I had zero expectations heading out for a late morning run today, other than to clear my head. With a road trip to Minnesota a couple of days away, my mind’s been whirling with compiling the mental to-do list. I also was bummed to have missed a group run with girlfriends because my husband got called in to work. I knew just getting out on the trails for a bit would boost my mood.

As it turned out, it was much better than I could have hoped for. I’ll even go so far to say that I feel like I’ve got my running mojo back.

This is not just about feeling great after my icky race last weekend, either. Running this route today, a mixture of roads and trails near my neighborhood, I found myself feeling stronger as each mile passed. Even the hills didn’t knock the wind out of me like they have in recent weeks. I just kept feeling great. Here’s what I think aided my run today:

• The weather was close to perfect: overcast, damp and on the cooler side.
• I ran without tunes (and a timing device): I wanted only the sounds of the trees and birds to help quiet my mind. It worked. I’m guessing I ran at least five miles, maybe six. But who knows?
• I headed for the trails: There’s something so peaceful about running the Vasa. I crossed paths with just one other person, a mountain biker, and I found myself so relaxed just being alone in the woods.
• Beach days left me craving a run: It’s been absolutely gorgeous here lately, so we’ve been soaking it up at the beach a lot. As awesome as it’s been, my body and mind wanted this run badly.

I’m hoping to get another good run in before we leave this week, especially since it won’t be easy to squeeze in any running while visiting friends in the land of 10,000 lakes.  I’m just thankful for today’s run, which left me feeling redeemed after last weekend’s hellish race, yes, but also reminded me how satisfying a good run can be. How about you? What’s the state of your running  these days? Feeling it … or not so much?

I’ve got another fun give-a-way, this time something from the great people at Running Fit. Randy Step, owner of these Michigan stores, has generously offered a cool duffel bag (valued at $40) for me to hand out to a reader. Share your running story here in the comments section and I’ll use random.org to select one lucky winner. You can even choose your own logo color. Randy tells me the bag “looks great with pink and white on black.” Check out the bag here.  I’ll close the comments Tuesday, July 20 at noon EST.