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2010-07-15 10:06 PM
in reply to: #2983255

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Expert
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Albuquerque, New Mexico
Subject: RE: Training Because You're Mental
Oh, this is such a good thread.  I am not a lifelong depressive, but have dealt with several depressive "episodes."  I have medicated twice on small doses for short periods of time, and am very thankful for anti-depressants.  I am a classic "ruminator" (I worry and think too much about crap that I can't change...working on this).  NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING (in big screaming CAPS) beats exercise.  Outside, in or near the water is best.  HELLO triathlon.  Physical activity in any form is better than nothing.  I've been tip-top since I started training for a half-mary last year (the cross training requirement landed me in this madhouse...and I LOVE it!!!).  One of the reasons I am addicted to triathlon is the ability to keep training in the face of an injury that shuts one sport down.  Ya can't keep me on the couch beyotches!!!

A couple of interesting reads for y'all:  A woman who was facing suicide finds running.  And a recent post on openwaterchicago.com about the benefits of exercise in or near water...

I know there is more, but these were the two that came to mind when I read this thread... 

Great topic.  Carryon! 


2010-07-17 9:46 PM
in reply to: #2983255

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On your right
Subject: RE: Training Because You're Mental

This fits me very well also.  When I was young, (before middle school) sports were really not part of my life.  When my father was young, he wasn't good at sports and his dad would smack him around because of it.  Fast forward to my childhood, and my dad still has his aversion to sports.  I took Karate for a number of years, and was actually scheduled for my black belt test when my parents divorced.  They both quit karate, and as a result, I didn't get to go anymore either (so no black belt test after all). 

Anyhow.

Now I go to live with my mum, and she signs me up to play little league.  I had a blast even though I stunk.  I mean, I had 2 hits for the entire SEASON.  So I wasn't ready to move up to the next tier (as I was in middle school now) and tried my hand in football.  I remember being in the huddle, and the coach pretty much needed to stop practice to teach me how the holes were numbered and what each position was, etc.  Almost everyone else on the team had played for a few years already, and had learned all that stuff in the "pee wee" league before getting into the "small fry" one.  But I had fun that year, and played a second season of football.  I was much better, and we went from winning 0 games my first year, to making the league championship (and losing) and I even made the league all star team.

So now I've had some small success in sports and go off to HS where I play football for 4 years, track for 2, lacrosse for 1, and get into power lifting.  It was great being a stud, and I really had started to feel good about what I could do, even though I still wasn't all that thrilled with myself as a person.  I even became only the 2nd person in my HS's history to break 1000 pounds in a powerlifting competition (1015 total, in bench, squat, and dead lift)

Then off to college, where I played football, got hurt to the point of no more football, and then thrown out of college...3 times in 5 semesters.  Then I blossomed up to a dreadful 345 pounds and pretty much hated myself and my life.  I got down to 257, and then went back up to 300 over the course of a few years.

So that's when I found myself in a therapist's office, at 300 lbs, a new dad, and miserable.  Eventually we determined that my self worth is tied up in what I can do physically.  I have a pretty solid career as a NICU (neonatal ICU) nurse, and I think I'm one of the better nurses in my unit.  But if you were to ask me "what do you do?" I wouldn't even think of saying that I'm a nurse.  My first thought is that I'm a triathlete.  Until I started training I wasn't anything. 

Sure, this isn't the most healthy place for me mentally yet, because if I get hurt, and can't do this, I'm back to being nothing.  But it's a start, and I recognize it now.  I'm also in a place where I can keep working to unwrap my worth from my physical abilities, but that's a lot of reprogramming to do. 

Do I train because I'm mental, heck dang yeah.  But guess what, I was mental before I started training, and I'll be mental when I'm done with it.  I guess more accurately, I'm mental AND I train.

You will now return to your regular broadcast.

2010-07-17 10:03 PM
in reply to: #2983255

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Portland, Oregon
Subject: RE: Training Because You're Mental

The training is fine, but I've been taking a kickboxing class and that has worked wonders. Beating. the. bloody. h377 out of that heavy bag twice a week solves many co-worker annoyances.  Bliss. Way better than running. Not sure it helps my focus at work but since the job feeds my ADD, it's hard to say.

2010-07-18 1:35 AM
in reply to: #2984091

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Melon Presser
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Subject: RE: Training Because You're Mental
Karibu - 2010-07-16 8:58 AM It is an either or for me.

Either buy a sailboat and visit people like TriAya around the world or take short trips on my legs, my bike or swimming through the water.

I can't afford a sailboat. 


I help you build sailboat!!! You come visit me and we bike/run/swim here!!!!
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