I literally COULD NOT WAIT to write this post! It is the reason I left out so many details that I usually bore you with on the last few posts!

So Tuesday morning I didn’t end up running because I had to get up early for work for a 4 hour meeting that started way too early! So I slept in a bit knowing that I was going to my parent’s house again for an “open row” class. The month of August was the month of the “meter beater” contest where you got paired with another person and tried to beat each other’s meters for the month. I was paired with my sister and she doesn’t go to class like I do so I pretty much won straight out of the gate. HOWEVER I was still going to class to get my work out on!

To prepare me for the workout I had mixed fruit in the morning and a boxed lunch to go for lunch. Again a turkey sandwich but this time I didn’t eat any of the bread since there was a piece of cheese on there as well. I skipped out on the pasta salad that wasn’t very good but enjoyed some Stacey’s Pita Chips and a cookie (which was barely baked and soft and delicious). After a long day at work I went home to change for class. I chowed down on some left over Chicken Salad because I was so freaking hungry and finally made it to my parent’s house a little after 6. However it was the RIDE to my parents house that got me thinking…

I can take about 50 different route to get to my parent’s house and one of those routes has a pretty awesome park on the way. So as I am driving thinking about the days events I thought wow I feel like going for a run and I think the park is a perfect place to do it. So I made a verbal (yes out loud) commitment to myself to go for a 2 mile run after my work out. So I ended up rowing for 10 minutes (about 2000 meters) and lifted weights for another 30 min or so. I concentrated mostly on arms since my legs were already killing me from those jump squats the night before! After the work out and hanging out with the ladies I put my Nissan Murano in drive and headed to Buckeye Woods Park.

That is where the magic happened…

I got out of my car and I just ran. As I ran I started thinking about how much I needed this run… but not for my body. Tim and I had a little spat the day before and like the total brat I can be I was having trouble shaking it. I wanted to just be nice but I was still being rude. I ran that out of my system. Like I’m sure most of you get during work, I was stressed. There was a lot to be done and a lot going on and I needed to remove myself from the daily to-do list and guess what? I ran that to-do list out of my head. I start grad school next week and I am nervous for that stupid Finance class and have been stressing out over finding my stupid financial calculator and I needed to remind myself that I don’t start until next week and that I have time to get myself put together… so I did just that. I ran that out of my head. I finally freaking ran for me. I didn’t run for time or for distance. My i-pod even died about 10 min into the run so I spent my run listening to the birds and taking in the air around me. I laughed and said hi to everyone passed and even laughed at the cute boy that was singing a little as he ran! I enjoyed the tired old dog with his owner that reminded me of my own grandpa. I smiled at the family of 6 who were riding their bicycles that had little bells on them! I stared in awe at the runner with those fancy running shorts on that was doing laps around me at my pace! I remembered how my parents must have felt when I was a teenager when I saw the girl sitting on a park bench with her cell phone as her younger brother and father were fishing. I didn’t think about all of the hard stuff going on in my life or the crap I have to get done….with my tennis shoes laced up, I just RAN.

45 minutes later I stopped running. I looked at the clock and realized that it had been 45 freaking minutes since I started running. I mean running… no stopping. I had challenged by body without even knowing it but more importantly I took care of my mind. Knowing my pace and how fast I was running throughout those 45 minutes I would say that I ran for a little over 4 miles or so. Quite frankly, I don’t really care how far it was! It wasn’t about that for me (although I am still very proud of it).

This was a total A-HA moment for me. It was like wow I don’t have to run because I am getting married or because I am training for a 5K. I don’t have to run to make me skinny or because I think it will make my legs look sexy. I can run because it mentally takes care of me. I can run because I can forgive Tim for pissing me off and forgive myself for not being able to let it go! I can run because work doesn’t deserve to get the best of my… my family and friends deserve my best. I can run because even though my legs are sore and my foot fell asleep I have legs and a foot that can do those things and I am grateful for it.

I think I finally learned to appreciate my body and to appreciate my mind even more. Now, my legs are REALLY sore as I am typing this and I was NOT able to get up the next morning to go running and I am not certain I will be able to squeeze in a run tonight HOWEVER that run was for me. Not for anyone else! I was just really in the right mind set for this run and I certainly missed Tim running next to me but I think I needed that time to myself. 5 months ago I may have taken that time to myself by reading a book or by sitting at the park on a blanket or even watching a Disney movie but this time I wanted to RUN. Like I literally WANTED to do it, I was looking forward to it.

I’m not so foolish to think that I can keep this up every morning or even every other morning. But knowing that in my mind I thought the best way to relieve some stress and to give myself the time I deserve to just give to myself was to run… well I think that is an accomplishment.

So ladies and gentleman… write this date down. On August 30, 2011 Jaci finally declared herself a runner. Not a professional runner… not a marathon runner… hell not even a good runner but a true to yourself, run because you want to run, runner.

Question of the day: Tell me about YOUR favorite workout day? When you realized everything was falling into place!