WHY RUN?
As a very overweight and lazy 13 year old, I began the 8th grade in a new city—my 14th school—without any friends. My dad was in the Navy and the constant change of schools resulted in learning gaps, and I was entering the 8th grade at a top tier academic prep school. The most stressful day in my young life was when the test scores came in for the first report card and I was at the bottom of each class. On top of this, all boys had to join a sports team after school and I had signed up for cross country–with no background of regular training or fitness.
Throughout the day before my first workout, I questioned my signup for this strenuous sport. A stream of thoughts about running went zooming through my brain, and none were positive.
The coach said GO, and I was at the back of the pack. I made the classic novice mistake of starting too fast. By the quarter mile, I was heavily breathing without control. By the half mile, my muscles were spent—I had “hit the wall”. I walked back to the start, trying some short running segments, but was overwhelmed by aches and pains and muscle exhaustion.
I dragged myself back to the locker room and cleaned up–feeling like a failure. But as I walked to a designated study room (due to my poor grades) I was hit with a series of unexpected thoughts and feelings.
The muscles were tired, and I was sore in a lot of places—but my brain was dosing me with a unique feeling of accomplishment.
I had been stressed and depressed every day at this new school–but after my first day as a runner–and for the rest of the evening–I felt positive about what I did and hopeful about improving my grades and my running.
Before running, I had little energy to get through my homework after dinner. On this day, I completed all assignments faster than usual and had the energy to look up the reasons behind the problems—instead of just listing the answers. How could this happen?
On most of the stressful days since that were filled with setbacks, I found that after 30 minutes of running (run walk run® counts), the anxiety melts away, and I have been able to solve problems and come away from the run with a good attitude.
I had no idea why I felt so good or why I was so productive so late in the day. Sixty + years later, the same rewards are delivered from every run, and I now know the WHY. In research for my book MENTAL TRAINING, I uncovered the many studies showing that running turns on brain circuits for a better attitude, more energy, and empowerment to confront challenges—better than any other activity. Running for more than 30 minutes releases a brain hormone that grows new brain cells. So, if you have destroyed cells in that area before—you can grow more by running.
I’m not saying that I feel wonderful after every run—nor that I eliminate all stress by running. But over the past 66 years, there have been very few runs that did not leave me feeling better and more productive afterward.
Spread the word! Using my run walk run® method has kept me injury-free for 46 years and allowed me to help others receive all of the benefits of running without pain or exhaustion.
Pacing Tip: These circuits are activated by aerobic running—which means that you are not running so hard that makes you huff and puff too hard—as in panting. It’s OK to raise your effort to light to moderate breathing—and my run walk run method can be adapted on any run to stay at that level.
Motivation Tip: Collect some “power mantras” that you can repeat, over and over, during the tough parts of runs. My favorite ones are DON’T GIVE UP, I CAN DO THIS, I’M IN CONTROL. By saying them over and over, you turn on circuits in the brain that enhance your feeling of empowerment.
That’s all for today—YOU CAN DO IT!
Jeff
