Running it Off

Why do I run? I thought I started running because my brain convinced me it would be a great way to keep my body in good soccer shape. But now I’m thinking there’s another reason I waited until I was at the half-century mark to start a running regime...maybe it’s my body’s way of dealing with the hormonal milieu that’s been stuck in the on position for the past few months. Maybe hormones are kicking my butt down the road each morning.


Take yesterday, for example, I was just about to head out of the door for my run, having got up early and had my coffee, when my daughter came up the stairs with her 2-year old son bundled in her arms. I babysit my grandson 3 days a week while my daughter Jenny, a single mom, works. As long as I am up early enough to fit in my run before Jenny leaves for work around 8 a.m., everything runs smoothly. But yesterday, my grandson Odin woke early which isn’t usually a problem, but he didn’t want to stay in his bed, he was upset and not feeling too great, possibly a nightmare? Jenny didn’t have time to comfort him, she was in the middle of getting ready for work, so the task was turned over to me and as a consequence, my precious run would be sacrificed. To say I exploded in a rage would be an understatement. My tantrum easily rivaled any performance given by a pubescent teen girl. Jenny just rolled her eyes skyward and said she needed to get ready for work, after all, she’d seen this performance before. My grandson, on the other hand, watched wide-eyed as his grandmother threw a temper tantrum because she couldn’t go for a run. He was calmly sat in the armchair by this point with his blankie, monkey, little piggy, and bunny watching Toopy and Binoo on the television wondering what the mad lady in the neon-yellow running jacket was going to do next.


I’m embarrassed to tell this story, but this is exactly the type of things that happens when peri-menopausal hormones are in full rage. In a nutshell, it’s PMS times ten and I’m smack bang in the middle of it.


 So why do I run? One of the major reasons is to let go of all this stuff that I have accumulated lately thanks to those raging hormones. I run to shake it off, to reboot, and re-balance. When I hit the road in the morning feeling tight and heavy with the weight of the world on my shoulders, somewhere along the way everything loosens up and I return feeling light and clean. It’s the one place in life I can set my own pace. It’s the difference between a good day and a bad day.


Here are some of the stuff I run off:


My bad mood


A lousy night’s sleep


Night sweats (see above)


Sad news


Germs


Relationship ups and downs


A messy kitchen made that way by "someone else"


Sore muscles from workout


Hot flashes


Last nights fabulous dinner and 2 glasses of wine


An argument


 Cravings


Misbehaving cats


Brain fog


Defective judgment


Restrictions, mostly self imposed


Fatigue


Poor soccer game


Poor golf game (this is a newbie)


I’m sure you get the point. Running is soul cleansing and mind clearing and by taking care of this benign self-interest it allows me to be what I need to be for everyone else in my life without resentment. So as I continue to negotiate the rapids of my midlife transition, I will, in all probability, continue to blame it all on hormones...while I still can. And as I plan tomorrow morning's freedom run, I can take comfort in the fact I still haven’t peaked as a runner!