Outrunning Lions

Today’s (Yesterday’s) Run

Time – 55:15
Distance – 5.06 miles
Pace – 10:55 min/mi
Elevation – 140 ft.

I wasn’t supposed to be running yesterday. Instead, I skipped the day before to pout about my vacation (I’ve got to be honest with myself), and then I went out late last night to get it in at sunset. It was COLD. Not like coat-and-hat-weather, but I was not soaked in sweat when I was done. The Fall is definitely here. And it felt good to run for a while. I definitely needed to get out, especially as our vacation has been cancelled due to the Hurricane Irma. Our prayers are with everyone in the path. Health and safety!

Looking for Someone to Devour

I have a problem. Some people know about it, some don’t, but it’s an issue many people deal with on a regular basis. It comes and goes with me. I get 3 or 4 months of distress from it, and then it will go and ease off for a year or two. Sometimes the bad times are longer. Sometimes the good times are longer. But I can guarantee that it will happen that at some time I will cycle back through the good and bad.

This is not to complain, or to preach my story, or to push my thoughts on others. But I will say this. Running helps. (Yes, I know that is a shocking concept…)

I think the more important point is that running, which helps, isn’t helping just because I get an endorphin rush and then it gets me normal. It doesn’t work like that. The chemical imbalances do not get righted that easily or quickly. They come back.

Running is the coping mechanism. It’s a tool in the toolbox to deal with the struggles. It provides a sense of accomplishment. It moves the body and the mind to a different place, because sometimes a scenery change helps more than anything. It gives me time to find perspective.

Not every run is a good run, which is the risk. Bad runs don’t always help. But there is no fix. Medication treats symptoms, not the underlying problem. I have an imbalance, and I always will. I’m okay with that. I’m not perfect (just ask my wife and kids). But I am a person that can understand my problem and can work to live with it. That is my goal. Sometimes, resolution to a problem is knowing how to live with it effectively.