Why I run...SHAKE IT OFF
This is a post by Kristin Armstrong from her Mile Markers blog on the Runner's World website. I could relate to it, so I thought I woud re-post it. I hope I don't get in trouble for re-posting it without permission. 
Still on the topic of WHY I RUN, a major reason is to 'shake it off.' Shake what off, you ask? No, you don't ask, because you already KNOW. Because, I bet, you are doing it too.
Here is what I shake off:
My foul mood.
A lousy night sleep.
Indecision.
An unsettling phone call.
A hangover.
Tight legs from the gym.
Feelings of inadequacy.
PMS, see also: My foul mood.
Travel funk, including jetlag or just general airplane odor.
A cold (I mean, I could feel lousy enough to debate getting out of bed, yet somehow after a run I can breathe and find a reason to go on.).
Spiritual malaise.
Parenting pressure.
A day of decadent eating.
Relationship quandry.
Routine.
Allergies.
An argument.
Doubt.
A mistake.
Germy children.
Limitations, self -imposed or otherwise.
Lack of gratitude.
Constraints.
Excuses.
Fog.
Sound familiar?
A run is detox for the soul, it is my 'reset' button, it is my emotional chiropractor causing everything else to clack-clack-clack-clack back into proper place and perspective. Things that are tight somehow loosen up, and things that are loose somehow tighten up. I emerge better, more than sweat washes off in the shower afterwards. Time flies and stands still all at once, just like holding a baby. When I think I have no time to get out there, or that taking time to run could be the most selfish thing to do in that moment, my feet start slapping the pavement and my lungs fill with air and I remember once again, just like always, that there is nothing selfish about being clean. It's one thing that allows me to be everything I need to be for everyone else and not resent it. With so many time constraints and limits and rules and routines in the hectic pace of daily life, we need another place where we set our own pace, even if it's just for 5 miles. We need a simple and acceptable route to freedom.
We need to shake it off.