Mental Moment-Running Obsession
If you didn’t get a chance to hear the radio show last Friday you still can because it was taped: Running Obsession. It was an interesting show. I went into it thinking we were going to talk about running for recreation, for health and or therapy. We did a little bit of that but I think got a little stuck in semantics. For example, rather than talk about ‘obsession’ we spend some time talking about ‘addiction’. During the show it seemed as thought these words started to blur together. Sure there are some similarities but they can also mean different things. Obsession – the domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc. Addiction – the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.
On Richard Diaz’s show were myself, Charlie Engle and Vanessa Runs. “Charlie Engle turned his life around from being a drug addict to living sober since 1992. He refocused his addictive personality toward running, entering marathons, then ultramarathons, and self-created endurance missions. In February, 2007, Charlie and teammates Ray Zahab and Kevin Lin became the first people in history to run across the entire Sahara Desert, covering over 4,300 miles in what became a 111 consecutive day effort.
Vanessa Runs is a trail runner, as a journalist she has worked as an Assistant Editor, Online Editor. But it was office work, she lived for the weekends and her dog was bored. In 2012, she quit her job gave away all her possessions, and hit the trails to run and write books. Her first book, The Summit Seeker, hit Amazon’s Best Sellers and Hot New Releases in the Sports & Outdoors category.She lives day-to-day, bartering for the things she needs so she can live as a nomadic trail runner (Natural Running Network)”.
What are your thoughts about whether running can be an obsession and/or an addiction? One thing I certainly want to clear up about the interview is this: by no means do I necessarily think that ultramarathoners are obsessed or addicted to running. For me, when I look at the definitions above I see where running could be both. I think the one element of addiction that stands out as questionable is ‘to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma’. Having worked with elite runners, particularly women, I would say this element is definitely true with some of them. Some elite women runners use running as a coping mechanism, as an escape and it presents itself in the form of an eating disorder.“An eating disorder distracts the runner from the feelings that come with being “not good enough.” When you are thinking about whether or not to eat, and how much to exercise, you are not thinking about feeling imperfect or inadequate. Unfortunately, using food to distract from those feelings can end up hurting your performance (the RUNiverse)”. Is it true about ultramarathoners? It depends on the person.
During the show Vanessa ask me what things my elite, professional or Olympic clients miss out on when they are enmeshed (and dare I say obsessed) in their sport? I told her that clients miss out on the rest of their lives: spouses, kids, friends, family, school, career, fun, etc. The unfortunate part is that many of my clients don’t go into their career with the understanding that when they come out of their career there are all these other things to deal with. They also don’t come to me in the midst of their career hoping to find some balance.It’s not until all is said and done that clients realize how terrified they are because they don’t know what’s next or how to even figure it out.
I think that as human beings we have a tendency to become slightly obsessed with things that draw us out of live experiences that we are challenged with. We have emotions we don’t want to have. We have situations we don’t know what to do with. Live can be scary. Being enmeshed in something that feels ‘safe’ and away from what we don’t like or we don’t want to deal with is a natural tendency but is it getting you to where you want to go? Is it really safe? What happens at the end of escapism?
Happy start to your week!
Dr. Michelle
Photo credit: en.wikipedia.org
