Cheeky Run Club

Why does running make you feel so good?

February 19, 2024 Anna Coldham and Phoebe Pincus Season 1 Episode 5
Why does running make you feel so good?
Cheeky Run Club
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Cheeky Run Club
Why does running make you feel so good?
Feb 19, 2024 Season 1 Episode 5
Anna Coldham and Phoebe Pincus

Hello cheeky friends!  Today, we go through why running makes us feel so good.   We shake things up a little bit by answering a couple of listener questions and introduce our own cheeky idea for new running friendships.

You can find the article that we strongly (!!!) recommend reading below:
https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2024/february/grace-tame/running-out-trouble#mtr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheekyrunclub/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cheekyrunclub
Phoebe's Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/38116199
Anna's Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/38585924 

Music produced by Hugh Raper
Logo design by Michael Cotellessa 

Show Notes Transcript

Hello cheeky friends!  Today, we go through why running makes us feel so good.   We shake things up a little bit by answering a couple of listener questions and introduce our own cheeky idea for new running friendships.

You can find the article that we strongly (!!!) recommend reading below:
https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2024/february/grace-tame/running-out-trouble#mtr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheekyrunclub/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cheekyrunclub
Phoebe's Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/38116199
Anna's Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/38585924 

Music produced by Hugh Raper
Logo design by Michael Cotellessa 

Phoebe:

Cheeky Run Club recognizes that every day we live work and run on aboriginal land. Welcome to episode five. Five! Five! Huge! From Cheeky Run Club, the social running podcast and community for your everyday amateur runner. Hello, Phoebe! Hello, Anna! And hello, Today, we are chatting about something that we, as people who love running, have always wondered, which is, why does running make you feel so good? We're then going to mix things up a bit and answer some listener questions. And then finish off with a bit of a different kind of weekly weapon. Hmm. But as usual, let's start our week with our notable run. Phoebe, um, worst run of the week. My worst run was my long run. Which is a surprise because I love long runs. They're my favourite kind of run, I would say. Um, yeah, Vicky made that joke last week. And yes, still. Um, yeah, it was, I had a really big week last week. Both like work. Personally, trying to do all this podcast stuff, very exhausting. I just found it hard to strike a balance last week. Didn't sleep very well. And at the same time was probably running just a little bit more than usual. session on the Friday, which I spoke about last week, which I found like quite hard. And I think it just accumulated. And on the Saturday morning, I just woke up with no energy, And I knew I had like a massive weekend ahead. And I was like, just feeling a bit Yeah. And so I think I think that was probably contributed to it. And then I need to start fueling in my long runs is my other realization from the weekend because I ate something before I haven't been I haven't so since I got injured and I've pulled my long runs back quite a bit I have this arbitrary rule in my head of oh if I'm running for more than a certain amount of time then I will have a gel I bring gels with me even though That is probably a rule that I made up ages ago when I didn't run much and is definitely not grounded in anything scientific, like you are meant to have fuel when you run. Just always feels like a hassle and doesn't always make me feel good so I haven't been doing it. But I think, I, I felt in that run, I just felt flat. I just felt like I didn't, I did 20Ks, so I actually did less than I've been doing because I was just feeling so flat. So how long was that, about, you know, uh, 40, yeah, yeah, yeah. Although, I didn't to risk it because I forgot my little things and I was like, devastated. Um, I, because I find gels are quite expensive. Or on the more expensive side. So, I eat little lollies from the supermarket. Or I've been getting, this is such a bad thing. But do you remember, they're called like apricot bites, and they're like cubes, and Yeah, of them. Um, but I remember, um, my running coach, Ellie. Um, remember she told me like, eat in your long runs, cause I mean, I just, I love eating, so it's also something like you could get to look forward to. Yeah, a little treat. Yeah, they make you feel so much better during. But also, not only just the rest of that day, but like the day after. This, I like the cis gels, which you have to go to like a bike store or order them online to get them. So I just spent like 50 on two boxes, but now I'm like, I should have got some apricot coconut things. What was your worst run of the week? Wow. Yay, so good. Yes, yeah. So, we uh, recorded this podcast during the week, just after work. I was tied on time today. anyway I've got one of those, like, wheel commuter bikes. But it's not like a cool fixie, it's just a fixed wheel because it's super, Basic. Okay. and I knew that the back wheel was like pretty, then I got back to my bag, no. Was quite flat. Oh my gosh. I got really quickly in the little like bike comp they have, they have actually this new pump. I was trying to get it to work and every time I like plug. Um, and I was like, Oh my gosh, anyway, so then I just got on my bike with a super flat tire. I'm riding here. It was me. You rode on your flat tire? It was so hard. And the whole time, I can like, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, And you can hear the, rims of the wheel being like, doo doo doo doo doo. Oh my god. Anyway, I was listening to music and I, kept turning it off. Being like, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine. Block it out, yeah. Flat wheel? I feel like you're kind of more out of control. Yeah. Or I guess just the back wheel may be a bit easier. Yeah, no, I definitely, yeah, I felt lot more, like, unstable. I thought you were flustered when you rocked up. Oh, sorry. You were, like, running across the road. You're about one minute late, so it's okay. Yeah, Yeah, she's still a bit stressed. Anyway, what was your best run of the week? Best run of the week was my session on, Tuesday morning. Track session. Just loving track Tuesdays at the moment. So fun. And this was my, sorry, because I've just been easing back into sessions. I've just been doing my own thing, like by myself. Obviously, there's lots of people there, but I'm running by myself, whereas on Tuesday, I jumped back in the big group with the, running club we run with, which is called Hunter. The big group does, the same session every week, which is six by one K and I jumped in for five of those one case and the bike. The joy of like running with a big group in a big pack. Everyone's running together. There's like Chatting everyone's encouraging each other. It just felt so good everyone starts running together and I just get this feeling of like elation like It's so good I was running as well, but it was doing a different session and at one point I saw you running in the back and everyone was like, oh they're doing it quite closely, it's like, pretty hard, what they're doing. Anyway, you're like, running, and, clogged up, so literally have like, a grin from ear to ear, I was having so much fun. Yeah, so it felt really good and just felt good to be back running with everyone. What about you? not to copy you, but mine was also Tuesday. Copycat. Yeah, I know, um, but don't have a huge amount of runs to choose from. And I also, I feel that because Last week. Wow. I promise next week it'll be something different. Mix it up. But yeah, track Tuesday eight again. It was such a nice morning. It was hot. I ran with a couple of friends, Jacko Ollie and Jordan for some of it, but he disappeared through. And I love, the session that we were doing, I found it really hard. And every time we'd stop, we'd give each other a little like, A little high five. So good. And I just, I don't know, I love it. Yeah. That is so good. When else do you just high five your friends? Yeah, that's true. Where as in running, I feel like we do it quite a bit. Little like, you say hi to people, you give them a little high five. Yeah, it's not like a full blown No, it's just a little recognition tap. Or do a little fist bump every now and then. Yeah, actually, um, the other week, Jaco and I went to do a little high five, but it was at the end of the session. Yeah. Our, our arms are raised. Oh, yeah. Traditional, more traditional. I'm going Yeah. Oh no. Yeah. Ha ha ha. You're like, You're like, Oh, now we're holding hands. Work on that. Yeah. Oh, that's so good. And how's your back feeling? Do you want to give the listeners, I'm sure everyone's been waiting with bated breath to hear the update. Anti-inflammatories. or commonly known as Mobic. Underrated. Is that right? So underrated. Is it people need to be talking about it more. I mean, for short. For short periods of time only. Is it kind of like nap naproxen? It's like an very strong anti-inflammatory. Yeah, so it's a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory. you need a prescription for it, but it's just works wonders. You take it for a couple days, and you just feel so much better. Yeah. And my boss who's a doctor, I spoke to him last week when my back was really not so good. And he was saying, oh, you know, the funny thing about backs is that, they're so sort of debilitating, then a couple of days later, and then bam. You're fined. You're fined. And I was like, oh, you thanks for the encouragement, but I don't think that's gonna happen. This is a really bad one. This is actually a really bad one, yeah. Yeah, yeah, same thing, but I do know that this is a really bad Like, a couple days I'm like, bouncing around. Running around, yeah. Yeah, it's been a while. Oh, so good though, that's good. But yeah, my back is better. My back is back. Your back is back. Yeah. How good. Okay, let's move on to chat about our main topic of the week, which, as I said, why does running make you feel so good? So the reason why we're interested to talk about this is it's something that we feel profoundly affects us, our mood, our energy, and how we go through life day to day, but neither of us could actually pinpoint why. Yeah, it's very, it's so intrinsic to the running experience is how it makes us feel, and it's something we talk about a lot and reference a lot as a core motivated to help us run, but it's something that we didn't have a good understanding of. And as we found out, both of them did a bunch of research, and came across some, if we, if we say so ourselves, fascinating insights. cause it's super interesting. I've asked a couple of friends, about this when I ran with them this morning and I said, why does it make you feel so good? And none of them could really give me, that much of an answer apart from being like, oh, the endorphins. Yeah. But then Yes, endorphins is like the go to blanket response, like, gives you endorphins. Yeah, yeah, there's been no expansion of that. Anyway, what a runner's high is, which is commonly spoken about, is this just a brief, deeply relaxing state of euphoria, is a sense of extreme joy or delight, which often occurs after intense or lengthy exercise. there's actually not, there's few people that experience this runner's high. I've read that. I read something saying that it's, it was rare. That was quite interesting. Like, do you feel like. The definition I read of it was a feeling of invincibility and euphoria. Do you feel like you get run attack? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I was like, oh I get that all the time. Every day. Yeah. Um, know like Dave, my partner, he doesn't get it. Yeah. And I've spoken to him and I'm like, no but you must. And he's like quite adamantly been like, no I don't, I don't feel Better. Yeah, that's him. Wow. It's really interesting. I do think that there, even like I experienced different levels of it. Sometimes it's just like an energy buzz and I feel a bit more focused and happy and sometimes it's a very intense feeling of excitement and yeah. called the field of chemicals. they produce those feelings of happiness and pleasure. Um, But, in recent sorry, researchers revealed that endorphins may not actually have much to do with it New research points to another type of molecule called Wait, so, sorry, before we go into the new one. Yeah. Is that because they think we don't get, actually get endorphins, or they just don't think those endorphins are responsible for endorphins, yeah, no, so they're neurochemicals released naturally by your body. but, the thing is, get science y, they're large molecules. And so, like, obviously the microscopic bit is a molecule, is it? But their, yeah, their actual size prevents them from crossing the blood brain barrier. Oh, so they're in our blood. Okay, so we're exercising them in our blood. From our muscles working. And then the scientists don't know how they then get into our brain. To explain said renaissance. Oh, interesting. And the blood brain barrier, the reason my large molecules can't go across because your to keep your brain safe from, certain pathogens and molecules. Yeah, in turn, endorphins are actually one of the molecules that can't cross Um, yeah. Um, yeah. Um, yeah. Um, yeah. Um, yeah. Um, yeah. Um, yeah. it must be something else. So, in comes endocannabinoids. I reckon he nailed it. Yeah, he said it confidently and that's the main thing, yeah. Fake it till you make it. But yeah, so these molecules are actually small enough to cross that blood brain barrier and they act on receptors in your endocannabinoid system. Um, which bit weird, but So, um, think this name sounds familiar, which it um, the endocannabinoid system is the same system that's activated, in the active compound cannabis. hi! Yeah, Runners, hi! Oh my gosh! So they are thought to be responsible for the feelings of euphoria, et cetera, over endorphins. Yeah, so there's a certain type of endocannabinoid, a type of endocannabinoid called, I'm going to pronounce this the wrong way, the anandamide, which is found at high levels in, Um, people who like recently completed a run. Wow. Yeah. Huge. So people think that this type of endo, I don't know if we know it, may trigger a runner's high. resulting in like short term effects like reduced anxiety, euphoria, and a feeling of It would be really hard to get into running if you didn't get a runner's high. Yeah, yeah. So I started off trying to understand what does running do to your brain, similar to you, because running very obviously has an effect on your state of mind. And it's interesting that this is something that neuroscientists have begun to take really seriously over the last 10 years or so and understand what, is happening in your brain, and two bits of research that I found really interesting. One is looking at how running helps us process information. So it, what this big body of research basically showed is that running literally Temporarily increases your processing power and executive functioning. So that means you're better at focusing, you're better at solving problems, you're better at tuning out distractions. And what's cool is that can happen after just 10 minutes of interval running. And what's actually going on in the brain there. is when you run, you get really markedly increased activity in your prefrontal cortex, which is kind of the hub of all that kind of,, work. So it's interesting. I think a lot of us have experienced like we solve problems while we run and you can kind of, I don't know if you, this ever something. Yeah. Yeah, on a run. Yeah. So clearly. I, it's, it's actually, it's a bit sad. I feel like I do it less now because I so rarely run by myself. I used to have a real, a really good process of if I was having trouble with a problem at work, generally like a people problem or something that felt really complex and stressful, and then I would go for a run. And I wouldn't like, Intentively I'd set the intention in my mind of like this is the problem that I'm gonna solve but I wouldn't like really consciously think of it I just let let it marinate in my brain and by the end of the run I'd be like, okay I think I know what I need to do. It was such an amazing Yeah Yeah Yeah. And then because at the same time when you've got, this research also showed that while activity is increasing in your prefrontal cortex, there's a dampening of activity in, what's called the default mode network, which is a series of brain regions, like a bunch of brain regions that basically they spring into action when we are idle or distracted. So your default. mode network is basically responsible for like your inner monologue, it's responsible for a lot of ruminating, a lot of its effects, this kind of ruminating effects are associated with clinical depression. And so what happens when you run is you really engage these really positive executive functions, but you also turn down the chatter of default mode network. And what's cool is The other activity that has very similar effects is mindfulness. And that's something I'd always wondered about is People kind of loosely say, running is a form of mindfulness. I don't know about you, but I've never been very good at mindfulness. I've yeah. Yeah. And also, like, even when I have tried really hard to do it, I haven't felt like it's had a massive impact on me. It can basically map, basically map the effects of running with the effects of mindfulness really closely. And it felt, it was funny reading it, it felt really like intuitively right. Because, like when you're running, you're very immersed in the present moment. You're very tuned in to how your body is feeling, your bodily state. You're very conscious of your breath. And they're all kind of key aims of mindfulness practices as well. Yeah, so interesting, yeah. Another piece of research that we looked at was about the anterior mid cingulate cortex, which is a structural and functional hub of the brain. So studies show that the anterior mid cingulate cortex is the section of your brain that activates tenacity and willpower. the way to train, this is by, some would or pushing through something that you don't necessarily want to do. This cortex actually enlarges and shrinks. like Throughout your and the way to increase the size of it is sort of pushing through something that you don't necessarily initially want to do. thereby embracing it. So for example, a lot of people talk about how, and I feel like I can definitely relate to this, you know, your alarm goes off, and even though you know that running makes you feel good and you're going to feel better after, you actually really don't want to get up in that moment. But yeah, by doing so, you're strengthening the tenacity and willpower threshold, which in turn makes this, like, cortex go. So, short, guess, pushing yourself past the stage Each time you do do that, it's potentially going to help you live a longer. So, think as you actually said, cause aren't any better we Your willpower gets a little bit stronger. The willpower muscle. Yeah, that's correct. So, so it's sort of like, more is more in a sense. Yeah. of makes sense because I feel like there were years of my life where I would, Struggled so much to get up to go for a run. And I liked running, but I would still just snooze my alarm all the time. And, it took, it took a while to get to a place where like, I definitely, it is still hard to get up in the morning. Like, of course, I think it's just always going to when you're tired. Your instinct. But, yeah, it's still hard, yeah. Oh my god, it's never good. It's not as though we're bouncing outta bed. No. Like we quite literally have to roll Yeah. Out of bed. but to be fair, I now always do. Yeah. Like I would never just go back to bed unless you're sick or something. So at least that probably has felt like it has gotten a lot easier. Yeah. After you do it consistently enough times. Yeah. It makes sense. And even interesting for why like hard runs are important as well, like hard sessions and pushing yourself through, because then, A, like it obviously has good implications for your life, willpower, but B, like in races and so on, you're going to be able to more likely to push yourself as well. This second thing that I read about that I thought was super cool is a genuine explanation for why some people find running to be a useful way for overcoming stress and depression. And so I read about another type of molecule that I'd never heard about that. I might butcher the pronunciation of, that is, it is kynurenine, kynurenine. when you're feeling any kind of form of stress, you build up this, amino acid in your liver called, um, Actually, I don't know what the amino acid's called and it's not important, but you build up some amino acids in your liver because of some metabolic processes that I'm not aware of. And when you're stressed, they turn into chyneuronine. And that makes your way up through your blood and it must be a small molecule because it can get into your brain and it accumulates in your brain. That accumulation is really strongly associated with stress induced depression, anxiety disorders, even schizophrenia. So basically you don't want heaps of kynurenines. But when you run, or I actually think just do cardio, you get a buildup of a different enzyme which is kynurenine aminotransferase Yeah, into our muscles. And This enzyme, this is a great enzyme because it breaks down kynurenine into an acid that can't enter the brain. So basically when you exercise, it clears from your bloodstream a substance that can Cause mental health problems. How cool is that? Yeah, so no wonder we feel good all the time It's a beautiful thing I don't know what we're up to. Yeah, and we'll look into why some people get runners high and other people don't. And if you, if you experience one or the other very strongly, we'd love to hear about it. Love to hear about it. Very interested. Yeah. up a little bit and we're going to go over listener questions rather than running around. Yep. We sure are. Um, yeah, we're getting a lot of questions into our DMs, which we love. And so we decided we might try and make some room each week to dive into some of the more common ones that are coming through. And so today we have two And the first one is, basically, we get a lot of questions that are some variation of, I'm in a running slump, I'm in a rut, some sort of running rut, how do I motivate myself? Yeah, and yeah, these can sort of range from people who have just started running, or people who have run trying to get back into it, or just have no motivation. Have you ever been in a running rut? Uh, definitely, yeah. I'd say not in the last couple um, but I feel like more so, I mean, I used to solely run solo, used to get runs. And I guess, kind we were speaking about before, I kind of think the more that runs, the more I but the main way that I Um, and I think one of the that I would is coming back to your why, which we spoke about in episode if you can figure out why you want to run, um, doing it, even if there's sort of like short term, like lifestyle changes, um, or if there's like a bigger picture, I think just always coming back to that why, um, really helps to get yourself out the door. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. And, the second piece of advice I would say is to actually just get yourself out the door, which I know, again, we've spoken about in an earlier episode, but I think if you get yourself out the door, say you're going to run for a minute, or you're going to run around the block and if you still feel bad, you're going to walk home, I think I think quite often it's a little bit overwhelming to think, I've got to go for a run. Yeah, I guess there's like different kinds of running slumps though because some running slumps might mean, yeah, you stop running at all. I've certainly been in running slumps though where I'm just not getting much joy out of my running. Like, it's feeling really repetitive. It's feeling a bit draining. like I, I got into a bit of a running slump last year. Mmm, because I was getting injured a bit. And I just felt like I was constantly, training and getting injured and not getting any fitter. And Yeah. Yeah, and I think what really helped me was really mixing it up. So like I spoke to my coach Gary, and decided to train for some shorter stuff. Yeah. Like some five Ks, 10 Ks type thing. Kind of forget about Marathon for a bit. Forget about trying to do like heaps of mileage each week. Just enjoy, get some consistency and do some shorter stuff. Yeah. And. All of a sudden, my sessions changed, and that was really fun. And so I feel like if if you're in the kind of running slump where you're just stuck doing the same thing each week, maybe try and, get a different program. get a program if you don't currently have one. go online and find one. speak to your coach if you have a coach about, like, trying to mix it up and do, do something different. but I guess so that to come back to your point about find your running why You probably need to ask yourself why you're in a running slump because if it is because you're bored you've been doing the same thing then that's a solution but Yeah. I think even as basic as changing where you run. Yeah! So I used to run around I just used to get so bored of it. And I guess, yeah, internet would be in a bit of a slump. As soon as you, even if it means that you drive sort of 10 15 minutes to just run in a Not the weekend just passed but the weekend before we did the best long run ever Which do you know it made it into neither of us our best runs of the week, which is crazy Because it was lit. It was the nicest run. I know we must have just too many good runs That we actually did in a different space mix. We mixed it up. Yeah. And it was, it, it, we were, the whole group was so invigorated. Yeah. And like we kept talking about, oh my gosh, this is so beautiful. Look at that. Which way should we go? Yeah. Um, and now there's a whole, everyone wants to like, find new places to run and it's like had been this injection of energy into the group. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah. makes up your routine. Yeah. Yeah. the other thing is, sometimes again, reflecting on when I've been in running slumps, it's when I've been having a really busy time at work or in my personal life or whatever, and I've just felt like I've had way less energy for running. And I also think it's okay to be in a slump sometimes, or to just, it's probably pretty normal to have periods where you're like, I'm not feeling as motivated right now. Maybe I should like find something else to be my physical outlet for a bit, or. Like, not that I ever want to recommend to not run, but sometimes, yeah, you'll just have periods of your life where like, running doesn't mean the same thing to you and it's okay to be like, okay, I might let that go for a bit and you know it'll always be there to come back to you. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I think that's a really good Yeah, stay in your slump. Slump away. Yeah, we should really do a whole episode on that, because I feel like we could There's a lot there. The second question, that again, we get some kind of variation of all the time, is, I think people are like, excited about the prospect of finding people to run, or running with friends. People are like, okay, I get it, that sounds amazing, I'll be way more motivated to run. But there's a lot of people who just don't have anyone to run with. so yeah, some variation of the questions of like, how do you find friends to run with? I think the first place to start with how to find friends to run with where both Um, even Google sort of running communities in whatever like town, or city you're in. I even saw an article today in ABC News talking about how the popularity of running is on the rise. across Australia. But yeah, I think, find a running group, even if you're a little bit intimidated, by the distance that they're going. I think just showing up, and you can run they advertise that they run for 5km, um, and you feel like can't actually run, the stage where you can run a full 5km, that is completely fine. Like, turn up, run 5 minutes with them, 10 minutes, however long you can. Most of the time these run clubs always stay for coffee after. want to stop. You can walk back, you can jog back, have coffee. You'll meet people, you'll find some friends. And I think there, um, just naturally, you'll start You'll end up meeting some people, yeah. Adam and I had an idea. And it's an experiment and listeners, you get to go on this, you're really going on this journey with us because we're just trying things out, we're just experimenting with different things. And we had an idea because we're like, this is, it's so important that people can run with people. It makes such a difference in your life to the running experience, to how sustainably you run, to how long you run, like to the longevity of your running. It's like, how can we. Oh, God, yeah, drastically increases the endocannabinoids. Um, and so we thought, how can we help these people who, you know, maybe they can't make it to normal run clubs because the hours or whatever it is. So our idea is each week, we'll get listeners to send into us a little running profile of yourself. Hi, my name is Anna. I like to run around this area in this city. I run around this distance, after work and this is my rough pace and I'm looking for a running buddy to do it with me. Then We, each week, we'll pick one of these and we'll say it on the podcast. We'll be like, who wants to run with Anna? Please, someone run with Anna. And we'll put it on our Instagram as well. And listeners can jump in and be like, yeah, I want to be your running friend. And then maybe some really beautiful running friendships will form. Yeah. I, I just love this idea. Yeah. I love the whole thing. Running, meeting new people, and friends. So, yeah. Let us know. Send us your details. It's like running. Otherwise it will literally boot me up. Yeah. Yeah. I'll pitch Anna. Yeah. Crickets on Instagram. All right. This But before any of you say, uh, this person isn't an amateur, remember that our definition of an amateur is someone who does it for the love of it. And boy, does this person do it for the love of it. I think if I could have three people of them. her name is Grace Tame. She She is and, but what some of you might not know about Grace is that she's also an incredibly passionate runner and we think genuinely embodies the ethos of someone who is doing it for the love of it. And she recently wrote an article, an incredible article, titled running out of trouble that, Anna and I both read and we just thought did the most unbelievable job of articulating. Some of our deepest feelings about running and how powerful it can be. Um, we, we genuinely We don't have her on the phone, unfortunately. We wish. Grace is interesting. One, call us and come on. You can be our first official guest of the pod. Yeah, yeah. Um, we would genuinely sit here and read the whole thing out to you. But in the interest of time, we'd pick out some of our favourite quotes. And we'll also link our article in the show notes because I recommend this to anyone. Compulsory reading. It's your homework. Anyone that runs or anyone that knows a runner. Yeah. is actually a run in the world. So everyone Read it. Yeah. Phoebe and I were laughing before because, yeah, though we said that we'd sort pick out our favourite quotes of the article. 90 percent of the article has ended up on our page. I'll kick us off. What do you think about while you're running? As the saying goes, writing about music is like dancing about architecture. Transposing the act of running to another medium seems fruitless. Running is its own unequivocal language that can only be communicated understood in practice. Like music, it's paradoxically grounding and transportive. As you tune into the moment to moment movements of your body, your thoughts clarify and dance through time. The meaning of compassion after all is to suffer together. With every step, you are learning new ground, sights, sounds, smells, new wildlife, new wonders. You are integrating with the world in real time. You are alive. To run is to live. An inaugural jog or a return to running after a prolonged break might feel like a shock to the system, and that's because it effectively is. It sets off similar internal processes to terror, the key difference being you have agency over the stimuli. You can decide to stop and restart at any time. Running's there for an exercise in discovering, reclaiming, and regulating personal power. If you commit, the payoff is worth it. It's unreal. It's so good. Yes, boom, boom, boom. Yeah, it's so beautifully said. Grace, you're our hero. Thank you for writing such a beautiful article. We we should stop. We're getting carried away. So funny. So, yeah, anyway. Okay, well that's episode five wrapped up. Episode five, we're halfway through season one. That is crazy. How exciting. once again, as we always say, thank you so much for listening. It's It's such an incredible pleasure every week to see people listening and commenting and following along. Yeah, we're so grateful. Find us on socials at Cheeky Run Club. Send any feedback or listener questions in. Send us your running profiles. Yes. So we can tee you up with a running comment. Mm. If you can like, rate, subscribe us on wherever that would be great. And we can't wait to be in your ears again next week. Thanks. Sigh. Mic drop! Oh, it's so good! Yeah, yeah. Oh, that is such a good It's genuinely profound. I know.