Running to clear your head?

Running is great for clearing my head. If I need to have a difficult conversation with my spouse or kid, I'll run first. The more difficult the conversation, the longer the run. Sometimes I finish the run and discover I no longer need to have that conversation after all.

But sometimes after running, or even running for a few days in a row, the issue is still there. Running won't make it go away. I still have to have that conversation. It's better to have given it some time and gained some perspective, but at some point I have to actually do something about the problem.

So you've run to clear your head. That's excellent. Now you need to take the next step to actually deal with the problem, whatever the problem is and whatever the next step might be.

Running and exercise in general is fantastic for my mental health.

I would recommend picking up meditation. It's tough at first but really helps my outlook on things.

Just 10-15 minutes in the morning and in the evening before bed is plenty. Good luck :)

RunningNoob420 wrote:

Running and exercise in general is fantastic for my mental health.

I would recommend picking up meditation. It's tough at first but really helps my outlook on things.

Just 10-15 minutes in the morning and in the evening before bed is plenty. Good luck :)

How did you first "learn"? Youtube? Books? Classes?

There is no need to learn through videos or books, imo. Anybody can meditate. Below is my routine.

Sit comfortably in a dimly lit room. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. You can do eyes open if you want, (or alternate) but I prefer eyes closed.

Focusing on your breathing will be tough at first. Your mind will wander. This is ok. Acknowledge your thoughts. However, always bring your focus to your breath.

It is... surprisingly hard to pay attention solely to your breathe. It becomes easier with time.

I really can't overstate how much doing this daily helped my anxieties and general stress. My resting heartrate became lower after doing this as well. Let me know how it goes.

Do all the above but when you get back, sit back and crack open a beer or two. You'll thank me later.

rumination

Yes running is only good for mental health unless you are addicted and it negatively takes away from other parts of your time and life, or if you are anorexic it would have negative health effects. Running releases endorphins in the brain which are a happy feeling chemical. You will also be more calm/less prone to anxiety during and after a run because your breathing is regulated in a calm and effective manner.

Nope. My head doesn't have anything in it anyway.

Running on Pure Hate clears most heads. Literally purge yourself through running. Then do some strength training.

https://media.giphy.com/media/84CRvhy2DJlwA/giphy.gif

.....I'm sorry, what did you say?

lone wolf wrote:

But recently it's kind of been doing the opposite. A few things have been eating away at me in my life, and the alone time when I'm running is just giving me time to ponder them more, turn them over in my head, and make things even worse.

Has anyone else experience running being bad for their mental health for this reason? How can I make running be a release again

I have had that experience also last year. What helped was to go to run to new places where I had to pay attention to reading the map. I didn't have time to think about issues that were bothering me. If the weather was good, I started to feel really good after an hour or so. Also some changes in paces were helpful. For example fartleks or few faster miles in longer runs.

What I am saying is that running is too easy for you. It needs to be made somehow more challenging and that will help. Either faster running, running in a new environment or on more challenging surface (trails...).

Running (and the thought process involved) is the best strategy but not the only one. As was said, doing something directly also works, and asking friends/socializing is a third way.

You can always try running on more technical terrain. It’s more mentally engaging and forces a bit of focus, but can also be a higher risk of injury if you are running distracted or angry.

On the upside, there’s nothing like rehabilitating an injury to bring a renewed commitment and appreciation of running!

Listening to music can alter the mood of a run, and be a very productive training tool.

Hard hill repeats are relatively gentle on the body, but can really push out all other thoughts quite quickly.

Having a specific training goal can help bring more focus and meaning to running. If you can come up with something actionable it might work. Varying your training intensity or volume can definitely get you out of a rut.

Don’t ignore that mood is a strong indicator of overall stress levels. Stress is stress regardless of the source and you need to try and maintain an adequate balance between stress and recovery.

Mood is probably a greater overall metric for evaluating training than anything your HRM will say - disregard it at your peril!

Yes, I've tons of work/life stress that sometimes has me seething during runs, but I still think running helps. If I'm really fuming over something, it helps to turn it into a hard run and I'm forced to focus more on the effort.