I was in the WORST mood yesterday when I got out of work. No reason in particular, but I wasn’t feeling very well & had a fairly stressful day in the office.
So of course I was hemming and hawing about being unmotivated to go for my scheduled 3 miler on the way home.
Ryan suggested that we run together & I immediately said “Yes, that would be great!”
I knew running with Ryan would be a good distraction for me – I’d have someone to talk to (read: something to take my mind off of being miserable) and I also knew it would be a good way for me to push myself. Ryan is naturally much faster than me so I knew that by running with him I’d be forced not to give in & back off of my pace! (Even his “slowed down” pace is a huge push for me!)
I decided to give what I now call “straight running” another shot & we agreed to take a 1 min walk break at every mile marker.
Much to my surprise, we finished 3.0 miles in just 35:34 which is SUPER for me! That’s an average of 11:50 per effing mile. Yippie! Definitely impressive considering my body is used to running only 2 minutes at a time right now with all of my long runs being 2:1 intervals.
I even managed to run the last mile faster than the previous – an extra little push to see if I could do it!
By the time we finished running, my mad mood was GONE and I was feeling energized and positive again. Hell, even 1 mile into the run I was feeling better!
I guess getting in a workout really IS better than skipping one – both physically and mentally!
WHAT ABOUT YOU: Does getting in a workout zap your bad moods?
Nice run!! I am a strong believer that a workout can zap a bad mood – it’s exactly why I workout in the middle of the work day
I think last night is the first time it was so obvious to me that a workout changed my mood. Hopefully this is a new trend! (And I’m eternally jealous of your middle-of-the-day workouts!)
Definitely! I love getting a good workout in and having it directly change my mood. Usually my workout is not the best if I start out in a bad mood, but at least its better once I finish the workout!
I usually struggle during a workout too if I go into it in a bad mood. It’s days like yesterday that make the bad ones worthwhile though, right?
I ALWAYS feel better after I run, but sometimes it’s hard to force myself to go when I’m not in the mood, even when I remind myself of how great I feel. It is definitely a mood-lifter, and often makes me feel better if I’m stuffy, crampy, have a headache, etc. Glad you had a great run!
You’re right – it is very hard sometimes to convince myself to get out the door when I’m not “feeling it”! If it weren’t for Ryan yesterday I would have likely skipped the run altogether.
Yay! Good for you! I like running with James… mostly because I am competitive and want to beat him. Also, he’s faster than me
I like running with Ryan a lot but I know we’d get sick of it real quick if we made it a regular occurrence. Usually about once a month we get in a run together though.
Nice run!! I always tell my class “You never regret a workout”, but sometimes it’s hard to practice what I preach! The hardest part is getting dressed – but once my workout clothes are on I never back out.
Oooh! That’s a good idea – making myself get dressed in workout gear no matter what. I’ll have to remember that next time I’m in a funk & don’t want to work out!
Good good! Glad you had a good run, and running with another person can really help make it a good run! Yeah, running really is like a mood ring for me.