Winter Blues. I talked about that yesterday. Especially in the dark evening and morning hours I find it hard to find anything good about the winter time. When additionally there is grey in grey ahead in the sky, the mood goes rock bottom very quickly.

Outdoor activities have, since beginning of this year, becoming a great deal of compensation and coping strategies for me. Psychologists confirm what I have thought ever since beginning with running again: Sportive activities, especially related to endurance, enhance your willpower, lower stress and anxiety levels and boost your happiness.

I think this is the best outcome of running, especially in brisk air, because feeling yourself contributes to the feeling of stress relief. So, ignoring the fact that it may be cold and rainy, the positive effects of running outweigh those depressing effects by far and you gain yet one more weapon to fight depressing thoughts by reframing a bad experience (cold and damp feeling) by a feeling of power, self efficacy and happiness.

And: I lost around 20-30 lbs over the last year. I’m feeling great and a marathon is already in the pipeline.

Until then: Keep up the faith in yourself and take one step at a time.