Mom in the Mtns

I have to apologize for not blogging for 6 days, but things have been a bit tough lately.  Work has been really difficult in the past month, and covering the schedule last week was really mentally exhausting.  On top of that, I was up for a really great promotion but found out on Friday that I didn’t get it due to office politics.  After all of the stress I’ve been through lately, I was literally at my breaking point on Friday.  After crying in the parking lot, all I wanted to do was go home, curl up with my dog, and cry some more.  But I didn’t.  I went running.

As all my fellow runners know, running fixes everything.  There’s something about running that just helps fix whatever pain you’re in.  So instead of going home after work, I went to the park.  The first mile was tough – I felt weak from stress and not eating enough all week due to nerves and I was still so mad about everything going on at work.  Mile 2 was much better – pushing myself over hills helped clear my mind and work through my feelings.  In mile 3, I felt so much stronger, and sprinted the last 0.3 miles as hard as I could.  Sprinting made me feel invincible – so what if work sucks?  At least I can run!  I took my time stretching after my run and just enjoyed the awesome feeling that only a tough run can give you.

The view at the end of my run – Ridley Creek and the waterfall at dusk!

Now I’m not the best at dealing with unhappiness in a healthy way, because after my run I ate half a pizza and then drank some Blue Moons with my coworker, but I can honestly say I felt much better on Saturday morning after my run/calorie binge.  Whatever works, right?  Then I spent Saturday afternoon hiking in Ridley Creek State Park with my husband which also helped cheer me up!  Being out in the woods honestly just calms me down and relaxes me in a way that nothing else can.  I love running in Ridley Creek State Park, but this was our first time hiking there and I was really impressed with how quiet and serene the trails were given their close proximity to Philly!  I’ll just leave these pictures here for you to enjoy:

My husband also helped cheer me up!  He’s the best!

The weekend wasn’t perfect though – in the last mile of our hike we were joking around and laughing about something and with all the leaves on the ground I didn’t see a hole and turned my ankle pretty badly.  Of course my first thought was “OMG I have a 5 mile run planned for tomorrow!” and was almost in tears because I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it.  Andrew helped me hobble back to the car and luckily after resting all day on Sunday the pain is gone and I was able to get back to running on Monday.  So unfortunately I didn’t make my Pile on the Miles goal this week – I only ran 8 miles.  But I did hike 4 miles on Saturday, does that count?  🙂  I’m so grateful for the time I spent running on Friday and Monday because I’m feeling much more relaxed and happy.  I’ll be doing some yoga for runners tonight which can only help me feel better!

Does running fix your problems and cheer you up?  Have you done any running or hiking in the woods recently?