Having a Damn Good Cry When Running

I went out yesterday for a short, gentle run just to get my legs moving.  I was feeling pretty emotional due to a variety of reasons - generally pissed off, no money, trouble with in-laws etc. etc. etc........ I used the run to try and think things through but ended up blubbing as I ran (quite difficult I can assure you).  The run itself was as beautiful as always (through my local woods, seasons changing etc).

I tried to hold back in case I bumped into anyone and couldn't explain my sobbing as sweat but in the end I gave in and had a damn good cry whilst running.  I think it 'got everything out of my system' so to speak and I feel better for it.

Has anyone else been in this situation or is it just me being a complete emotional wreck whilst running????  Surely I'm not alone......

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Comments

  • Hi Liz,

    Running is a good exercise to get rid of depression and is a good way to take your mind off things, whilst running try to focus solely on your technique/surroundings and take your mind off things. It might be good to run with a partner to introduce some competition so you can focus on beating him/her.

    Hope this helps! 

  • I go the other way and burn it up if I'm under any sort of stress...the logic  being that if you you don't know where your next breath is coming from then you don't really need to worry about anything else.

    If you felt better afterwards, it can't be a bad thing.

  • Ahh, thanks guys for the replies.  I run 3/4 times per week, twice of which is in company so I used the solitude to have a good cry.  I also had to have a gentle run and not over exert myself as I'd had a hard training session the evening before.

  • I run well when I'm angry too. Also works if I'm frustrated - and the pain of running hard for a few miles normally does a great job of cleansing my mood...



    However, I have also had runs where I spent some of the time crying, and I'm a definite believer in the old cliche about "it's better out than in".



    YP
  •  Liz, what you are saying is that you are a very human being. Just watch your eyes don't get too misty and you trip up!

     

  • I've had a good cry on a run when I was out with my running club.  It was dark and I hung off the back so nobody noticed.  One of the most satisfying runs I have ever had.

  • Actually, I've also had a good cry when out on a daytime run with the club.  On that occassion one person noticed but after checking that I was alright she gave me some privacy, and checked up on me a couple of days later.

  • 1.7 for me, but this year has been a hard one and has already shifted up my average considerably.

  • I've cried once on a run a few years back after we'd read a news report in one of the tabloids about a young girl that we'd come into contact with briefly in hospital.

  • Hi Liz

    no, your not alone, id say far from it actually

    i've been running many many years, 42 in all - as fitness training, but all my life as far as a way of transport is concerend ( 10 of those pushing my son in his wheelchair ) 

    i have tried lots of other things, but for me running is now and has always been no 1 

    there is no pressure ever, just what ever u want it to be

  • Hi Liz

    If there is something to cry about, there may be something you need to fix. Dont be afraid to thing about something you need to fix in your life.

    If your knee was sore when you ran, you might think there was something you could do to fix it.

  • It is odd, but somehow it can make you emotional- I've had times when I've ran past a piece of scenery/ a garden and thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd seen, and then gone back in the car, and it's nothing special- guess it's those enorphins messing with your head. I think it's better out than in, a solo run is a great way of spending time dealing with the stuff you normally bottle up, good for you! ( as long as the end result is that you feeel better)

  • I've cried when running. I hate it, it always turns into massive gasping sobs. I cried on the elliptical at the gym once too at something on the news, that was embarrassing.

  • I don't ever cry, because I'm a bloke. image

  • Lil.Lil. ✭✭✭

    I sobbed my heart out last year on a run. One of my cats 'Albert' was knocked over two days before. A soppy song came on my Ipod & that was it....Trying to run whilst crying is hard. My heart/chest felt as if were going to burst. A run I shall never forget. X

  • after suffering depression the slightest thing can set me off watching the paralympics does it a lot there so determined but it reminds me off my self taking up running to help pull out of the horible illness . as for sheding tears on the run i do get very strong emotions when im at the top of my peak and know im up for a good pb in a race but its good emotions and its all part of the drive the running gives me so im not ashamed even the fact im male i think the pressures of money ect and modern day living can drive any one to tears adventualy .

  • E mmyE mmy ✭✭✭
    If I'm frustrated or hear something sad on a podcast then I've been known to have a cry. Anything can set me off!
  • I went out this morning for a LSR (only 10 miles) and had problem whatsoever with my emotions.  I think it was what was going on in my head on Friday that affected me.  Get this though . . . we're pretty skint although prob not quite as skint as some... I found a £5.00 note at the beginning of my run this morning and ended up giving it to a regular tramp who lived near the river.  I asked him to get a decent fry-up from the local 'Gorge' cafe and set himself up for the day.  I really hope he did as it bought a smile to my face.  Happy days!!

  • Liz EE wrote (see)

    I went out this morning for a LSR (only 10 miles) and had problem whatsoever with my emotions.  I think it was what was going on in my head on Friday that affected me.  Get this though . . . we're pretty skint although prob not quite as skint as some... I found a £5.00 note at the beginning of my run this morning and ended up giving it to a regular tramp who lived near the river.  I asked him to get a decent fry-up from the local 'Gorge' cafe and set himself up for the day.  I really hope he did as it bought a smile to my face.  Happy days!!

    I think that the local Spar shop may have sold 3 cans of Special Brew this morning. image

  • You get lots of time to gather your thoughts on a run that you dont get any other time of the week. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's bad. For me, if i'm down I pick an upbeat playlist, feel better by the end of it.

  • Something happened to me in 2010 which rocked me completely. I'm married but fell deeply & desperately in love with a lad I work with.

    We are best of friends & text each other almost every day, often in the early hours as we're both night owls. We work together several times a week. He loves me to bits & shows the most exceptional emotions to me, I love him so deeply it hurts, it really does, but he could never love me back in the way I so desperately need him too. I'd marry him if I ever had the chance.

                                                   He's gay.

                                                   He's 29 years younger than I am.

    I have cried my heart up to him twice in the two years we've known each other, once literally on his shoulder & the other via mobile, telling him I love him deeply as a friend, work mates, my own flesh & blood (I love him like a younger brother) & he has totally accepted it & often hugs me & shows other physical emotions like holding my hand & gently stroking it, but I can't ever tell him my TRUE feelings .   I'd lose him forever. That would kill me.

    I'm in tears each day, each night for life now, & running & walking alone beats things out of me. 

    Because I can't tell him exactly how I feel I can't channel those feelings & emotions, they have nowhere to run too so it builds up & has me in tears.

    I rely on my running/walking for miles at a time to get me through it, alone, early hours, I can cry my heart up while thinking of him in ways I shouldn't. 

    We don't find love, it finds us, & it squiggles beautifully around inside us but love can also be seriously cruel & torturous at times ... 

  • OMG FF! You are in an awful situation. With such strong feelings and emotions beating you up every day, I guess the only way to break the torture is to stop seeing him. If you dont then this is you every day forever image.  Tough to start with, but why not then focus even more on your running - join a gym or jogging/running club, set yourself a stretch running goal that you can focus on achieving for the next 6 months. Enter a race, raise money for charity, and cross the line having run further or faster than ever before. If you can manage that, you will be in a much better place in 12 months time.

  • I very unexpectedly sobbed gently on a run once.

    I'm a man and up until about 3 years ago, had not spent a tear in 13 years of being an adult.  Infact, not since i was about 13/14.  I have suddenly become much more emotional these days and can't really explain why, it's taken me quite by suprise.  Is it ok for a man to cry with arguably flimsy reasoning (such as the death of Gary Speed, a man i'd never met)?  I dunno but I can't really stop it now.

    A song came on my Ipod that reminded me of a certain time with a certain lady and then my bottom lip got all flimsy and un-British on me.  I was baffled and surprised but went with it, shook it off and carried on running feeling weirdly liberated and modern.

    Strange times.

  • Post parental bereavement on long runs in the country the odd trickle was strangely cathartic, unexpected, unstoppable and unashamed. The joy of solitary running is that safety to let it all go.


  • Fitness Freak! wrote (see)

    Something happened to me in 2010 which rocked me completely. I'm married but fell deeply & desperately in love with a lad I work with.

    We are best of friends & text each other almost every day, often in the early hours as we're both night owls. We work together several times a week. He loves me to bits & shows the most exceptional emotions to me, I love him so deeply it hurts, it really does, but he could never love me back in the way I so desperately need him too. I'd marry him if I ever had the chance.

                                                   He's gay.

                                                   He's 29 years younger than I am.

    I have cried my heart up to him twice in the two years we've known each other, once literally on his shoulder & the other via mobile, telling him I love him deeply as a friend, work mates, my own flesh & blood (I love him like a younger brother) & he has totally accepted it & often hugs me & shows other physical emotions like holding my hand & gently stroking it, but I can't ever tell him my TRUE feelings .   I'd lose him forever. That would kill me.

    I'm in tears each day, each night for life now, & running & walking alone beats things out of me. 

    Because I can't tell him exactly how I feel I can't channel those feelings & emotions, they have nowhere to run too so it builds up & has me in tears.

    I rely on my running/walking for miles at a time to get me through it, alone, early hours, I can cry my heart up while thinking of him in ways I shouldn't. 

    We don't find love, it finds us, & it squiggles beautifully around inside us but love can also be seriously cruel & torturous at times ... 

    No fool like an old fool...

  • kittenkat wrote (see)

    I've had extremely emotional runs but there's only the cows to see me. I actually run at my best when I'm angry.

    I do too KK

    Strangely Brown wrote (see)

    I very unexpectedly sobbed gently on a run once.

    I'm a man and up until about 3 years ago, had not spent a tear in 13 years of being an adult.  Infact, not since i was about 13/14.  I have suddenly become much more emotional these days and can't really explain why, it's taken me quite by suprise.  Is it ok for a man to cry with arguably flimsy reasoning (such as the death of Gary Speed, a man i'd never met)?  I dunno but I can't really stop it now.

    A song came on my Ipod that reminded me of a certain time with a certain lady and then my bottom lip got all flimsy and un-British on me.  I was baffled and surprised but went with it, shook it off and carried on running feeling weirdly liberated and modern.

    Strange times.

    I remember being really cut up when Steve Irwin died. He just seemed like such fun and so passionate about what he did.

    Can't say blubbing has ever happened to me on a run though - too busy keeping focussed on putting one foot in front of another!

    FF: I've only read 3 of your posts and they've all been dripping with emotion about different people. Now I'm a pretty deep-feeling person myself but with the greatest respect, I have to say - I'm not sure this is really the place for these outpourings image 

  • Only cried after finishing my first marathon, came close finishing my first half!  However I find a run can help me to think things through and come up with a plan of action to tackle things.  I reckon I wouldn't have achieved half the no running things I have this year if I didn't run!

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