A new way to clear my mind...

I have to admit, I am a worrier. I was shy at school, with rosy cheeks that would flare up at every given opportunity. Raising my hand in class was possibly the worst thing I could ever have dreamed doing! And I suppose I have taken this personality with me through the years. If you saw me you would probably think I was quite a confident person, and although this is not true I do think that my job has helped me enormously to grow into my own.

Whenever things get on top of me I can never really find a way of making it go away. I could run a situation through my mind a million times until I have made it a thousand times worse than what it actually is. I guess I just have a sensitive nature, and that's not something that is going to go away in a hurry.

Yesterday we had some awful news that my mum's friend had passed away. She had leukaemia and even though a stem cell transplant was a success, she just couldn't fight off an infection that came with it. My mum is obviously devastated, she was her closest friend - they met in hospital 20 years ago when mum had fallen and slipped discs in her back, and her friend had been ran over by a car, shattering her knees. They were side by side in hospital beds together for weeks and formed a great friendship.

I went to my parent's house yesterday after work and when I came home it was coming onto 8pm and I knew I had a training run scheduled for me to do. It was a 45 minute brisk walk/ slow jog and after a draining day I just knew I did not have the energy or motivation for it.

But DC persuaded me to go and once out there I was focused and ready to take it on. When I came home I felt like a lot of things had been lifted from my shoulders, and I slept better for it too. I also managed to beat my previous 45 min jog, covering over 6.5km and cutting 30 seconds off my km/min.

Now that I have started running I have realised that I have always come back home feeling happy and relaxed, even after a gruelling training session. I think I've found the perfect way to de-stress myself... And it is free. Obviously nothing will take away the grief at losing a family friend, but I am certain that when other things crop up that I feel I can't deal with, by introducing a new coping mechanism it will help me see that I am stronger than what I give myself credit for.

Dans