Running Helps Us Persevere
Originally published in the Fleet Feet Albany & Malta Newsletter, July 2023.
The past couple weeks I’ve joined countless other runners in beginning to train for a fall marathon. But that isn’t even close to being the most major life event as of late. That’s the thing about running, it may consume a lot of our time and thoughts, but it is far from the only thing we have going on, even though we like to act as though life changes and stressors shouldn’t impact our training. Coupled with the heat and humidity that characterize grueling summer runs, going through difficult and stressful times can only make marathon training, or running at all, much more taxing on our minds and bodies.
Running can either be a necessary escape or another stressor on top of everything we face daily; but when we choose to run at the right time, we prove to ourselves how capable we are of overcoming hard things. When we finish a run through pain, grief, sadness, anger, exhaustion, depression, anxiety, or whatever else is weighing on our hearts, we’ve shown ourselves and our loved ones that we can emerge strong from those painful moments and that we can push through whatever is waiting for us at the end of that run.
Maybe that can feel a bit selfish, to leave or take time for ourselves when so many other challenges need to be confronted. I don’t think it is. I find clarity on those runs that I would never find lying in bed or staring at my phone. I regain parts of myself that I feel have been lost in those dark thoughts. When I press stop on my watch and I take those first steps back into the life that perhaps part of me was fearing, I just focus on what to do next. Stretch. Hydrate. Eat. Keep going. That’s not selfish, because I’ve found space in my mind to show up for myself and for the people that I love most.
Those people are usually the ones occupying my thoughts for the entirety of my runs. I recall a friend I’ve been meaning to catch up with and draft a text in my head to send them the second I get back. If I’m in the middle of an argument, running gives me the space I need to process what I’ve said and what they’ve said, and to come back to that person I care about with an apology, empathy, or a greater sense of understanding. I think about how others around me must feel, what they may be going through and how I contribute to that situation, positively or negatively. I may be listening to podcasts and music, and I may be hoping these runs will be a complete escape from the real world, but I find they actually help me become more in touch with that world when it can feel nearly impossible.
Beyond the mental benefits I feel when I run, I know I’m doing something good for my body. Running forces me to sleep longer and deeper, when otherwise I may have been haunted by restless thoughts. I take conscious steps to drink water, to eat enough and to eat healthy because even as I struggle, I know I need to do those things for my body if I want to keep running. Finding motivation for all of that can be so difficult when so much is weighing upon you but remembering that running is something for the good of yourself, something that awakens your mind and flushes your body with endorphins when those good feelings can seem scarce is so important to hold onto. In doing so, you can hold onto yourself, and hopefully not onto the things that feel inescapably hard. In these times, it’s vital to go for those runs not to punish yourself, but to help heal yourself.
The separation I get from those problems, and even people I love, in my eyes is not meant to escape from them, but to enter somewhere new, for twenty minutes or two hours. I enter a new headspace as my legs allow me to see the world in which I live in new ways. When my mind has that freedom to explore both within and beyond myself, I feel renewed and more capable than when I began the run.
Running is not therapy, it’s not a reliable solution for all those problems that maybe we are running from -- but when we do the hard things when it feels like everything else is already so hard, we gain a little bit of confidence back that maybe if we can push through a hot, humid run, then we can push through whatever else we must.
Those blistering runs can feel endless, but they always come to an end. Those difficult times when grief, depression, anxiety, or any other pain swallows us whole also come to an end. But until they do, we have running to help get us through it.
If you are dealing with serious mental or physical concerns that threaten your health or those of your loved ones, please seek professional help. As much as we’d like to hope running can solve all our problems, it really can’t. To keep running, we need those professionals to keep us healthy. So please, reach out for help when you need it, so you can be there for yourself and the people you love.
