Running as Stress Relief

Many articles, websites, and medical experts tout the benefits of running for stress relief.  Whether someone runs alone or with others it still helps them release stress, tension, anger, and anxiety.  Just the physical act of running, increasing your heart rate, activating endorphins, and expending energy helps the body deal with those strong emotions.  I find it to be more helpful if I am running with others.  Social running has the additional benefit of a sympathetic ear.

I should have known I would be a social runner, who vents to her buddies.  Years ago, before I started running, I had a very stressful day at work.  It was one of those days where your whole world gets turned upside down.  You think you are doing a good job, that you have friends at work only to find out that they really don't like you and think that you are horrible and that they feel like they are picking up your slack.  After that day I couldn't go home.  I was wired and annoyed, so I went to a local park where I knew they had a little paved path so I could walk and rant.  And that's exactly what I did.  I went around that little path, talking to myself, sometimes yelling into the air for so long that some neighbors to the park started coming out of their house to check on me or call the police.  I found out that the path was really tiny (I must have circled it about 50 times) and that I would need to find a different place if I needed to vent again.

The circle I walked around, around, around...

When I began to run with others we talked.  It was friendly talking as we got to know each other, but if someone had a bad day, a stressful day coming up, or difficulties in general it started to come out as we ran together more and more.  I soon began to feel comfortable venting my own frustrations to my friends when I ran.  I don't complain all the time (and I hope my running buddies would say the same) and neither do my friends but it's nice to have that sympathetic ear when you need it.  There have been times I have looked forward to a run before being observed the next day.  I know I can vent my worries and stress to my friends.  Sometimes I only go out for a run because I have had a bad day.  Even though it may not be a training day I lace up my shoes and head out because I need that run that day.

I've also found out that my friends and I run faster when we're upset.  One time I asked a running buddy why she prefered one political stance over another.  I just wanted her honest opinion so I could weigh my options.  She was so passionate about her position that I found it difficult to keep up with her.  She increased her pace to the point that I was panting but she kept going (usually I had to slow down a bit for her).  I asked another friend about her day at work, having seen that she had posted about it on Facebook.  Again, even though it was a different friend, her pace increased and she was pushing me faster.  She didn't even realize she was going faster until we stopped.  I don't know if this might be a way to "hack" our training but I know we all feel better when we run and vent our frustrations.

One thing to keep in mind though is there are some things that you don't vent about.  If you are running with a person who is unemployed you don't complain about your job.  Complaining about a relationship when your buddy is going through a messy split is also not a good idea.  Despite the benefits, there are just some topics you can't vent about, which makes the run a little more awkward.  There have been times I go to run and vent only to realize I shouldn't bring that topic up right before we start running.  I have yet to figure out how to get the same benefits while running alone without talking to myself when having frustrations that I just can't talk to others about.  I also wish that I had discovered running and venting earlier, maybe I wouldn't have scared those poor people at the park.