Who are you?

The thing I love most about running is that it has the power to completely transform me.  Not physically, though it's doing that too, but mentally.   I am never the same person before a run as I am afterwards.  Good, bad, or ugly, somewhere along the way, two steps in or two thousand, I become someone else.

Tonight I left my house tired and cranky.  My legs were heavy and my normal pace was not possible.  I trudged.  The dialog in my head was negative and rambling.  Then, about halfway through my route, a voice in my head said "What hurts?"   I took stock, and realized that nothing hurt.  My right calf, normally loud and obnoxious, was quietly moving along.  My ankle, often twitchy, wasn't twitching a twitch.  Everything was just fine.  So I said to myself "This feels great!  I am so lucky to be able to be out here, running, free, healthy, happy...."    My pace picked up and the rest of the run felt easier.

Not easy, mind you, because running is never easy for me - and tonight I really did feel like I was running in quicksand, but after my little mental shake up, things just felt easier.    I started the run tired and cranky.  I finished it energized and happy.   Running is transformative.**   Love it.

**Someone please tell me why spell check does not think this is a word, even though Merriam-Webster says it is?