Running into my brain

I have often referred to running as therapy for me. Like, it makes me feel better and I need it to get through life. When I started reading the Scott Douglas book 'Running Is My Therapy,' though, I realized this is ACTUALLY true! 

I'm only a couple chapters into the book but it has already been a breath of fresh air. Not only do I relate to so much of his own personal story, but I have probably learned more about how running impacts the brain and my particular struggles with depression than anything else I've ever read or heard!

I hope to work through the chapters slowly like I used to, and jot down some notes here as I do. So, here we go...

• Alison Mariella Desir wrote the forward and she used this phrase "meditation on the move." That may be the makings of a substack title, or maybe even a book.
• I was unaware the shoe brand Asics is an acronym for the Latin phrase anima sana in corpore sano. The literal translation is "a healthy soul in a healthy body." Scott linked that to the Plato quote "The greatest mistake in the treatment of diseases is that there are physicians for the body and physicians for the soul, although the two cannot be separated." (p. 21)
• "The bulk of this book is about the integration of body and mind via running for help in managing depression and anxiety. But the essential body-mind link is pertinent to everyone, regardless of the particulars of their mental health." (p. 22)
• Scott describes two particulars regarding his depression that really hit-the-nail-on-the-head for me. He (and I think I may also) has dysthymia - a type of depression that doesn't really majorly incapacitate you, but is more of a chronic, low-grade depression. He says the literal translation is "ill humored." This is very much how I have been most of my life for as long as I can remember. Seldom can I not get out of bed because of it, but it seems to always just 'be there.' (p. 55)
• He also discusses the German word weltschmerz, which is "world (welt) pain (schmerz)." It refers to sadness over the gap between how you'd like the world to be and reality. (p. 57) Yes!
• He says his version of depression's second main feature is anhedonia - "a diminished ability to experience pleasure." (p. 58) Yep, yep. Perhaps why I'm never able to answer the question of what makes me happy.
  
• He notes that while running can help with depression at the time, it really helps over time, thanks to how it changes brain structure. Panteleimon Ekkekakis, PhD, researcher and professor of exercise psychology at Iowa State University says, "regular running produces the same two changes that are thought to be responsible for the effectiveness of modern antidepressants: increased levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine, and neurogenesis - the creation of new brain cells." In other words, daily running matters, but over time there's a cumulative effect. "You're actually building a healthier brain, and a healthier brain's going to feel better" (Laura Fredendall). (p. 60)
• He then makes this great point about the difference between actual fatigue and "perceived fatigue." Fatigue is often listed as a symptom of depression. Scott explained the lethargy of depression to his brother by asking him what he does when he's thirsty. He said he would go get a drink. Which I'm assuming most people do without thinking. For people like Scott, and me, it's not that simple. We might first think to ourselves, "I should probably go get a drink." But then we would imagine having to get up, walk to the kitchen, get a glass, turn on the faucet... and pretty soon we're going to be thirsty again, so what's the point in really doing it right now if I'm going to have to keep doing it..." and so on and so forth. We haven't DONE anything, except worn ourselves out by thinking about it. I could go run 5 miles right now and not be tired at all, but thinking about getting a glass of water gives me the perception of fatigue. I've never heard it explained like that before, and it is absolutely spot on! (p. 63ff)
  
• The struggle with the above is activation. We're waiting for more energy to come, but as Scott says, "the magical infusion of energy I was waiting for would come only by doing the thing I was finding reasons to avoid." Or, as Rich Harfst says, "running can be most helpful when it seems least likely." This is the importance of making it a routine, a discipline, a way of life... (p. 63ff)
  

 I hope the rest of the book is as good as these first two chapters. I feel like I've made a new friend. Someone who actually knows and understands me. It feels good.