Why do I run and do the crazy things I do?

Recently some people have been asking me why the hell did I start running and dress in running shorts all the time?  Why did I do the crazy push-ups?

I don’t know why I felt ashamed to admit it before.  This is no shame, nothing wrong with what I have.

I’ve been diagnosed with depression in Febuary.  Apparently I’ve been depressed ever since I was in middleschool.  I’ve seldom been happy, even though there isn’t much going wrong with my life.  Moving to America when I was 10 probably didn’t help things.  Even though I’ve flourished in this country, it’s still not my home country, I’m still sort of an outsider.

In early March, I read the book  Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner and something about the author’s love of running, that it’s a sport you do for yourself, you compete with only yourself and your race time, pushing your body to your limits, really jolted something in me.

I started running one early Saturday morning from downtown to Fort Point and after I got to the end, I was not tired at all, it’s all about pacing myself and not run too fast.  Later on I found out it was close to 6 miles.  And I felt extremely happy.  My body was filled with happy chemicals!!  Wow, running == happy chemicals.

Scienticfically I think they are called endorphins.  I think my brain lacks enough serotonin like normal happy people.

I run in order to squash the depression, I don’t want drugs to supress the depression
I run because I want to see how far I can push my body
I run because when I’m 60 years old, I want to be healthier than when I was 40. (thanks to sam)
I run because I want a strong heart
I run because it makes me happy
I run because I don’t have to drive my car
I run because I’m 3 times faster than all the people walking
I run because San Francisco is 7 miles x 7 miles and I can run to anywhere in the city.
I run because I can run and I don’t get tired
I run because I love to travel and I want to run thru every city I visit

There, I’m done.  Depression sucks and I will squash it and run thru it and run over it.

Update:

Just read at 11:12pm: “The ‘runners high’ is said to be experienced by 60-70% of well conditioned runners”
“As you exercise more, you require a higher intensity of exercise in order to produce the same endorphin release”  Hmm, that means  in order to feel happy, I’ll need to run more and more.

Tag.TonyTam.Running

Latest commentsOldest comments

• Yahoo! User
  commented

  05/23/2005 02:18 am

  I’ve started running too!
  It feels really great. However with my fat butt, I cant manage more than 4 kilometres at a stretch! 🙁
  BTW how do you get those counter thingies?

   

• Yahoo! User
  commented

  05/20/2005 11:36 am

  Thanks for the explanation.

   

• Yahoo! User
  commented

  05/19/2005 09:31 pm

  My comment has several unrelated segments:
  1. It’s brave to admit you’re depressed. I hope you’re able to manage/cure it!
  2. So that’s why people run? I always wondered what people got out of it besides burst aveoli
  3. So you’re one of the people who actually ran the Bay to Breakers! Congrats to you, unlike those beer-drinking cross-dressing freaks I know who walked it. 😉