultra-marathon runner who gave her tacit permission to run while pregnant. Jodi induced labour, while nine months pregnant, by running four miles.
As an “elite,” marathon runner, Jodi runs a seven minute mile and is currently working to get her marathon time to under three hours. Her current personal record is 3:07. Jodi trains seven days a week for her marathon running and since she’s a group fitness instructor by trade she’ll tack on 2-3 intense workouts a day in addition to her training! There is never a time of year when she isn’t training for the, “next race.” With dozens of marathons, ½ marathons, trail runs, etc.under her belt, she is never satisfied and is constantly chasing a better time and ranking. On days she doesn’t feel like running, she will have her husband drive her ten miles out into the rural Maine country-side and drop her off without a cell phone, forcing her to run home. She’s been hit by a car while doing this, seriously injuring her hips. The doctor told her that she needed to take a break from running, but she went ahead and ran a marathon anyway.
An important aspect of fitness is a rest day, the time wherein the body recovers, however Jodi logically understands this concept she refuses to do so. She likens her inability to not exercise with a mental struggle that she constantly loses. Jodi contends that if she takes a day off that she gets insufferable headaches like withdrawls. She took aspirin for the headaches but she was quickly taking too many pills. She therefore contends that it’s easier to just go on the run, and suffer the consequences later.
Jodi admits her workouts are an addiction and her family has to cater their daily lives and schedules to incorporate her routines. This puts pressure on her family, especially her husband because they know there is no arguing with her, so they accept it to avoid fights. Not only is it affecting her marriage, Jodi worries that she is setting a bad role model for her children, who are learning an unhealthy, uber-competitive relationship with fitness that isn’t about health, but instead about taking everything to extremes. Jodi is worried that fitness can’t be a long term fix for her as her body will one day give out. She desperately needs to find a balance and take a much needed rest.