When Mickey Mouse Sounds Like a Smart-A**

So there I am mid-search for a preschooler's missing sock and I catch myself, mid-comment under my breath - in response to a comment Mickey Mouse has made to Daisy.

It was Beetle's current fav episode of MMCH called 'Super-Spy Daisy'. The group needed to cross a river and Daisy says, 'Good thing I brought THIS!' Mickey says (with a tone, I swear!), 'A big yellow bow?' and I say, from the next room, 'A bit of a smart-ass, aren't we Mickey.'

You know you've had a stressful couple of days weeks when you get combative with a cartoon character. I accused the Mr. Mouse of being snarky. Whoa - mama needs a break.

And so I took one. I ran in my third Akron Marathon relay this weekend with a gaggle of random friends and acquaintances, including a dude runner who filled in at the last minute to cover another team member's injury (his wife's), two generous co-workers and an old friend. Thank you, team, for assisting me in ridding the negative fog Saturday morning when we ran our best race yet. Mind you, this is for fun people, we are recreational runners, not official marathoners or anything. Just a bunch of folks who like to run for a variety of reasons. There were 17,000 people participating in the Marathon this year. We were around 800th place in 2011, in the 1100's in 2012 due to an injury and 600's this year. Movin' on up!!! We kicked that relay's butt. All with super-great paces and forced smiles on our faces (at least for the photographers, then they turned back to grimaces and cursing under our breath as to why we do this to ourselves every stinkin' year. Tee-hee.)

'Did you win?' Big Kid asks... 'It's never about winning, buddy, it's for fun." I always tell him.

'Because we are old', my friend reminded me - as we shared funky hip and knee problems on race morning. She had just come in and I was about to run the finish leg. We giggled and hugged about our running woes while much younger, more in-shape and definitely more hip guys and gals listened, probably Tweeting how there were a ton more old people, like 40's at least, in the crowd this year...

It's also why we try harder and train more and attempt to keep up with the 20-somethings coming up from behind. We're in that funny, young-but-old stage. Trying to stay stress-free in high-stress jobs. Fit into skinny jeans and hide dark circles. Maintain sanity while working and mothering and feeding friendships and marriages and form sentences that makes sense on a Monday morning before having any caffeine.

I run because it is my release from everyday challenges and stresses that seem to take a hold of your brain and over-analysis kicks in. Like putting a pair of socks on a three year-old who says that they hurt his toes (heh?). Or holding onto your composure and confidence with difficult situations and people (other than your three year-old). Because before you know it, you're eating an entire bag of Pepperidge Farm Dark Chocolate Milanos that you found at Target (which is also a coping mechanism) and are currently hiding in the popcorn box on the top shelf of the cabinet, but apparently someone found you out because there were two Milanos missing and the bag was ripped and the perpetrator did not even have the decency to throw away the little paper cup that they sit in... hmph! If I could emulate the 'I have my eyes on your gesture' that Robert Dinero made famous in Meet the Parents right now, I'd be doing that to my entire family.

I've said this before but the running and the organized event participation in which I pretend to be a real runner is such a release for me that I almost crave it like my coffee. Unlike the Starbucks SCMs I've been downing like water from a hose on hot summer day when I was five years old, the running balances me out. My brain, my heart, my soul, my mood and (as husband will attest) prevents me from going into full-blown 'monster mode.'

During which time, I apparently like to pick fights with helpless (yet sarcastic) Disney characters.

For everyone's sake, I'll keep up the running as long as my old, stressed out muscles can take it. I see it as a real win-win, as we marketing people are known for saying.