Running Is My Anti-Depressan, and Good Music Helps

Tonight I did my second ever (ok not EVER, but second in a seriously long time) hour long run.
It.
Was.
AWESOME!!!!


You may be wondering how I do it (and this would not surprise me because frankly, I am a bit shocked that I can do it as well.)
Here are my very non-professional tips.
*I decide I am going to do it.
*I set a time to do it.
*I make sure my running clothes are clean.
*I make sure my ipod and phone are charged (one for music, one to track my distance and calories burned.)
*I put on my running clothes (see previous blog entry about my awesome running shoes, and sports bra. Don't worry, I do wear more than those two items.)
*I put my ipod and phone in their little arm band holder thingy and strap it around my arm.
*I step out my door, go down the stairs and walk for five minutes.
*I hit play on my ipod.
*I start to run.
*I stop after an hour.

And it is amazing what happens between the "I start to run" and "I stop after an hour" steps. My mind is filled with endorphins. I stop caring about how I look. I stop worrying about how I am going to make things work in life. I start remembering how beautiful life is. I actually smile while I run (not every second of it, but for part of it I do.) I reflect on my day or the past few days. I feel proud of myself. Life becomes manageable in my mind. Sometimes I chuckle at a funny memory, or at myself and the fact that I just stumbled and probably looked like a total idiot. My legs, namely my knees, occasionally complain. My feet usually moan a little too. But I keep going. I decided I was going to it and damn it, that's what is going to happen.

I have help. My ipod is my friend. I downloaded an app called "podrunner." I absolutely love it. I am freakishly excited right now because I figured out how to get a TON more mixes downloaded. They range in beats per minute from a walking pace up to 180 beats per minute (that's like "Kenyan Olympic runner" fast, just so ya know.) I generally prefer the ones that are 130-145 beats per minute. Yep, I'm slow. Here's the website in case you're interested: http://www.djsteveboy.com/podrunner.html  It's a lot of house, deep house, trance and techno kind of mixes but for me, that's perfect. I can kind of zone out and just get into a rhythm.

So yes, I am one of those freaky people gets super intense runners high. I LOVE how it makes me feel. Seriously. I love it. And I am so very grateful to have a laptop and an ipod to make having good music to run to possible.