How Running Changed My Mental Health

I Was on the Edge of Burnout

Earlier this year, three projects were running simultaneously and my mental state hit rock bottom. Every Sunday night I'd dread Monday, opening my code editor made me sigh, and I couldn't stay focused for more than 15 minutes. I thought, "if this keeps up, actual depression is coming."

I considered counseling, but the earliest appointment was three weeks out. I couldn't just white-knuckle it for three weeks, so I started running out of sheer desperation. All you need is a pair of sneakers -- lowest barrier to entry.

I Couldn't Even Run 1km at First

I hadn't run since middle school, honestly. First day out by the Han River, I started walking at the 800m mark. Finished 1km in 8 minutes and 47 seconds. Forget about pace -- I just felt like I was dying. Watching a grandma power-walk past me faster really put things in perspective.

But here's the weird thing: I slept great that night. Normally I'd toss and turn for an hour worrying about tomorrow's meeting or an upcoming code review, but that night I was out the moment I hit the pillow.

Set a Goal of Three Times a Week

Monday, Wednesday, Friday evenings at 7 PM, 30 minutes along the Han River bank. The first two weeks were a lot of run-walk-run-walk. By week three I could do 3km without stopping, and at the six-week mark I was running 5km in 32 minutes.

Not a fast pace, but that wasn't the point.

Runner's High Is a Real Thing

Past the 3km mark, there's this moment where your mood just lifts. Your mind empties out. I've had multiple experiences where tangled work problems untangled themselves during a run. Once I'd been stuck on an API design issue for three days, and mid-run it just hit me -- "oh, I could just do it this way." (This doesn't happen every time, of course.)

Whether it's endorphins or whatever, I genuinely feel better after running. A bad mood at level 5 goes up to about a 7. The world doesn't look rosy, but it becomes bearable.

Plenty of Failed Days Too

I missed 11 days over two months. Three for rain, four for overtime, four for just not feeling like it. The days after skipping because I "didn't feel like it" always felt worse. But forcing yourself to go when you don't want to is its own kind of stress.

One rainy day I went out thinking "I should go anyway" and slipped and scraped my elbow. Getting injured on the way to exercise defeats the purpose. After that, I don't go when it rains.

How Running Affects My Coding

This is just my experience and hard to generalize, but I notice a productivity difference on running days versus non-running days, especially in the afternoon. When writing complex logic, my patience is different. On days I didn't run, I get irritated after 30 minutes of debugging. On days I did, I can push through for an hour.

I think improved sleep quality is the key factor. Better sleep means better condition the next day, which means better coding. It's a virtuous cycle.

Where I'm At Now

Four months into running. I do 10km now. Pace is about 6:20 per kilometer. Not fast. But speed isn't the goal -- consistency is.

Burnout? Honestly, it's not completely gone. Monday mornings are still tough and project stress hasn't vanished. But compared to when I hit rock bottom, things are clearly better. I can't say for sure whether it's the running or just time passing. But does it really matter to separate the two?