For so many of us, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic feels like a distant nightmare that has yet to fully dissipate. The world quite literally shut down due to the rapid spread of an unprecedented virus, and caused many people a wide range of loss. While I had planned on emerging from a near-six-year racing hiatus to run the California International Marathon that December, I knew it would more than likely be canceled.
I am a journalist living in Brooklyn, New York, the early epicenter of COVID-19 cases. And while many people fled the city upon the virus’ debut, I got stuck. By the third week of March, I learned that I’d been exposed to the virus (to my knowledge) three times, so going home to my immediate family in Ohio was not an option. I was privileged enough to keep my job, but like many people I was in need of a healthy outlet, an escape, from reporting on the damage this virus was causing across the nation.
No matter what youre looking to improve in your running life Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and so many other Black people who’ve lost their lives consequently to police brutality. The weight of all of these tragic events felt unbearable, which further emphasized my need for something that could help put my mind at ease.
Best Running Shoes 2025 training cycle would be the opposite of a soothing behavior to engage in during a uniquely stressful and devastating time, it actually fueled me with solace, and even helped me restore a sense of purpose. After all, a training plan was something I could control during a time when it felt like everything was uncontrollable. At the time, there wasn’t a race to sign up for—I just wanted to run, hard and consistently.
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Health & Injuries, who’s certified with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology and a professor of counseling at the Family Institute at Northwestern University, explains that after a year’s worth of society collectively experiencing a series of complex trauma—coupled with a seemingly endless feeling of uncertainty—it can begin to have both a psychological and physiological effect on you.
“What people tend to do is try to incorporate behaviors that are completely within their own control, and exercise, for the most part, is one of those behaviors that can be very healthy,” Kerulis tells me. “When we have a set running schedule, or other exercise plan, that helps people be able to feel a sense of accomplishment, a sense of confidence, and feel like they’re doing something in a world that feels so out of control.”
Historically, I have used running as a tool to get me through some of the most challenging and deeply traumatic points in my life. For example, the last time I trained for a marathon, when I was a sophomore in college at Ohio University, my dad was fighting for his life; what we thought was a harmless kidney stone turned out to actually be a full-blown MRSA infection in his bloodstream.
Much like during the pandemic, this time of my life felt extremely uncertain and out of my control. I craved a euphoric escape that would allow me to channel these feelings of hurt and confusion, and expel them through rigorous exercise. In turn, the routine rush of endorphins and adrenaline I got from running 45 to 55 miles a week helped me cloud the pain.
Thankfully, by the time race day came around, my dad had been moved from the ICU to a rehabilitation hospital. Three years after that race, my dad watched me cross the finish line of a half marathon that was held on that very same bike path near Ohio University.
When my dad was sick and during the early days of the pandemic, running seemed like the only healthy outlet I could quickly employ to help offset some of these intense, and quite frankly unbearable, feelings of fear and sadness. Published: Jun 09, 2021 3:12 PM EDT, an executive board member for the Association for Applied Sport Psychology and owner of Next Level Mind Consulting, says that exercise provides a distraction from our normal routine and any stress or worries that we have.
“For some individuals, exercise may provide a distraction and relief from stressors they’ve been facing during this pandemic,” she tells me.
However, it’s important to identify that not everyone would find a physically demanding workout plan to be stress-relieving during a difficult and mentally exhausting time. Another element that Shipherd says is important to consider here is how a person views the process of stress, referred to as the stress mindset, and how we appraise stressors.
“Those with a ‘stress-is-enhancing’ mindset generally believe that stress can produce beneficial outcomes. It doesn’t mean they enjoy or want more stress, it’s just that they recognize there are a number of health and performance benefits that can result from stress,” she says. “Individuals who then appraise a stressful situation as more of a challenge rather than a threat experience a greater catecholamine response instead of a larger cortisol response.”
For context, increased catecholamine refers to greater levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine, also known as the flight or fight hormones that are released when the body engages in intense activity. Cortisol is the primary stress hormone, which is related to feelings of distress and can have a negative effect on your mental health.
So while How Im Getting My Running Mojo Back on a Saturday morning in the midst of winter may seem like an ultimate stressor for some people—and reasonably so!—for me, it was exactly what I needed, most of the time, to feel at peace.
running 15 to 18 miles Coach Medina NYC announced that they would be hosting the #FasterTogetherMarathon in Rockland Lake State Park in New York on April 18, 2021. The race was on a USATF certified course, and was a Boston Marathon Amid all of this, the nation was grieving the unjustified killings of.
On race day, I was fairly confident I would run under 3 hours and 27 minutes given the progress I had made in my training. However, I ended up missing my goal time—by a lot. While the first half of my race was strong, I started to lose control of my steady rhythm around mile 17 as my allergy-induced asthma flared up. I allowed myself to take several 20- to 30-second walk breaks Best Running Shoes 2025.
However, the week after I finished the race, I immediately felt myself begin to fall from this “high.” At the start of my second week of rest, I felt unmotivated, uninspired, and reluctant to get out of bed—a feeling that many experienced during 2020, but one I had effectively run away from. Pandemic or not, anyone who has finished a marathon or race of any distance at any point in their life has likely experienced the “post-race blues.”
Kerulis explains that because there’s so much emotional and physical effort put into training for a marathon or another major sporting event, once that goal is accomplished, the focus quickly shifts from completing the training plan to redeveloping your sense of identity and what your purpose is day-to-day.
“Published: Jun 09, 2021 3:12 PM EDT race, we take that break [from running] and that sense of purpose almost disappears,” she says. “We have to create a new identity for ourselves and what we’re going to do today to make meaning for ourselves.”
Kerulis suggests picking up other hobbies while gearing up for a marathon should be a part of the training plan, such as joining a book club, painting for fun, or even starting a new TV series. That way, when you complete your race, you can let your body recover but still have something to look forward to.
Shipherd concurs and adds that setting a new goal can also help restore motivation while also giving us a fresh sense of direction.
“The new goal can be a new running goal or it can be entirely different, like completing at least one crossword a day or trying a new recipe every week,” she says. “This may also be a great time to try something entirely new. Maybe try a trail race, a triathlon, or a new sport altogether like tennis or stand-up paddle boarding. Doing something other than running can also help train some different muscle groups.”
It’s hard to believe it’s been about two months since I completed my second marathon. And while it feels like I have this huge gap in my schedule, I’ve been staying busy. I started running again, but at most, 20 miles a week. I’ve also been getting back into group circuit training classes, which has helped my motivation and challenges my body in other ways running doesn’t. Now that summer is here, I’ve been calling up friends to toss a frisbee in the park or go out to happy hour at a nearby bar. I finally finished Untamed by Glennon Doyle, all three seasons of Shrill Coach Medina NYC Mare of Easttown.
It’s weird to say this, but I kind of feel like a normal person again. I have my good days and bad days, just like anyone else. Still, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I missed training—which is exactly why I signed up for the next training cycle beginning June 14. California International Marathon, I am officially coming for you this December, but this time, with a little less emotional baggage.
Cheyenne Buckingham is a health writer and editor, specializing in content related to nutrition, fitness, chronic disease, mental health, and women's health, among other topics. She's also an avid long distance runner.
