Beginners and Beyond

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Using running as your escape when life is giving you lemons (Read 428 times)

    Running for me is primarily a hobby, but I think hobbies are essential to happiness and sanity. It can't just be about work or school or other obligations all the time. It's nice to have personal goals I can work on achieving that are enjoyable and just for myself. I used to have lots of hobbies when I was younger, but life got busy and running is easier than most activities to keep up with no matter where you go.

     

    I appreciate the health benefits I suppose, but that has never been a big motivator for me since I was a healthy person at a healthy weight before I started running. And it's not a social activity for me at all. The truth is I am not the most social person... that's probably why running is a good choice for me. 

     

    I have realized that running is now essential to my happiness, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. On the one hand, when I am unhappy running helps me through it. On the other hand, when I have legitimate reasons that I can't run, it makes me unhappy. I don't remember being a particularly depressed person before I was a runner, so I think my feeling of "I must run to be happy" is something I created out of thin air 5 years ago or so. Just because I thought it would be cool to do this one race...

    Auhugh!!

    happylily


      I started running for depression after DH and I lost a baby full-term. I went through an entire pregnancy and delivery of the baby. It was the hardest thing in my life to go through and I was able to avoid medication by picking up running. I thank my father greatly for getting me out there. It is a huge part of my life. I've been running for over a decade now and still love it. 

       

       Hilary, I didn't know this. It's heart breaking, but now I understand many things about you. I hope your return to running is a great one. You deserve it. Hugs to you, sweetie.

      PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013

              Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013

      18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010

      Nevrgivup


         Hilary, I didn't know this. It's heart breaking, but now I understand many things about you. I hope your return to running is a great one. You deserve it. Hugs to you, sweetie.

         Thanks Lily. Its hard to believe it was almost 14 years ago now. I'd have a teenager. Time flies when having fun. For sure. Clown

        Running is my mental-Ctrl-Alt-Del. 

          I’m another one who uses running to fight depression; it didn’t start out that way (I started running on a dare, basically), but I’ve found it’s a fringe benefit. Even when I have a bad run, it’s nice to get in the headspace of a specific, somewhat attainable goal, like finishing the damn run, rather than think about whatever bigger issue I might be dealing with at the time.


          Jess runs for bacon

            Wow Hilary. I don't know what to say, other than I'm glad that you got running out of that.

             

            Running is great stress relief for me, and helps a lot with depression.

            tessasnewlife


              For me it very much started as an escape. My husband had died 6 months prior, my uncle was dying and I was taking care of my mom. The only time i had to myself was running. My commute to and from work is less than 10 mins. Now its a life style more so than an escape. It has also allowed me to use my energy for running instead of getting worked up about everything at work. Which working with a bunch of boys (which is harder than 30 or so 5 year olds) is a very good thing.

              Just B.S.


                I started running for depression after DH and I lost a baby full-term. I went through an entire pregnancy and delivery of the baby. It was the hardest thing in my life to go through and I was able to avoid medication by picking up running. I thank my father greatly for getting me out there. It is a huge part of my life. I've been running for over a decade now and still love it. 

                 Hilary, I so want to give you a huge hug right now, even though you just made me cry. I was working with

                a girl when we were both pregnant, due within a few weeks of each other. She lost her baby the same

                way and it was so hard for me to bring my healthy baby into work afterwards. I just hurt so much for her.

                 

                My Mom lost her first child the same way. She has never spoken about it even 52 years later. The entire

                family was told she never wanted to speak about it again and every one of the adults in our family kept

                that secret for her.

                 

                 I only know because my Dad told me when I was 12 ( I was very mature) because he thought I should know

                as part of my name is after the first baby which was a girl. I found the birth/death announcement much later

                as an adult. She never got over it even though she went on to have 5 of us after that.

                Nevrgivup


                  Thank you Beth and others. You never truly get over something like this. It's time that makes it easier. I have some pretty bad ptsd from it and being around small babies is still very hard for me. Whenever I think about what I went through, I think about what it did for me. I'm very accomplished and have a good marriage that survived this. I could've went the other way.

                  Running is my mental-Ctrl-Alt-Del. 


                  @runjerseygirl

                    Thank you Beth and others. You never truly get over something like this. It's time that makes it easier. I have some pretty bad ptsd from it and being around small babies is still very hard for me. Whenever I think about what I went through, I think about what it did for me. I'm very accomplished and have a good marriage that survived this. I could've went the other way.

                     

                    You're an inspiration for coming out of something so heartbreaking with such a positive outlook.  You're an amazing woman... (where's that damned hugging smiley when you need it?!?)

                     

                    For me, I run to escape the chaos that is my life.  It seems to be the only thing that brings me peace, lately.

                    Do you even run?

                    Robert31320


                    Team TJ

                      Hilary gets a big ol' country boy hug from me for her situation.

                       

                      I run lose weight mainly.  It has proven to be a great stress relief for me from the daily strain of raising a special needs child.  If you have seriously healthy kids, be forever grateful.

                      Running for TJ because he can't.

                       

                      Just B.S.


                        It has proven to be a great stress relief for me from the daily strain of raising a special needs child.  If you have seriously healthy kids, be forever grateful.

                         Robert, I know I told you before that I used to work at a gov't department that provided supports for

                         special needs kids. It gave me a true appreciation for what the parents and children go through on

                        a daily basis. But the strength and courage also amazed me.

                         

                        My boys are now grown and were never ill with more than a mild flu. I have always been grateful but

                        after meeting many of the kids and families I did thru my work I now have a deep and abiding appreciation

                        for the luck of fate that gave me healthy kids.


                        Mostly harmless

                          For me it started out as a way to get healthy and lose weight.  I quickly discovered that its wonderful therapy and I don't need to take my ADHD drugs when I'm running on a regular schedule.  I sleep better too. So yeah, all of the above and then some.

                          "It doesn’t matter how often you do it or how much you accomplish, in general, not running is a lot easier than running." - Meb Keflezighi

                          Buelligan


                            Wow... my life isn't as lemony as I thought.  Not yet, at least.

                            Robert31320


                            Team TJ

                               Robert, I know I told you before that I used to work at a gov't department that provided supports for

                               special needs kids. It gave me a true appreciation for what the parents and children go through on

                              a daily basis. But the strength and courage also amazed me.

                               

                              My boys are now grown and were never ill with more than a mild flu. I have always been grateful but

                              after meeting many of the kids and families I did thru my work I now have a deep and abiding appreciation

                              for the luck of fate that gave me healthy kids.

                               

                               

                              Thanks, Beth!  It's a hard job but crazy rewarding!

                              Running for TJ because he can't.

                               


                              From the Internet.

                                For me it started out as a way to get healthy and lose weight.  I quickly discovered that its wonderful therapy and I don't need to take my ADHD drugs when I'm running on a regular schedule.  I sleep better too. So yeah, all of the above and then some.

                                 

                                Same. I was actually thinking about getting back on ADHD meds earlier this year (and then I probably started thinking about cats, and makeup, and what am I going to make for dinner tonight, and oh shit I meant to start an experiment an hour ago.. what were we talking about again?). I don't feel like I'll need to go back on them now that I'm running regularly, it's still a little bit of a struggle to stay on top of everything but it doesn't feel overwhelming anymore.

                                 

                                Hilary, holy cow, I am so sorry. I can't even imagine.

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