Runner's High

  Ever have one of those days from hell when all you want to do is run forever?
  When I lived in NC, I had those days more times than I care to admit (especially to myself) due to things I had control over but chose not to.  I would run the 3+ miles around my campus and then save the epic hill until last.  Every time I would get to the top of that hill, I'd have such a runner's high and everything in the world would fall away and I'd focus only on that accomplishment for the rest of the night.
  Sadly, last night I didn't achieve my runner's high, but I was definitely able to let the day fall away behind me.
  I asked a friend to hold the work phone (I'm on duty this week) for me so I could run at my favorite place right now - by the river.  I needed to let some personal stuff go that day as well as a ton of work related crap I'd been dealing with (on top of getting pink eye from work).  It was definitely "one of those days" and I needed an escape.
  As I was driving to the river, I glanced in my rear-view mirror and noticed that the clouds behind me were getting horribly dark and ominous.  I almost turned back but I needed the run THAT bad so I kept driving.  Parked my car (and pissed someone off when I took the spot... oh well), stretched against my car and ran.
  Thankfully it was an "easy" run night of only 1.5miles so I started with a nice 11min pace on the first mile.  Then the wind picked up and started blowing the cut grass (which I'm allergic to) in my face/eyes/mouth.  But, I kept going and pushed my speed up a notch.  Made the first mile, walked about 20 seconds, turned around and ran the last 1/2 mile back towards my car.
  At that point I just canceled everything out and focused on my breathing and my music.  I made it to the .5 mile marker and walked the last .5 mile back to my car.
  On the way back I realized my former residents Eryn (who I run with sometimes) and Erica were standing near the entrance to the park.  I went over to chat with them for a few minutes and then noticed my instructor and his fiancee pass and stretch to go for their run.
  At this point the sky was very dark and it was lightening (I was so in the zone I didn't see or hear any of this during my run!) so I jumped in my car and headed to Whole Foods to treat myself to a pure black tea (iced) and a Luna "Nuts Over Chocolate" bar.  Then I got into my pj's and went to visit a co-worker to watch a movie, which ended up turning into her watching the movie and my senior RA and I talking behind the desk about staff development for the year.
  Thank God for running - I really don't know how I would have survived days like yesterday if I didn't have that outlet.  I pity the people who can't release their tension through exercise and keep it bottled up - I couldn't even imagine.