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Running with depression
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To be honest I would ignore the depression if possible - treat her as any other beginner - concentrate on the positive parts of it - getting fit, losing weight etc - because if she does those things it could actually help her in the long term by making her feel better about herself.
Good Luck
After a few false starts and a few christmas presents, running shoes and gloves the running starts tommorow at 11 neither too early or too late.
Just hoping for a nice sunny day in the north west, i've got the prayer mat down praying to the weather maker who always has a sense of humour
will keep you all informed, and a huge thank you for the advice and good wishes. Happy Christmas and an even better 2012 to you all
Good news, we made it out of the door, had a laugh with my comment that it is important to breathe, oh i'm a genius
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My sis did really well, 5 min walk then 1 min run 1 min walk three times then 1 min run 1 and a half min walk 7 times then walk 5 mins. Really happy she could do this I wasn't sure what to expect,the even better part is she said same again on Friday
, after run showed her a few gentle stretches then both had a cup of newly brought green tea, gradually changing things to aide fat burning without letting her know so hopefully she feels and sees the benefits as quickly as possible 
Huge step today so happy with my little sis
She's still a person capable of making her own decisions. It's easy to forget that you are not always right even if her illness makes her sometimes wrong.
Hope you have fun (and keep breathing) next week too.
SOLB you've found me out I always think I know best when quite often I don't, so thank you for pointing this out
Progress again today, we ran in the rain
My little sis grumbled a bit but I persuaded her by promising to cook her breakfast, so happy my little sis managed W5 (R1W1)x10 W5 she struggled a little bit near to the end the last 2 sets but she coped better than I thought she would. When we got back I got straight onto the net and showed her that she should only be able to do R1W1.5 at this point, she was really happy, she couldn't believe that she had done 10 sets.
My little sis the happy runner
Ok now hit a bit of a wall my sis is making excuses of a sore throat, headache or stomach problems followed by eating normally, I don't believe that she was ill on either of the days that we should have run on either 1st or 3rd Jan, I suggested we could run the day after and she said no we run on certain days not others, at this point if my sis wasn't ill she would have got a verbal punch, but I said ok we'll run on Thursday, in my head I'm screaming aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.
Any suggestions, is this usual for someone with depression, I have no idea
Cheers
G
5 years on she's running her own business, has lost 4 stones, is training for her 2nd marathon and best of all is so much better and happier in herself. She does occasionally still need to visit doctor for tablets, but has had long periods when she's been on no medication at all.
The motivation came from her though - I don't remember having to "make" her do it at all and now she's far more committed than I am!
What were you sister's reasons for agreeing to this challenge? Does she believe it could help to make her well?
On the days she's not up to a run, could you go for a brisk walk instead?
patent and don't push it to much, to begin with the best way to work it is to make it her idea with gentle surgestions.
freedy1 you very kind, I desperately want to help my sis, just like you helped your friend, you did more than that, part of that continued success is down to you, your encouragement and eagerness to help, running with them everything is so so good.
It was a joint decision to start my sis running and she was very happy about the decision, HOWEVER in the last few hours I have had a phone call from my little sis, she doesn't want to run any more, doesn't like it and after speaking to her husband who is also a big guy 'he didn't think it was a good idea', my sister now won't run again. I was stunned shocked and sad, I was speechless. She said she'll go swimming with her husband and little girl, I've been to thier 'swimming' sessions and they don't swim, my niece swims my sis and her husband just stand, sit and chat.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I want to scream shout, kick, punch I am so frustrated, no scratch that angry with my brother in law , it's a good job he's in Northampton I could slap him.
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP WITH WHAT UNFORTUNATELY BECAME A VERY SHORT LIVED PROJECT.
Hi Gareth,
I'm sorry to hear that your sister has changed her mind, but maybe she'll reverse the decision again in the future. I hope you won't give up on her just because she's said she doesn't want to run with you. Maybe she found the idea of the 10k quite daunting once she was out there doing even the early stages of the training. It's very easy for experienced runners to set up a training plan and impose the end result onto the beginner but some people take a long time to warm up to the idea of running. I tried running several times over the past few years and on the whole hated it. Never thought I would like it. I signed up for a couple of Race for Life 5ks and was determined to use it as a fitness goal rather than an entry into running. Enjoying running came second to using the race as a fitness tool. I can still remember how much I hated going out every day to build up my mileage and my goal was only 5km. Try being in your sisters shoes with the added pressure of 10km looming, doing it with a brother who is already good at running, having depression and having weight issues.
Don't give up on your sis. It probably just got overwhelming. Perhaps you can just call her up and suggest you go out for a walk intead, go to a park and play with her daughter. Just get out the house with her. When she's in the right mood perhaps you can suggest she tries a bit of running but not for a race. Once she's done it a few times maybe you can set a mini goal like just running one mile and then improve on that the following month.
Following weekly training routines didn't do it for me, the end goal always seemed miles away (figuratevly speaking, not literally). I just did it by trial and error. Maybe that will work.
At the end of the day your sister still needs you around. Bite your tongue, take your annoyance out on the streets during your own runs and think as creatively as you can about how to get some positive exercise back into your sisters routine.
Good luck. Keep us posted. It's been heartwarming reading this thread.