Tricked you! I don’t have the BEST way to deal with stress and worry although I tend to think running is up there along with chocolate of any kind….

Seriously though, I just read this article in Fitness magazine and found it interesting for sure. Decision fatigue? I’d never heard of that. But it makes sense. I’ve always been the indecisive type, but didn’t know that even mundane decisions like what to wear or what to eat for lunch could zap my energy leaving me more vulnerable to stress and worry. Then there’s the “toxic thought spiral”. I know that well. I think I was in that spiral for most of 2010 (blame that one on a boy who left out some serious details about his relationship status. I couldn’t stop the obsessive thoughts about why things didn’t work out. I wasn’t pretty enough, or smart enough or whatever enough. A year later I found out and now I look back and laugh at the whole situation but I truly zapped a lot of my energy with all the useless spiraling.) The article suggests doing something that lets you concentrate on your movements like spin or Zumba to break the obsessive thought spiral. I thank my lucky stars everyday that I found running and it’s theraputic effect on me. It’s been 9 days since I last ran and I’m thinking I’ll need a quick “hit” soon.

Over the weekend I learned of some troubling health news—one involving a human and one involving a dog—both very dear to me. It got me spiraling for a bit. Nothing worse than feeling helpless when people (and pooches) you care about are hurting and you can’t fix it. I knew I needed to do something. So even though it was drizzly and foggy I took an hours’ ride to the State Line Lookout area, a section of the Palisades Interstate Park in New Jersey and went on a short hike with Duncan. It wasn’t the 7 or 8 mile hike I’ve been really wanting to conquer but nonetheless, enough miles to get my mind back to a balanced state. And the weather actually made for some mystical magical looking photos.

It was so quiet. At one point Duncan and I stopped to have a snack and all you could hear was our crunching.

A few more pics…

It was so foggy that you couldn’t see Manhattan’s skyline behind me.

After our hike, Duncan and I drove about 20 minutes north to check on my friend’s mom. She’s 90 years old young and while I was just there to keep her company for a few hours she took great care of me! She made me fresh coffee when I arrived and after chatting and watching some TV she cooked me dinner! It was lovely. Made me miss my grandparents. I haven’t enjoyed the company of a senior in a while.

I’m feeling recovered enough that I’d like to start tossing in a few easy runs this week. Lots of bloggers were running marathons and half marathons this weekend and it was super fun to track them and hear their recaps. But now I’m anxious to start training for my next one. In the meantime I’ll keep cross-training with the doodle. It’s actually fun to spend so much time with him. So long as it isn’t another National Squirrel Convention anytime soon =)

How was your weekend? Anyone have the monday blues? Anyone run this weekend?