Recently I found myself unwell which lead to a week in bed. During this time there was no time for running, let alone energy to even walk to the bathroom. What I knew to be the best thing for me, rest for my sick body soon became something that lead me to despair. Not only did I fear all my hard work undone with each day of bedrest, and the fear of looming fitness decline, my mental state soon declined with it. Soon I found my body healing, but my mental state heading south. My motivation to even get out of bed was even going downhill.

Soon it wasn’t only running that I didn’t want to do, but it was also speaking to people, doing any work and being around others. You see, for some of us, Running for mental health is a real thing. A huge thing. And when we don’t have running, it can lead to a sudden decline in our happiness. Ponder with me if you will about why this phenomena exists and what we can do about it.

Running, or exercise in general releases chemicals in our blood stream called endorphins. It is these endorphins that leave us on our ‘runners high’ after a session or an event. The main function of endorphins is to inhibit the transmission of pain signals; they may also produce a feeling of euphoria very similar to that produced by other opioids.(Wikipedia). So basically endorphins are like a natural morphine. They make us feel good and they make us want to go back for more. Over time during training for endurance events we get used to this high feeling or the euphoria that comes with training day after day. The happiness that we feel after running and the sense of achievement that it gives us when our training is going to plan gives us the euphoric feeling we love and is a key reason we keep running, so it is a no-brainer that when we are injured or sick, or life gets in the way and we can’t run that this euphoric feeling heads south and we experience the negative feelings kicking in. Leave it long enough and we can head into a depressive state.

Another key factor to this positive running experience is the connection that we feel when we are in the midst of our training with others. Most of us run at some time or another with others as part of our training. This connection keeps us accountable, and keeps us motivated. We feel connected and we are rewarded with friendships and common bonds, we aren’t alone at 5am in the cold and the dark and we enjoy the journey together. For some of us this connection might only be through an online source, and this for some is a huge aspect to keeping them motivated to keep going, and in turn keep the happy endorphins flowing. When one is hit with injury or illness and the inability to run they are immediately isolated from this key group that forms so much of their new found identity. This can be a recipe for mental health decline. I have seen it happen and I have experienced it myself.

So how can we keep this from happening? What can we do?

Well, if we are running, we should keep running. Lesson one. Or at least we should keep exercising. And this is why so many people who are diagnosed with depression are told to go and exercise before starting any medication. Because for a lot of us it works. It keeps those low clouds at bay and keeps those endorphins releasing. But what if we can’t run?

Here are my suggestions:
: Find another form of exercise to help release those endorphins. This could be swimming, cycling, weight training, walking, hiking, dancing or other forms of exercise. Preferably exercise that gets the blood pumping and the heart rate up. All of these of course can also be done with others so you don’t have to go it alone!

: Keep yourself surrounded. Don’t think that because you can’t run you have to go into hiding from all your running friends. This is not a great idea. How about instead of running, you ofter to help them in other ways, like cycling along side them while they run, or being at a checkpoint with their supplies or water to give them a mental boost, or even offering to help them out minding their kids while they run and they can repay you the favour when your back on your feet?!

: Volunteer at an event. Not only do events need volunteers, most events pay you in goodies or free race entries the next year! So winning! You get to cheer on your mates, and give back to the running community and you get repaid so that you can use the entry when your back up and running the following year. Without volunteers, especially those that know and understand runners, events can’t happen. So this is a perfect way to give back, AND make you happy because we all love to see our mates smashing their goals and cheer runners on to achieve big things!

: Volunteer at your weekly parkrun. This will keep you in touch with your local running friends, and also you will be giving back to the community in which you live while encouraging others.

: Exercise with your kids. Take them out to the park, or a hike or a bike ride. Throw hoops in the backyard. Connect with them and spend quality time with them doing outdoor things together.

: Head to nature. Take yourself to the local trails or the beach. A view is sure to increase those happy vibes. If you can’t run them, walk them or even just sit and meditate on the view and be thankful and grateful for the breath in your lungs.

: Don’t give up on your goals. Re-shift, refocus if you must, but don’t give up. Find new goals and work towards them, even short term goals to keep your fitness up while you can’t run, like increasing the amount of lunges you and do, or laps you can swim etc. Last year when I was out for a few months I had to re-adjust my goals. Both my A races were not going to happen. Now I look back and see that things were just as they should be, and I am stronger for it now.

So before you go and reach for the bottle in despair, think about trying those things out….you know you will be back up and running in no time. In the meantime keep your mental health happy and your goals in the forefront of your mind for when you return.