OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE: Weaver lives life of opportunity

Mar. 9—MOEO sums up the philosophy of Dr. Jack Weaver, a sports medicine physician.

"I have a saying that goes with my philosophy: if it's in the rain, sun or snow, we MOEO wherever we go," he said. "MOEO means make the Most Of Every Opportunity."

He finds opportunities to make the most of each day. He said he does yoga for 30 minutes each morning and runs five to 10 miles each evening. His vacations include hikes up tall mountains in Colorado.

Weaver, who always loved athletics, recalled having to seize an opportunity when he was 16.

"My father had a heart attack when he was 50 and had open heart surgery," Weaver said. "After the surgery, I went with him to his doctor's appointment and the cardiologist, Dr. Medina, turned to me, looked me right in the eye and he said 'if you don't want this to be you, you need to start a healthy lifestyle right now.' That has stuck with me to this day, got me into running and being aware of what I ate, my diet, my body."

Weaver said he began a regimen of distance running that continues to this day.

"I'm not running to live one day longer," he said. "I'm running to live every day better, feel better, be better able to do the things I want to do."

He said he also seizes opportunities to be mindful — "being aware of what is going on in your life at that moment."

Weaver said being mindful can help ease stress and, consequently, help people feel better physically. He said he practices mindful stress reduction.

"Five Fs affect our pain," he said. "Friends, family, food, fitness, faith."

For the past year, Weaver has given others the chance to MOEO during Mindful Monday lunchtime gatherings. They're usually held at his office.

"I wanted to emphasize the practice of being more mindful in our thoughts, our bodies, on how to connect with people," he said.

Connect through Mindful Mondays

Jack Weaver offers unique ways to connect during Mindful Mondays.

"When we first started, we had one time when we just painted pictures," he said. "One time we sat out in the back parking lot and wrote haiku poems. We've gone walking in the park at Honor Heights."

The sessions usually draw eight to 12 people. Yoga teacher Tracy Fenton leads sessions every other week. Personal trainers Kent Kamp and Makayla Wooldridge, have led sessions. Weaver said he has led a session on mindfulness.

"It's just a way to give people an opportunity to connect, whether they just want to meet new people," he said. "I think it has allowed an opportunity for people to associate with people who want to better themselves physically, mentally, emotionally. It gives people an outlet for stress."

Sessions are announced Sundays on social media.

"We put every Mindful Monday on Facebook live, so we have 150 to 200 people see us on Facebook live, whether they're at work and they can't get here, or they're at home. A lot of people post and say 'I'm doing it with you.'"

Running is his regimen

Weaver says he runs five to 10 miles a day.

"That is the time that I think," he said. "Nobody's asking me questions and nobody's needing my time. When I am running, I am a philosopher. I am constantly making videos as I run or saying ideas into my recorder. That is when I learn the lessons life has taught me that day. It's the most special time of my day."

He often runs on Centennial Trail, which is close to his office on 36th St.

"I just hop right out there, run to the Hall of Fame and back," he said, referring to Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, at Third and Elgin Streets.

"Now, I go at a nine-minute mile pace, so to go five miles takes 45 minutes," he said. "I was faster in my younger days."

Weaver said he heads out the door each day after work, regardless of the weather.

"I don't love the cold and I don't love the wind, but I still go," he said. "I run in the snow if it's not too slick, but if it's slick, I'll be on the treadmill."

Elevation climb

has its limits

Weaver and his son do 14ers, climb mountains that are at least 14,000 feet high.

"There are 50-plus in Colorado, and we love to go once a year," Weaver said. "That's like a high altitude hike. Climbing on rocks. It just gets a lot harder once you get above 12,000 feet to breathe."

He said their latest climb, Mt. Bierstadt, took eight hours.

"We backpack, take a lot of hydration, snacks," he said. "We always pack headlamps. Most of the time we time it to where we get in before dark but you never know."

Hiking down poses a different challenge, he said.

"It changes the muscles you use," Weaver said. "When you're hiking down you use your quadriceps, thigh muscles, because you decelerate with each step and it's heavier on your feet. One thing about the Rocky Mountains is that they're rocky. So you're pounding down on these rocks."

Such high altitudes affect people differently.

"I am not great at altitude," he said. "I have to slow down a lot at high altitude. My wife and kids out-hike me at altitude, but one thing that defines my life is endurance. I may not be the fastest, but I never quit."

HOW DID YOU COME TO BE AN OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE?

"I was born and raised here, lived here my whole life. My parents were from here originally. I went away to school. Lived in Michigan three years for my residency. Came back to University of Oklahoma. These guys who were in this building before me, there were five orthopedic surgeons, they asked me to come back and join their practice, I did in 1997."

WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT MUSKOGEE?

"The memories. I like to run all over town. I like being able to run through the seats and see it as it is now, but also see the memories, run by ballparks where I used to play ball; run by places where I went to school, run by houses of my friends. See the memories of what was there, what's there now and the dreams of what can be."

WHAT WOULD MAKE MUSKOGEE A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE?

"If we were all a little more mindful of the present, and being aware of what's going on in our lives and the lives of people around us."

WHAT PERSON IN MUSKOGEE DO YOU ADMIRE MOST?

"I don't like that question. I think it's a divisive question. I think we're more like, in a grove of aspen trees, it looks like there are hundreds of trees, but it's all one root system. For me to pick one person, it's impossible. The most important person to me is the person I am with at the moment, see what I can lean from that person. There are so many people who have influenced me."

WHAT IS THE MOST MEMORABLE THING TO HAPPEN TO YOU IN MUSKOGEE?

"Getting married to my wife and seeing all five kids born in the exact same building I was born in."

WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?

"I run. I am involved in social media motivational speaking. I like to speak to groups about human performance, improving performance. Yoga, exercise. I like to spend time with my kids hiking."

HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP MUSKOGEE IN 25 WORDS OR LESS?

"The forge that molded me into what I am."