Let the Anger and Resentment Go and the Poop Will Flow

I know this is a strange title for one of my posts, but I was inspired by 2 ladies. The first lady is Beth from the awesome blog, Shut Up and Run, who regularly puts poop and farts in to her posts about running. In fact, she rates her runs by the amount of poop. She made it possible for women like me to write poop in the title. The second lady is my friend, Kate, who I told this very line to since she blamed me for her constipation.

And that's how I felt about yesterday's run at Memorial Park...although, without the pooping. So, what do I mean by my title if I didn't poop? Well, I let go of my anger and resentment to just run (a flow of running shall we say). And no, it wasn't the anger and resentment that I have for my other personal life stuff, but the anger and resentment for my ankle, the length of time it's taken to heal my ankle, missing the half marathon in January, starting all over again with my training after I got so far (although, this gives me more to write about), and all the traffic I endured just getting to the park. I just ran.

I again decided to go counter clockwise since I wasn't going to do the full 3 mile loop; I wanted to be close to the car. This run was also the first time I used my No Bounce Runner's Belt that my mother got me for Christmas. That thing was awesome and it didn't bounce even with the keys and my cellphone (brought it so I can keep up with time) uncomfortably in it. I highly recommend one.

I did some quick stretching and walked a little bit to get to the 3 mile marker so that I can start my run. My start time was 5:44 p.m. (yeah, I'm not an early morning runner just yet). I noticed on this run that the mile markers are different on each side assuming that the runner is always on the right. This is why on my last Memorial Park run, I wasn't sure about how much I ran since I saw markers that didn't match up to what I had seen before. So, I was aware of how much I ran this time. I also saw this girl that walked pretty much the entire time I saw her (she started walking when I left the bathroom) and she was just singing and beebopping away to her music like she was auditioning for American Idol. It was interesting to watch her.

For this run and this day, I ran a mile without stopping and it felt great. I turned around at the 1 mile marker (which couldn't come soon enough) and started to walk. I checked my cellphone and it was 5:54 p.m. I was able to do a 10 minute run, something I haven't done in quite a long time. I was so happy and couldn't stop smiling. I did pick up the run again at the 3/4 mile marker, but didn't make it to the next marker before I stopped to walk. At this point, I was just checking out the scenery and basking in the glow of my run. I was sad that I didn't see any bluebonnets (well not where I was running) since they are all over the outside perimeter of the park. I was able to take some pictures of them as I was leaving (stuck behind a stupid person that stopped for anyone that got within a 50 ft perimeter of her truck).



I did pick up the run again for a short time period before I stopped at the 3 mile marker. So, all in all, I did 1.25 miles, which is not bad. I also headed to the adult playground to work out, which included 50 crunches, 30 side crunches each, 20 situps, 100 swimmers (thank you Jackie Extreme Abs), 60 push ups using the high bar, 60 toe raises (in between the push ups), and 50 squats (using Jackie's technique). I felt empowered. I also went to stretch and tried to do this new yoga pose for runners, but my brother called to discuss plane tickets. I did stretch, but it wasn't what I was used to doing.

What I noticed on this run is that I'm just thinking about the run. No matter what is going on in my life, I'm not thinking about it. If a thought that has nothing to do with running creeps up in there, I move it out as quickly as it got in there. Most of the time, my negative thoughts have to do with the run itself, like my ankle hurts, it's hot, my thighs hurt (sore from Sunday's workout), I can't breathe, etc., but I don't think about the other stuff. Skydiving is the only other sport that clears my head that well. So, I was really thankful to have 10 minutes of peace (not including the extra minutes of workout). And running helped me be at a peace later on for a dinner that could have turned in to something ugly. It helped me let go so that my poop could flow.

On a side note, if you are running counter clockwise at Memorial Park, wear a hat or sunglasses. I didn't have either and it was hard to run with the light blinding my pupils.