I was so depressed on Monday. I don’t know why, I just was. It could have been work. I worked my butt off on Friday on a huge ass project. 80,000+ rows of data downloaded (and Excel only holds 65,536). So I had to download 16 files of data in order to speed up formula processing time and to hold the data in different sheets. Then I combined the data through some complicated formula and I got rid of duplicates and… Why am I getting into it now anyway? Basically, I finished the analysis and sent it to my boss on Saturday night. Done. Over… and I had to do it again on Monday. It’s not bad. Its tedious. I’m fast, I’m good at it but I hate doing it. Whatever. Show me the money is my motto right? I was depressed… Maybe it was one of those unknown issues that clinically depressed individuals get from time to time. You know, you just are… depressed that is. And that’s me. So I get home, slip on my shoes, call my sister to tell her I’m going for a run and I’ll finish at her house and out the door I go. I had no path, no course, no plan except to get in 3.1 miles… 4 if I could… optimistically 5. I try not to run stressed so I really tried to relax, taking deep breaths as I walked down the street before my run. Stress could lead to injuries. And I didn’t do this to rid myself of stress or the depression I was in. I just knew I needed to run. So I did. I’ll skip to mile 2.5 when I knew all I had was just a few steps left in me. It was tough. I couldn’t go further. I was 2 miles away from home and decided that a walk home would be all she wrote. I was miserable. I haven’t had a run like this since July 4th when the heat got to me and I struggled desperately to pick up my feet for the longest five miles I’ve ever done. Today was worse. But one minute into my walk I picked it up again and turned to a song on my iPod called, “How to save a Life” by the Fray. Next thing I knew I was checking my Garmin and I was at 3.5 miles. I kept repeating the song. It kept me going. I can’t even tell you what the words are or what the meaning behind the song was. I’ve heard it a couple of times on my runs but never really paid attention. It just plays in the background and my run focuses on other things. All I knew was that it was getting me through. The song is 4 minutes and 22 seconds long. I listened to it over and over for a little more than 4 miles. At mile 5.7 or so I was passing my sister’s house. I looked up the street and Donna and the kids weren’t back from piano lessons so I kept going. I hit Glenoaks and made a left up a 150 foot climb for 3/10ths of a mile. After going 6ish miles going up a wall is not a pleasant affair… but I trudged up it and conquered it. Whew. I breezed down to my sister’s house, walked up her three steps and took a deep breath. I had forgotten EVERYTHING once I hit start on my Garmin. I wasn’t stressed, I wasn’t depressed, I was just completely exhausted. 7.1 miles will do that to you. And so there you have it. My long run for the week. Can I get to 18 miles this week? You might say I ran away from it my stress and depression for the day… but to tell you the truth, I ran it out of me.