Take that hostility and run with it

I knew a girl in college who claimed to go running whenever she was stressed, upset or feeling crappy.

I could relate, since I did the same thing (except not so much "running" as "drinking").

She, of course, was in great shape. I, of course, didn't hang out with her much.

But since then I've wondered at how ridiculously fit we'd all be if we went out for a 5-mile run instead of a 5-glass binge when stresses crept up. I'd have a lot less jiggle in my walk, that's for sure.

And I'm lucky, my life isn't all that stressful. I hang with good people, the bills always manage to get paid and any children I may have had are now turning a profit through a little-known cattle ranch work program in the American Southwest.

I happen to love my job, too. And I'm not just saying that because my boss has spyware on my computer. This work suits me - and the "So this is what it's like to enjoy going to work" appreciation isn't lost on me.

But even good jobs have their moments. Or should I say, even happy employees have their breakdowns.

Yesterday afternoon I was on deadline with a project - and we all know deadlines are quick and easy ways to amp up the stress level. But I was feeling fine - plugging along with the work. Then - from nowhere - the spinning rainbow wheel of death! Nooo!

Mac users know what I'm talking about. It's that taunting (yet magically colorful!) spinning wheel that says, "Yea, that thing you were just working on...I didn't really like where you were going with it so I decided to just shut the whole process down. Go ahead - reboot. I'll be right here. I've got all the time in the world."

Maybe it's the moon's position in relation to the gravitational pull of Mercury's neoprimal subtuition (I just made that up). Maybe it was hyper-caffeination. Maybe it was delayed weekend detox. Maybe stress exists even in the best of workplaces.

Whatever. The point is I flipped a lid. I fancied giving my keyboard a chuck, but that's "frowned upon" according my annual review. I cursed at my monitor (sometimes in my head, but mostly out loud) and pressed my fingers to my temples to keep my skull from popping.

I was hostile. I was overflowing with angst.

"Well," I thought, "If it worked for that skinny broad I went to school with, maybe running off stress can work for me, too."

So off to the group run I went, head steaming, brow furrowed.

We were tackling the Back Cove in its entirety - my group expected to run 6 minutes, walk 2 minutes. A handful of us were feeling semi-confident that we could run longer portions, so we set off as a separate group to see how it went.

It went really well.

Ran from the store all the way around Back Cove with only 2 walk breaks. That's 4 miles people! 4!

Sure, carbs are great for instant energy. Energy bars and Goo and whatnot. But speaking from experience, hostility makes a decent fuel too.