It’s been a tough week for me personally. Nothing serious, just the pressures of work that can be overwhelming. Let me be frank, this week, it sucked. In fact, it was pretty shitty last week also. On the way home from the office yesterday…the loooong hour and a half drive home…I swear I was going to have a breakdown right there in the car. All I could think about was putting on my running shoes and getting out there on the road. I hadn’t ran since Saturday so the “ick” was building up.

I’ve always been very sensitive to the energy around me. I don’t always show it, but I definitely absorb the negative and positive energy that people put off around me. Lately, there’s been a lot of negative energy. Running allows me to take all that’s built up and release it back to the world to be processed back into good energy. And when you go several days without “cleansing” that energy, you basically turn to shit.

As soon as I walked in the door, I started to strip off my work clothes and put on my running gear. I didn’t care that it was 34 degrees and rainy, I was going for a run! Well, not exactly. My husband walked in and suggested we’d go out to dinner. Ummm, I was starving so, I agreed. <sigh>

When I woke up this morning, I realized that I NEEDED to go out for a run for my own sanity. I needed to cleanse the grumpies and negative energy from my soul and what better way to do it than in the rain. The cold, dark, crappy rain. Luckily, I was able to get my friend, Bern to join me for a little running therapy session. We went out for 4 miles and all was right with the world again. By the time we got back to her house, my mind was clear, my spirit was happy, and my soul cleansed. That’s all it took – 4 miles in the cold, dark, rain. Best therapy ever!

There’s my happy face! Forgot what it looked like!

This is what running in the rain looked like this morning. Yup…it was dark.

For an added bonus, Bern made me a wonderful post-run recovery Pumpkin Smoothie! Totally hit the spot! Here’s her recipe if you’d like to try it.

Pumpkin Smoothie

• 1 c. frozen cooked, mashed pumpkin and sweet potatoes or butternut squash (can use canned pumpkin instead)
• 2 c. unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 2 scoops vanilla protein powder

Note: Pumpkin/squash can be used frozen. If defrosted, add ice cubes for desired consistency.

Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I wish you all a safe and Happy Thanksgiving and hope you can get a few miles in before gobbling all of that turkey…perhaps a Turkey Trot 5K? Hmmmm….