For having a great last few days, I awoke in a funk. It’s how it goes a lot of times. For me they come fast and furious, out of nowhere and settle down like slow suffocation. I decided to go for a run. 

For the last year, save for a handful  with friends, running has sucked for me.  Injury, age, my every summer lung cancer mirage (read: Louisiana heat and humidity) and of course me being a fucking drama queen has led me to write off runs in the first mile even when I know it takes 5 miles for me to warm up. 

This morning was no different. I started out in a funk and by the first mile had already downgraded from 5 miles to 4 and was still funky. 

Have you ever been so overwhelmed in your life that you just stop in your tracks?  This is a phenomenon that only started occurring over the last couple of years for me. I’ll go out to run and none of the calming feelings associated with running happen. Instead, the opposite occurs. I get more and more overwhelmed until I just stop in my tracks and stand there. I know I must look like an insane person so if I ‘m around people I always start stretching or something as a shirtless late 40’s guy stopped in the middle of the road staring into nothing tends to bring attention, so those calves must need some elongating!  This happened today at mile 1.3. Dead stopped. Why am I even bothering?

After :30 of standing there I go ahead and start loosening up the calves because, you know, to fight crazy person vibe and after another few moments of quiet desperation remember how lucky I am to run and start up again.  I think of a friend who just had surgery, another battling a death sentence of a disease and I start plotting how I’m going to battle back. 

After another mile it’s like night and day. Maybe my dopamine receptors are as clogged as my sinuses but a mere 9 mins after stopping dead in my tracks I am now having fully formed, executable business ideas as well as seeing my way through other issues. I see friends. I give a high five.  My worldview completely improved. My pace is no better but fuck it. My brains are. 

This is why you should run. Yeah it’s good for your heart and lungs and a bunch of other things, but it’s mostly good for your brains. If you can’t run, walk, ride, yoga or do something where you can get lost in your thoughts. I guarantee it fends off the crazy and overwhelming living in all of us. 

One run = Day improved.  

Every. Single. Time. 

#hugsandhi5s