Transition time.

This week's topic for Take it and Run Thursday at Runners' Lounge is running through transitions. It's that time of the year, I suppose, with the time change and the season progressing from early fall to mid.

I've had my share of transitions, as we all have. I evolved from a petulant teen to a self-righteous college student, from a carefree single young woman in the Big Apple to a married, work-at-home mom in the suburbs. I've been fortunate to have running to carry my through my more monumental transitions for the past 15 or so years. (The teen me really could have benefited from the habit . . . but there's no going back now!)

When my husband and I moved from NYC to upstate NY, I wasn't sure we had made the right decision. We were suddenly friendless. My job wasn't all it was cracked up to be. So I ran. I logged my runs. I entered races -- lots of them. I ran and ran. Running helped me settle in to my new life. I learned about the area. I began to feel connected. I credit running with helping me to see that the decision to move was the right one. There were other factors, of course, but running helped.

Running also helped me settle in to my new life as a mom. After Conal was born I didn't really know what end was up. Not only was I now a mom but I was no longer working full time. For 13 years, I had -- at least partially -- been defined by my career. Now I was trying to navigate the world as a new mom and a fledgling freelance writer and editor. These things combined to make 2007 the biggest period of transition in my life and running carried me through. I needed that time alone and would look forward to the evenings and weekends when I would head out for what began as run/walks and improved to long runs, hill workouts and races.

When I would run, I would plan. I would think about what was working and what wasn't. I would recall the special moments I had witnessed during the day. I would zone out. Whatever I needed at the time.

It's been a constant, this running thing. A constant that has helped make my transitions smoother, and that I hope will continue to do so for years to come.