Words Bernadette Dancy
With more and more women reporting that they’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed as they try to balance family, children and careers, running has become more popular than ever. Ater all, it’s free, can be done anywhere, anytime and be as fast or slow as we want it to be. here is lots of evidence that running enhances our mood and keeps us it and healthy – so despite it perhaps starting of being hard and uncomfortable, running quickly becomes one of our most treasured activities of the week.
For stressed, over-worked women, running is a great way to relax, get us outside in nature, meet up with friends for a ‘run and chat’, and get much needed ‘me time’ to counter the stress that comes with putting ourselves at the bottom of our to do lists far too often. Running is scientifically proven to cause changes in our brain’s neurotransmitters resulting in a dopamine hit, otherwise known as the runner’s high, allowing us to enjoy running, feel great (especially after we finish) and coming back for more.
But because stress (I e, the reason many of us run in the first place) can present with a host of symptoms such as exhaustion, sleep disturbance, headaches, anxiety, depression, inflammation and a weakened immune system, it begs the question: is it a good idea for an exhausted body and mind to have to contend with the training stress we’re exposed to when we run?
Stressful research
Research in novice and untrained runners has shown that training stress has the same impact on our body as life stress, meaning the thing we’re doing to relieve stress symptoms is simultaneously causing stress at the same time. his happens because in order for our bodies to prepare for ‘ight or light’ the sympathetic branch of our nervous system triggers an increase in adrenaline, cortisol and activates stored glucose so our heart, lungs and working muscles are ready to deal with the stressful moment or demand at hand – be that giving a speech or going on a 10K run.
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Aug 2019
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