Can you be too stressed to run?

running

I'm a firm believer in the power of running for stress relief. But something happened that made me wonder:

'Can you be too stressed to run?'

Here's what happened. I was doing the school run, running as usual. When we passed a wooded area I saw it: a red cat. It was quite dead. And it looked júst like our red cat. So I was quite devastated, thinking our cat was lying dead in the woods.

I had my son with me, so I pretended everything was fine. But I felt really anxious and stressed out. So much so that it became impossible for me to run, and I had to slow down to a walk. I was in fact too stressed to run.

But how can that be? Because running is a natural response to stress, running should have felt like the natural thing to do.

I just don't understand it.

So I thought I'ld blog about it, and ask you guys.

Have you ever been too stressed to run?

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5 comments

Kristina LO said...

I don't know if I'd call that being stressed out, though. Panicked maybe. I definitely think you can be too panicked to run... hmm... not that I really get a say seeing as how I don't run. Was your kitty okay?

Unknown said...

Late last year, I was very stressed because my son was struggling with college. I tried to do my long run, thinking the best I could do was keep with my schedule and blow off some steam. Well, it was a terrible run that I cut five miles short of plan. I was using a heart rate monitor, and paces that are normally very easy for me had my heart rate way up as if I were racing. It was shocking how bad it was.

Things got a bit better at home, and my training resumes to normal. But,Myers, I think stress has a huge effect on running.

Unknown said...

I find that when I'm stressed and have a million things to do is the best time to start my day with a run. The run allows me to run through my to-do list and prioritize it, and it doesn't seem so overwhelming to tackle it once I have those post-run endorphins.
www.momontherunsanity.com

Rebecca said...

ha ha, I've been very stressed before, too much on my mind to run ;)

Popping over from Ducks n a row blog hop, love your graphic ;)

Rebecca @ http://www.hiphomeschoolingblog.com

Sue from Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond said...

Running does relive my stress. Sometimes if I'm in a 'mood' my husband says 'why don't you go for a run?'. However, sometimes if you are feeling really stressed its just too hard to get going. Great post!

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