Hello runner friends!Welcome back to the Bass Pro Fitness SeriesMIDWEEK M😊TIVATI😊N blog!
Now let's get started by talking about some great news that was announced last week by RaceRaves. The Cohick Half Marathon was named the BEST Half Marathon in Missouri for 2024! As someone who's run this race and loves this race, the news came as no surprise. And neither did what Race Raves had to say about this amazing 13.1 mile event... Situated in the heart of the Ozarks, Missouri’s third most populous city hosts a lovely “fall”ternative to crowded big-city half marathons. Starting and finishing (where else?) at the Bass Pro Shops National Headquarters, this mostly flat tour of attractive neighborhoods includes a visit to local favorite Mother’s Brewing Company as well as a short stretch on historic Route 66. (Springfield is recognized as the birthplace of the Mother Road.) Along the way, expect motivational boosts courtesy of the season’s changing colors, plus energetic themed aid stations and designated spectator party zones. Enthuses one happy finisher, “It would be hard to surpass the professionalism” of the Bass Pro Shops Fitness Series.
Do you just love that or what???
So if a Half Marathon is on your bucket list, you know what you need to do right? Sign up and then commit yourself to the training of course. Official Cohick Half and Bass Pro Marathon training groups start in July but May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month, is a great month to start building up your base mileage, something that most people know improves their physical health but may not have considered that it also benefits their mental health. Running can make you healthy and happy! It's true!
But if you don't believe me, check out what the experts at Runner's World had this to say about mental health and the seven ways running goes beyond the physical advantages:
The advantages of running go well beyond your physical health; the sport works just as many wonders for your mental health and wellness. A 2020 review in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health associated running with improvements in a range of mental health outcomes and concluded that running has positive implications for various mental illnesses. In the U.S. alone, approximately 23 percent of adults experienced a mental illness in 2021, defined by the National Institute of Mental Health as a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder. Running can be used as a tool to help alleviate the symptoms of those disorders and contribute to an improved mental state.
You can feel this particular benefit of running for mental health while still on the move or as soon as you finish your miles. Running releases endorphins in the brain, and these endorphins act as a painkiller during physical discomfort. Thanks to the release of these feel-good hormones—which researchers explain our ancestors needed when running to catch prey or avoid predators—running can help your mind break out of a dark place and bring on positive thinking. All it takes to boost your endorphins is a run just long enough to push you out of your comfort zone.
Running Reduces Stress
One of the main culprits behind stress is a hormone called cortisol. When you feel stressed, your adrenal glands release cortisol into your bloodstream in an increased amount. Ironically, the act of running is an additional stressor, activating stress response in your body and the release of cortisol, but, as they describe in their recent series on stress in the body, it’s a short-term surge that serves a larger purpose: “Just like progressive training helps your body adapt to handle a higher load, increasing cortisol in your system helps your body adapt so it can better handle similar stressful situations in the future,” they wrote. In the end, physical exercise helps your body return to its equilibrium. A small 2021 study published in Scientific Reports concluded that just 10 minutes of moderate-intensity running can help your brain regulate stress.
Running Helps Build Mental Resilience
Running is a great mental sport as it helps develop your mental toughness and resilience. A small study at Northern Arizona University concluded when people improved their fitness and exercised consistently, they had a lower stress response. Not only does running help deal with stress at the moment, but it also supports quicker rebound during future stressful moments and builds greater resilience in the long term.
Running Supports Mindfulness
Mindfulness is all about living in the present moment, and research shows that practicing mindfulness can help manage mental health conditions. “One of the goals of mindfulness when it comes to mental health is this idea of being able to pause, notice unhelpful thinking, reframe the thought, and move from there,” said Dwayne Brown, licensed clinical social worker who uses mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in his private practice to help those with mental health conditions. Through mindfulness, a person is more in control of their thinking, instead of their thinking being in control of them, Brown added. Being present and mindful contributes to a better mental state.
Running Is a Great Tool for Treating Mental Disorders
More than 50 million American adults experience mental illness, with half of them not receiving any treatment. As we mentioned, running can be part of your plan because it helps trigger the release of endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. These feel-good chemicals are often depleted by mental disorders. “We lose nerve cells, and exercise helps repopulate them and make them tougher, make them stronger so they can withstand the stresses of everyday life,” said Ratey. Antidepressant drugs are based on helping fire neurotransmitters in your brain and increase their concentration as soon as you start taking them, Ratey said. But as explained above, the same can be achieved by incorporating running into your routine. In a 2023 study published by the Journal of Affective Disorders, more than 100 people with depression or anxiety were offered the option to take antidepressants or join a running program for 16 weeks. The study concluded that running worked just as well as the medication “Now, I would always encourage people to seek medical advice from a medical professional, it’s really important to make sure that you’re targeting your mental illness from all avenues,” said Lennie Waite, a certified mental performance consultant and Olympian. “But running is a great supplement to whatever else you’re doing to benefit your mental health.”
Running can support a range of mental disorders, including anxiety, the most common mental illness in the U.S., and depression, the leading disability in ages 15-44. But the benefits don’t stop there. Post-traumatic stress disorder is another one, which Runner’s World covered in detail in this article. And runners have been using the sport to manage other mental health conditions as well, including bipolar disorder, ADHD, the risk of dementia, or, for example, OCD.
One of the main culprits behind stress is a hormone called cortisol. When you feel stressed, your adrenal glands release cortisol into your bloodstream in an increased amount. Ironically, the act of running is an additional stressor, activating stress response in your body and the release of cortisol, but, as they describe in their recent series on stress in the body, it’s a short-term surge that serves a larger purpose: “Just like progressive training helps your body adapt to handle a higher load, increasing cortisol in your system helps your body adapt so it can better handle similar stressful situations in the future,” they wrote. In the end, physical exercise helps your body return to its equilibrium. A small 2021 study published in Scientific Reports concluded that just 10 minutes of moderate-intensity running can help your brain regulate stress.
Running Helps Build Mental Resilience
Running is a great mental sport as it helps develop your mental toughness and resilience. A small study at Northern Arizona University concluded when people improved their fitness and exercised consistently, they had a lower stress response. Not only does running help deal with stress at the moment, but it also supports quicker rebound during future stressful moments and builds greater resilience in the long term.
Running Improves Brain Function
There are close to 100 billion nerve cells in your brain, connected by neurotransmitters. Several studies suggest that exercise increases the function of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, best known for influencing happiness, sleep, memory, and more.
“By raising our neurotransmitters, exercise really makes a difference in the way we feel, and very importantly, we have control over the way we feel by moving our bodies,” said John Ratey, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science on Exercise and the Brain.
There are close to 100 billion nerve cells in your brain, connected by neurotransmitters. Several studies suggest that exercise increases the function of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, best known for influencing happiness, sleep, memory, and more.
“By raising our neurotransmitters, exercise really makes a difference in the way we feel, and very importantly, we have control over the way we feel by moving our bodies,” said John Ratey, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science on Exercise and the Brain.
Running Leads to Better Sleep
Sleep is critical for your mental health, while the lack of it has the power to worsen your mental well-being. Sleep plays a role in supporting your brain, heart and, overall health—and according to a 2023 research Runner’s World covered, potentially even how long you live.While researchers don’t completely understand how precisely physical activity and sleep are linked, a 2023 systematic search confirmed that running can lead to improved sleep quality, making the miles you put in all the more worth it.
Sleep is critical for your mental health, while the lack of it has the power to worsen your mental well-being. Sleep plays a role in supporting your brain, heart and, overall health—and according to a 2023 research Runner’s World covered, potentially even how long you live.While researchers don’t completely understand how precisely physical activity and sleep are linked, a 2023 systematic search confirmed that running can lead to improved sleep quality, making the miles you put in all the more worth it.
Running Supports Mindfulness
Mindfulness is all about living in the present moment, and research shows that practicing mindfulness can help manage mental health conditions. “One of the goals of mindfulness when it comes to mental health is this idea of being able to pause, notice unhelpful thinking, reframe the thought, and move from there,” said Dwayne Brown, licensed clinical social worker who uses mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in his private practice to help those with mental health conditions. Through mindfulness, a person is more in control of their thinking, instead of their thinking being in control of them, Brown added. Being present and mindful contributes to a better mental state.
Running Is a Great Tool for Treating Mental Disorders
More than 50 million American adults experience mental illness, with half of them not receiving any treatment. As we mentioned, running can be part of your plan because it helps trigger the release of endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. These feel-good chemicals are often depleted by mental disorders. “We lose nerve cells, and exercise helps repopulate them and make them tougher, make them stronger so they can withstand the stresses of everyday life,” said Ratey. Antidepressant drugs are based on helping fire neurotransmitters in your brain and increase their concentration as soon as you start taking them, Ratey said. But as explained above, the same can be achieved by incorporating running into your routine. In a 2023 study published by the Journal of Affective Disorders, more than 100 people with depression or anxiety were offered the option to take antidepressants or join a running program for 16 weeks. The study concluded that running worked just as well as the medication “Now, I would always encourage people to seek medical advice from a medical professional, it’s really important to make sure that you’re targeting your mental illness from all avenues,” said Lennie Waite, a certified mental performance consultant and Olympian. “But running is a great supplement to whatever else you’re doing to benefit your mental health.”
Running can support a range of mental disorders, including anxiety, the most common mental illness in the U.S., and depression, the leading disability in ages 15-44. But the benefits don’t stop there. Post-traumatic stress disorder is another one, which Runner’s World covered in detail in this article. And runners have been using the sport to manage other mental health conditions as well, including bipolar disorder, ADHD, the risk of dementia, or, for example, OCD.
So there you have it friends. There are so many benefits to committing to a running (or walking) program. But one of the greatest rewards (not listed by Runner's World) is the friendships you'll make along the way. Runners are genuinely the nicest people you'll ever meet (must be all the endorphins), which means spending time with them will also be a boost for your mental health. Did I tell you that group runs often turn into counseling sessions as well? So lace up those shoes and get out there for the first of many training runs. There are lots of Bass Pro Fitness Series events coming up and you don't want to miss them! Your body and your mind will thank you.
Happy Running!
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