Still waiting...

[SeryaWhite]

So here I am on week 8 and I'm still waiting for that endorphin high, the 'addiction' to running. Any clues on when it might happen, what I'm waiting for? I run because I need to do exercise, it's like taking medicine, not enjoyable, but needs to be done. Maybe if/when I lose a stone or two?

[Crawlhome Graduate]

Have you noticed an improvement in your overall fitness? Increased body time? Less stressed? Better sleep? Those are massive benefits to regular exercise as well as the longer term fitness benefits.

I think the runners high is massively over hyped but hopefully there will be a run in the future that you feel really positive about and that's more than enough 😃

Happy running 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

[SeryaWhite in reply to Crawlhome]

erm, not yet. I have noticed that my hip and knee joints are more achey. An uninterrupted night's sleep is still a distant memory, but that's to do with my partner's snoring. I'm obviously fitter than I was, cos now I can jog for 28 minutes, but I know that it would only take a few days of laziness to put me back a long way. This is my main motivation, I think, that plus my mother's copd.

[Crawlhome Graduate in reply to SeryaWhite]

Sorry that should have been improved body tone! Be proud of your achievement and see how you feel after graduation in a few days.

[Norfolk18 Graduate in reply to SeryaWhite]

My knees are quite a bit more achey a couple of hours after a run, but I get achey knees when we have damp weather anyway but I have noticed they don’t ache when I run. Bizarre !

[Hidden]

Be patient, like all great loves it is worth waiting for.

[Sofabunny]

I'm not convinced that everyone gets a high...I suspect some of us just feel a little bit relieved and triumphant that the run is over without having fallen over or had a heart attack !🤣🏃‍♀️🏃

[Equi-geek Graduate]

A runners high for me isn’t a yeehaw-kind-of-happiness. It’s a stage of inner peace, even if I feel like I’m physically tired and having to work hard.

A couple of things to try now you are free of intervals... slow down for at least the next run - it will help your knees- you will find that they will sort themselves out after graduating when you can do a mix of short run and longer runs. Next is to find somewhere nice to run. It’s worth driving somewhere if necessary. When you get going start slowly and give yourself 5 minutes so when your breathing is steady and in time with your feet, start to look around you - but try to look at things in a different way and experience everything. Notice contrasting shapes and colours, sounds, the feel of air passing over your neck and face, and let your thoughts just come and go while you breathe and be grateful for being alive on this day, and able to run. Enjoy being detached from the pressures of the rest of the day - you cannot do anything else now but run - it’s a time that no one is demanding anything of you, and you’re free. Hope that helps!

[Sofabunny in reply to Equi-geek]

You sound a lot like my yoga teacher...

[Equi-geek Graduate in reply to Sofabunny]

Yoga made me dizzy 🤣

[SeryaWhite in reply to Equi-geek]

If I slow down, I'd be walking!

My surroundings are not bad, I live in a farming area, but my road is a busy A road. I could try the side roads but people tend to zoom around them like a racetrack and there's not always a path. I run in the mornings before work, and now the run is long plus 5 mins at each end, it's already getting a bit trickier to fit it in, so driving somewhere wouldn't really work unless it's a day off. But thanks for your thoughts