Running Up That Hill

I remember sitting in my doctor's office after being diagnosed with major depression.

She explained that there was likely a problem with the chemicals in my brain that would require medication. There wasn't a cure—only management. Therapy. Medication. Prayer. Exercise.

Then she said something that stuck with me:

"One of the best things you can do for your brain is run three miles."

There was just one problem.

I am the exact opposite of a runner.

Give me a good movie, a video game, and a box of popcorn, and I'm happy. Running a quarter mile felt impossible. Every time I'd tried before, I felt like I was dying—out of breath, wheezing, exhausted. I'd hit that wall and immediately quit. Why would anyone willingly do that?

Recently, I found myself feeling a little more depressed—not anything severe, but enough that I knew I needed to do something.

I remembered what my doctor had said.

I can run.

So I went to the local park.

It was rough.

Little old ladies walked past me on the track. I couldn't run for more than a minute without stopping.

But when I finished...

I actually felt a little better.

I'm not a neuroscientist, but I got curious and asked ChatGPT what running actually does to the brain. The answer surprised me.

Running increases chemicals associated with: motivation, calmness, learning, stress resilience, and mood—including dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, endocannabinoids, and BDNF, which helps the brain grow and adapt.

When I started treating running as just as important as taking my medication, I noticed a real improvement.

There was still one problem:

I hated running.

Or at least, I thought I did.

What I actually hated was trying to run too fast.

My goal had been to sprint a mile. I failed over and over, which only convinced me I wasn't a runner.

So I changed the goal.

Forget the time.

Just cover three miles—running or walking—and do it a few times each week.

I downloaded the Couch to 5K app and simply followed the plan.

Something funny happened.

Because I was focused on eventually running three miles, I barely noticed when running a full mile became easy.

Then I realized something even more interesting.

To train for a 3.1-mile race, I first had to run about 75 miles over nine weeks.

Seventy-five miles!

I hardly noticed them because I was so focused on just being able to run for 3 miles. 

Isn't Psychology amazing?

Wait a second… maybe that's true of more than just running…..

"Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." (Hebrews 12:1–2)