An Emotional "Non-Runner"

I often describe myself as an emotional eater. If I am sad, I like to treat myself to sweets. If I am stressed, nothing makes me feel better like chips and soda. If I am worried, french fries will do it. Relating emotions to food has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and I go through a daily battle against these urges. Despite my weaknesses, I have gotten relatively good at managing what I eat (meaning - it could be a lot worse).

I am now confronted with the reality that I am also an emotional non-runner. If anything is making me feel a little worse than great, I freeze. I can't run. I feel pains I haven't felt in months, and I run out of breath and feel anxious. I also convince myself that my fatigue won't let me focus...worst of all, I give up.

Just like I learned to control what I eat, I need to learn how to overcome my emotional ups and downs so that I can be more consistent when training. This week I logged 10 miles when I was supposed to log 15. This feels like failure...My training sheet tells me I have to run 7 miles today, so I am going to have to get out there and just get it done.

I am about to get my running gear on and go out the door. I only hope I can figure this out before it starts impacting my fitness level and progress.