Alright, so today sucked. Like, not just a little, a lot. It's days like today when I have to pull myself out of my funk and realize that I really don't have it as bad as I think I do, and there are lots of others that have it worse than me.
I mean, I have my health, a job (although...it is what routinely causes all my stress), good friends and family, and countless other blessings.
Still, I allowed myself to wallow in the suck for at least 2 hours. They were 2 pretty decent hours because I wallowed in my bed while taking a post workday nap. So that was nice. But overall, today was not bueno. At all.
Which brings me to my point...why I run. Truly, the reason why....
I'm probably one of the most "high strung" people you will ever meet. Is "high strung" even the right phrase? Maybe not. Anywho, I am super high energy, extremely intense (I've been told I can suck the air outta a room...), very motivated, but also a worry wort in the grandest sense of the word. I am a self proclaimed "half-empty" who would rather be surprised when something turns out than get my hopes up and be crushed. NOW...this does not mean that I walk around with a storm cloud all the time...but if you catch me on the wrong day....
All that being said, running/exercise equalizes me. I didn't realize until a couple of years ago when I started exercising that something so simple could help improve my stress level. Well whatdoyaknow...running helps relieve my stress. A lot. Like A LOT A LOT. And usually, the more I run, the less stressed I am. Not going to lie, on days like today, when work and life in general looks downright unpleasant, I can run, and just stomp on all the things/people/situations that make me all frazzle-dazzled. One step at a time, I pound on people's faces (not really...you know what I mean...). And it helps. Sometimes, I run and I just go blank. Either way, when I'm running, I always feel less stressed when done.
The past couple of weeks have been extremely stressful as I'm trying to juggle training, work, best friend's wedding, family visiting, random unexplained expenses popping up, etc. And since I got back from our Ultra Run in SA 2 weeks ago, I've been a ball of knots. I haven't run as much as I should have been. I've tried to recover slowly from that 39 mile jaunt so that my knee and legs are ready to ramp up mileage for the marathon in 7 weeks. But the lack of running definitely took a toll on my stress level. Soooo....I'm back on the wagon!
Tonight, Kristofor and I did about 4 miles. And Saturday, in San Antonio (made the 4 hour commute for the best friend's bachelorette party), I ran the absolute HILLIEST 7 mile trail run ever. Comanche Lookout Park Trails...ummm...yeah, they mean business. I almost died like 5 times. It was tough. Can I count that as this week's hill run? WHY YES I CAN. This week, I have to do another 5 miler, a 10-K at race pace, and a 16 miler.
I'm trying to compete in the Just Du It Duathlon on Sunday October 2nd. I need either a partner to bike the 18 miles, or a bike to borrow so I can bike the 18 and run the 6 miles. Let me know if you have a bike for me to borrow oooorrrrr if you wanna be my partner. No speed demons needed. I'm going to run my long run on Saturday early...(or Sunday I guess if I can't find a partner...) so I have no intention of being a "contender" in this race. I just think it would be fun! Lemme know!
Thanks for cheering me on!
Lacy
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