Running To Relieve Stress

I have been a kind of busy the past few months. In early November my boss informed me that the company was going through some tough times and my position was being eliminated. I have to say that it wasn’t a complete surprise since I was involved with producing the profit/loss reports every evening and saw the numbers. regardless, I needed to start jog hunting immediately.

The thought of starting over at a new job was actually exciting at first until it occurred to me that I am 51 years old and the last time I looked for work, I was in my 30’s. As a Software Engineer, I work in the IT industry which is loaded with young, talented people who are all up on the latest technologies. I have been in the same job for over 13 years and had to discover and learn everything new all on my own.

In addition to that, the last time that I looked for work I did so while working at a secure job. This time I was in a position where my income was about to be eliminated. With two teenage daughters entering college in the next few years, this definitely freaked me out.

Over this stressful time, I have had many sleepless nights and was getting pretty depressed. Music is what I typically rely on in these situations but I discovered that I have a powerful new tool for dealing with stress. Running. It is unbelievable how effective running can be in these situations. Runner’s High is definitely real. There were times when I just could not shake the feeling of hopelessness. Then I would go out for a run and return 30 minutes later feeling like a new person. I was also getting pretty irritable and eventually, my wife told me that I needed to start running everyday.

Fortunately, this story has a good ending. After six weeks of job hunting I found a job working as a Software Engineer for a great company. In fact, I think it is safe to say that this is the best job I have ever had. I couldn’t ask for a better team to work with. They are intimidating good at what they do but also really easy-going at the same time. The commute is kind of long but I don’t even care. I actually look forward to it every morning. I figure that I will be able to rack up a lot of miles on the bike this summer.

Another thing about this job is that it has reignited my passion for programming. So much so that one of the problems I have had recently is that I want to keep working when I get home.

Anyway. That is the reason why I have not posted anything for a while. I hope to have a lot to write about soon since I start training for Boston next week (yikes!!!).