THE RACE: Running Away to Come Back

I guess at some point you have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps...or in the athlete's case - by your running shoes.  It's been a little over two weeks since I said good-bye to my beloved Bailey and it'd be an understatement of epic proportions to say that the adjustment of life without him has been difficult.   

You know how running can perk you up when you've had a bad day?  Or inspire some thoughts when you've had a mental block?  Or just re-invigorate your spirit in addition to your body?  Well, I've tried to run a bit in the past couple weeks.  It's helped get me out of the house and get my mind on something else.  I even ran another 10k at Prince William Forest Park this past Saturday, which included over 4 miles of trails.  I managed not to fall down, ran my heart out, and finished in about the same time as the 10k I did on St. Patrick's Day.  I was glad that I finished at all given that this was my longest run since recovering from my Pneumonia/bronchitis Crud of 2012 a little over a month ago.  My lungs were screaming the entire time and I was huffing and puffing so bad that I think people thought I was going to have a heart attack.  And I still didn't do that great compared to the other women in my age group...I was 9th out of 10 women in the 40-49 category.  A little disappointing to run so hard you feel like your lungs are going to explode and then still come in next to last in your age group....

At any rate, at least I was running, and running helped deal with some of the emotions I've had the past couple weeks.  But on a grander scale, ever since losing Bailey, all I've wanted to do is run away - literally...get the hell outta town.  And I'd planned on doing that starting the day after Memorial Day so that I'd have a nice long week off.  But given all the other annual leave I have to take this year for various trips, it looks like it's not going to happen.  So I've been pretty bummed because my insides are screaming for a break...

Fortunately or unfortunately, I didn't inherit my parents or grandparents desire to work, work, work with little or no vacation.  My generation - maybe viewed as more spoiled or less hard working in some respects than past generations - likes our vacations.  And I don't think that's a bad thing.  I think that God has given us a vast, diverse, beautiful, awe-inspiring planet to see, and we'd damn well better see as much of it as we can during our short time here.  There's more to life than work, or triathlons, for that matter.  

So I know myself well enough to know when I desperately need to hit the re-set button with a vacation.  I actually start to feel like there's a little creature in my chest trying to force it's way out.  My temper grows much shorter than usual.  My motivation starts to wane.  And I start questioning a lot of things in my life....Basically, when the number of people I flip off or snap at during the day outnumbers those at whom I smile during the day, it's time to run away for awhile....  

Several years ago, when I was getting too bogged down by day-to-day crap, the "city-life," the monotony of work, etc., I ran away for a few days to the mountains of West Virginia...with Bailey of course, because he was my travelin' buddy.  I was instantly re-invigorated.  

I'd never been to West Virginia.  But I ended up going back several times, each time to a different part, trying to work my way down the various parts of Monongahela National Forest and New River areas.  Being in the gorgeous mountains and forests, surrounded by nature, was exactly what I needed to re-boot.  It always did the trick.  For me, nature holds the cure to whatever ails me.  

So I've been rather miffed the past couple days when the rationale side of my brain has overtaken the emotional side of my brain and told me that I'll suck all my annual leave dry if I go to West Virginia for a week.  My re-set button feels like it's going to be stuck for awhile...

But then I came home tonite and had in the mail a flyer from the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary outside Woodstock, New York.  I know about this place and have wanted to go there for a long time...They've recently renovated an old house on the farm and are renting it out as a B&B.  It looks gorgeous, the hundreds of farm animals are adorable, and to top it all off, if you volunteer for 4 hours a day on the farm, you get 20% off of your stay.  

So I've decided that to save on some of my annual leave, I'll combine a trip to Woodstock, New York with a trip to Woodstock, Connecticut (where I was planning to go anyway) to visit my boyfriend.  I can kill two Woodstocks with one road trip!  

But better than that, I think I'm even more excited about going to spend a few days at the Woodstock Sanctuary than I am about going to West Virginia.  One of the things I've been struggling with lately is the "greater good" - what am I doing on a daily basis for the "greater good?"  I heard a wonderful quote the other day along the lines of saying that only through giving can you truly find out who you are.  That fits me perfectly.  The primary and most important way that I feel good about myself is by doing for others.  

By spending a few days at a sanctuary with innocent animals who were saved from a gruesome fate and helping take care of them, I think I'll actually be able to hit the re-set button.  Just like when you go out for a run, oftentimes everything seems to function a little smoother - both mentally and physically - when you come back.  So running away -whether it's a couple miles or a hundred miles - isn't always a bad thing...especially if it at the end of it you've come back to yourself....

Do you have a favorite place you like to run away to when you need to hit the re-set button - whether it's on a run or longer trip?  If not, think you can find one?