Running for relaxation

I have taken a break from facebook for lent and thought it would give me a good chance to catch up on my blogging and photography.  Baseball season has taken over at our house and I am still getting used to the schedule of weekly practices and games for two kids.  Should be an interesting spring.

So, running for relaxation.  I will admit, I would never have put those two words together, ever, until now.  Until about a year ago you couldn’t have paid me enough money to run anywhere!  But, I have caught the bug and now I love it!  And even more than that I have realized that running, while physically challenging, is a time for me to clear my head and relax mentally and emotionally.  While my body pumps away my mind slows down and I feel completely refreshed when I am done.  This is why I am not a good running buddy.  I have also learned in my year or so of running that I much prefer to run by myself.  I get agitated when I try to talk and run, and while part of it is that it is really hard to talk and run, more than that I get annoyed because I just want to retreat into my mind and let it go where it will.  Often I pray, or daydream, or even plan dinner!  But the great thing is there are no kids asking for snacks, no phones ringing, no televisions to distract me, it is quiet.  I enjoy my surroundings, smell all the smells (I live in a neighborhood where people start cooking early so the smells are often overwhelming and delightful!)  So when I feel the itch to run, like my body just has to go, it isn’t so much because I feel I need to workout, but rather because I need the solace.  Luckily Joe has learned this about me too and when I get especially agitated he often tells me to go running.  This is also why other types of exercise are hard for me to stick with.  Group classes annoy me (I don’t like someone telling me what to do).  The gym is ok, but not nearly as relaxing.  Videos you do at home, alright, but again, someone telling me what to do, no time to let my mind wander.  So, running, as it turns out, is a great form of exercise for us introverts.  Walking works too, but with running it is almost as if the rhythm of my feet hitting the ground guides my thoughts or something, if that makes any sense.  Each breath is in synch with my feet and it is akin to what it feels to meditate I assume, your entire body working as one in a way you can feel. 

So, that’s my psychological analysis of why I run.  Perhaps you too experience something similar with one of your favorite activities.