What do you do when you are down in the dumps? Some people curl up on the couch with a pint of cookie dough ice cream. Others plow through hours of Law & Order reruns on the dvr. (Who, me?) And let’s face it, sometimes you just need a really good cry. I’m an advocate of all three of these options but when I’m done with the above I find that the best therapy of all is to simply get moving again any way you can. It’s amazing what a good sweat session can do for the mind as well as the body. A fantastic run won’t fix everything but it can definitely help in the short term and it’s way cheaper than a real, live therapist. Sometimes getting some endorphins going can be just the kind of emotional release that you need.
Photo by Michael Litscher
Over on DailyMile, there’s often discussion of something called the “Naked Run.” Okay, before your mind dives into the gutter let me first explain: A Naked Run is basically a gear-free run. No stopwatches or Garmins allowed. If you’re limited to cover the treadmill, cover the clock up with a towel and leave it there. Then you go. Simple as that. You run for as long as you want, whatever pace you want and neither really matters. It doesn’t even have to be a run. It could be a Naked Walk or a Naked Bike Ride. You can be fast and furious or slow and steady, but the point is to feel what your body wants and to do just that. Wow, that just sounded dirtier than I intended.
Anyway, Naked Run or Therapy Run. Whatever you want to call it, sometimes it’s not all about the training. It’s about the healing. Now, cheer up already.
I didn’t realize there was a term for that. To me it’s just running. That is how I do the majority of my runs. I don’t own a Garmin, have never used a watch in a race, and only time myself once in a while.