I have to confess something.  Most days when I have to go out to run, I have to force myself to do it.  Do I love running? Yes, ….but only when I’m done.  LOL !     But seriously, it’s true.  I would much rather sleep that extra hour on a work day. I would much rather drink a hot cup of coffee and watch the Today show on Sunday morning.  I have to kick my own butt to get myself into my running gear and outside, especially now as winter is setting in.  So if this is the case, what is it that I love about the whole running thing?  Gosh, it’s simple really.  There is just nothing better than that feeling when I am finished.   I’ve tried to explain this to my husband Peter, so I’ll try to do it here.    After a run is finished, there is an exhaustion in my body.  My knees are a bit wobbly.  My body trembles a bit.  My face is hot, red, flush, sweaty.  I go inside and drink a glass or two of water.  Some days, the water just sweats right out of me while my body tries to reach equilibrium again.  I get it — it sounds horrible, gross, painful.  LOL, sometimes it’s all of those things.  But as I am running and sweating down the street, I swear I am releasing all the heavy, negative stress and strain that LIFE puts on me.  It’s like I’m releasing all my worries back into the universe, and cleansing my soul.  Clean slate.  Rebirth.  Empty hard drive.   Ready to be written on again.  More space, more attention, and more patience for the next day or two…….until it’s time to run/release/renew again.    Nothing beats it.

Once I’ve cooled down, and showered and dressed.  I start my day with my run under my belt.   And here comes the second part of the running addiction.   Deep inside, I can feel it.  It’s like a high voltage electrical current running through my body.  I call it “my engine”.  I can feel my engine burning like a pilot light inside my body, creating an energy to which I am completely and thoroughly addicted!!   I believe this is the Runners High that you hear about.  It was always an amorphous, hard-to-understand thing for me.  But now I’ve gone to the other side and I know from experience, and it’s real, and it’s delicious, and I think…………I Think …………I THINK I love it more than food.  GASP!!!  :0

Ciao for now…..Diane