Today I am honored to host a guest post by my friend and colleague Lisa Celaya. Lisa is a Coordinator whose expertise includes anything and everything to do with English Learners. You can find her on twitter at @Lisadcelaya.  

I have been running since January 1979. I started running be part of the track team and it has evolved into much more than that. I am 51 and I have been fortunate to be injury free.  Then, why do I do it? I can’t say I love running because there are days where I have to make myself get up and run. It may be a convenient source of exercise – I don’t like going to the gym. It could be that running keeps me in shape and it allows me to eat whatever I want, but even that has caught up to me!

I believe the major reason I run is to reflect. I use the time I run (from minutes to hours) to plan, think about my day, and to relieve any stress I may have. I use running to run (no pun intended) different scenarios in my head when I have to have crucial conversations with colleagues or when I am going to meet with a challenging group of people. I think of the worst or most difficult scenarios that can happen and find ways I can address people in a professional manner. Once I do this, I feel I am prepared to meet any challenges I may have throughout the day.

Running also helps me release any stress I may have. When I run, it produces endorphins.  When I produce these endorphins it makes me happy and it releases my stress level. This is the reason I do most of my running in the morning. When I run in the morning I know I will have a very productive day!

• Are you a runner?
• How do you reduce stress and reflect on your work?