I’ve been hibernating.

At least it feels like that to me. I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time sitting on my couch watching TV as I have this winter.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m rather productive the hours during and between every episode of “Nashville” and “The Mindy Project,” but I had to pull myself out of the winter slump this weekend.

Of course I never completely stop working out but things have definitely thinned. And that’s fine, but I really needed to get back on my game for sanity’s sake. I’ve had a lot of stressful stuff going on lately and the ice cold weather ain’t helping things much.

I was reminded this week that you can, actually, still go running outside when it’s cold out. I think I’d forgotten. The cold actually feels MUCH better when you are running in it, in fact.

Then, there’s that whole warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you come back inside as your reward. All the sensation adds up to inspiration, relief, gratitude, energy….reminding me that I am not, ACTUALLY, a certifiably insane snow monster that will never see a summer day again.

Good things happen when you run. The kind of good things that happen to people who make their own luck. 

Your mind is ripe with ideas. Your confidence begins to soar. You feel…drunk on endorphins. It’s kind of like a natural superpower.

Get through the first few minutes and trust me, you’ll start to feel it too. Music helps. I can’t tell you how many times I decided something good was going to happen for me while busting my butt up a hill to this song.

The thing is, sometimes you forget what you’ve got until you remind yourself with a good workout. It’s that simple — like a prescription pill but free and really good for you.

I actually went off my anti-anxiety medication a few months back and so this sweat is my sanity. This running — it makes good things happen. Better yet, you make good things happen because you decide to run. Because if you can just get your butt out of bed, put one foot in front of the other and GO — you know you can do a whole lot more than that too.

Stop hibernating. Start sweating. Take your life back from this demon of a winter!

*Thanks to Mizuno for featuring me on their Instagram page last week!!

Has winter gotten your workout habits into a funk? How are you coping with the bitter cold (if you are in a place like me!)? How is sweat YOUR sanity? Anything good happened to you because you ran recently?