After having moved my run from Saturday to Sunday for the last two weeks, it feels nice to wake up this Sunday morning and not have to prepare for a long run.

And it feels even better because yesterday’s long run was excellent!

I run about a ten minute mile. This includes stopping for street lights and stop signs but, on average, a mile takes ten minutes. So yesterday’s scheduled nine miles gave me an hour and a half of time to myself just to think and plan and reflect.

This last week has been a stressful one for me. I’ve been overwhelmed with some roommate issues and Will’s dad’s visit was filled with suggestions for our move that just aren’t going to fly with me (“sell all your furniture because you kids don’t own anything worth renting a truck for”).

So yesterday’s run was all about taking it to the streets. And while I didn’t end up thinking about those issues too much, the easy and effortless motions produced such a strong runner’s high that I found myself thinking about what would make me this happy in life.

I have known for a while that my dream would be to own my own restaurant. And I think I would be good at it not because I love the world of food but because I would make a great business owner. I balked at my grandmother when she suggested I get an MBA a few years ago but, as is often the case with my wise grandmother, she was right. I’m calm and level headed but I also excel in a professional environment because my first job taught me one thing – it’s not personal, it’s business. And that set me free!

I ran along, thinking about how I could turn that dream into a reality. Of course, the runner’s high skipped over how I would handle the financial burden but that’s a challenge for next week’s run I guess.

I think I’m lucky in the sense that I know what I want to do. On the flip side, it’s also a burden because every day at my desk job feels like a waste. I just need to figure out how to make enough money doing what I love. But isn’t that the problem everyone faces when chasing their dreams?

It’s interesting how your thoughts change as the run progresses. At first I was focused on my potential own restaurant. Then, as the final miles set in, my thoughts became much more centered around the run itself. Certain soreness here and there, how much further? But still in the haze of a runner’s high, I felt I could have continued on, much how I have felt at the end of my last few runs and only something I’ve experienced on runs longer than six miles. Why is that?

The minute I stopped, the initial stresses of my life seemed to sink back on to my shoulders. The high disappeared. But that’s one of the reasons running is so addictive – whether through pain of its own making or the best natural high you can get, one way or another it allows you to leave your problems behind. Even if only temporarily.