Favorite Running Movies: Documentaries

A while back, I started what I thought would be a series of running movie posts. Unfortunately, my ambition was greater than my follow-through, so I never finished the series. I spent hours watching movies, but spending a little more time writing the actual posts about movies escaped me.

I set up three categories: drama/comedy, biopic, and documentaries, but I never got around to posting documentaries. There are so many good ones out there, so I'll send you to other places to find one to enjoy.

My favorites include, "The Spirit of the Marathon," and, "Fire on the Track: The Steve Prefontaine Story."

On to the links:

Ten of the Best Running Movies, from the Guardian.

Get Motivated! Six Running Documentaries Guaranteed to Inspire from Runner's World.

All my movie posts can be found at this link: Movies

Do you have any favorite running movies?

Supporting Loved Ones: What about medications?

Most people are understanding and caring when they hear I have a mental illness, but there is definitely a level of discomfort as they consider their words. The goal of these posts is helping friends and family members become more comfortable in what they say and how they act around a loved one with mental illness. These post aren't perfect. Some of the "don't" items may actually be helpful for certain people, and some of the "do" items may be faux pas for others.

In doing research for these posts through talking with people with mental illness and reading articles and blog posts about responding to those with mental illness, I found some common things people don't like hearing, words to say instead, and other things you can say and do to support someone with their mental health.

Again, I'll start this post with a "what not to say." Unless you're a licensed medical health provider specializing in psychiatric medications, don't say to your friend or family member: "Have you tried X medication?" or, "You're probably on the wrong medication."

Amazingly, I've actually heard something like this when I was hospitalized. A nurse heard what medication I was taking, and she said, "Oh, that's not really a good one. You should try X." Now, a nurse may have more of an idea than some people about psychiatric medications, but she had literally just met me.

She went on for a solid minute about why a different medication would be better for me. Past medications, side effects from those medications, and how long I'd been on current medications were all unknown to her. For all she knew I had been on the medication she was suggesting, and it hadn't worked or had caused terrible side effects.

Considering the nurse example, remember what you do and do not know about psychiatric medications. You, a friend, or a family member may have quickly recovered from a mental illness when they were put on a new medication, but medication works differently on different people. Just because a medication worked for one person doesn't mean it will work for another.

If you have a family member or friend who tells you about her or his mental illness, resist the urge to question what medication he or she is taking. If she or he wants to talk about medications, fine, but I suggest avoiding the subject completely unless she or he brings it up. If your friend or family member does bring it up, allow her or him to direct the conversation. If you're curious, it's probably OK to ask about how the medication is working or if there are any side effects, but try not to do it in a way that may come off as judgmental.

I hope this is helpful. If there's something else you have a question about or would like covered in this series, feel free to comment, send me a message, or email me at leckbann@gmail.com.

Supporting Loved Ones: I Know How You Feel

As I've tossed around the idea of regular posts, I thought maybe I'd choose a couple of regular features and blog post series. There are some things I can keep going for a long time, but there are others I'd like to share that will have a finite amount of material.

I'm not sure how long this series will last, but I've had a handful of people ask about what they should do to offer help and support to those with mental illness. It's not easy, and honestly I could share more things that would be unhelpful than helpful, but I'll try to share a mix of both, usually starting with what not to say/do and then provide an alternative.

I've touched on some of these themes in previous posts, but I wanted to get more in depth for those who are struggling with offering help and support to a loved one facing mental health challenges.

One thing I hear often from people with mental illness is that they don't want to be told: "I understand what you're going through." If you take a minute to think about that phrase, you'll quickly realize the problem with saying you understand: you don't.

You may have gone through something similar, you might know someone who's gone through something similar, you may have read about something similar, but you don't know what exactly that person is going through.

Hearing, "I know what you're going through," is usually not helpful to someone with a mental illness. It doesn't bother me for the most part, mainly because I realize people have good intentions when they say it. Hearing stories from others with mental illness, many also say they are not overly bothered, again because they understand the person saying it is trying to be helpful.

Still, remember, on its face saying, "I know what you're going through," is not true. You are not that person. Regardless of how well you may know her or him, you have not experienced the events, thoughts, or emotions that she or he has experienced.

You may now be asking yourself, "what can I say?" Throughout this series I'll offer some advice on other things to say to someone who is struggling with mental health, but if you're feeling like saying, "I understand what you're going through," there are other more helpful, but similar things you can say.

First, I'd start with focusing on the person and her or his feelings. A simple, "Tell me more about that," will lead you to better understand what the person is going through rather than assuming you understand.

Also, it may be helpful to bring up an experience you or a friend went through that was similar, but don't make it seem like you're doing it to "fix" the person. You could certainly explain that situation and end with, "is that similar to what you're going through?"

If you have more questions and would like to see something answered in this series feel free to comment, message me, or email me at leckbann@gmail.com.

Regular Posts

I’d like to start posting blogs regularly. I have some ideas for regular features, and one of them is brief, life updates -- like this one.

A couple of weeks ago, the wife, the little one and I went down to visit Laura’s parents in Pensacola Beach, Florida. We thought it’d be nice to see them and get out of the Minnesota winter for a while.

While we were down there we got to do some fun things. The little one, grandpa and I got to go to a Naval Aerospace Museum, we all went to the zoo, Laura, the little one, and I visited some family and we had lots of great seafood.

Besides that, I got some nice runs in, and Laura and I ran the Pensacola Beach Half Marathon. The weather was chilly down there for quite a few days, but it was definitely warmer than Minnesota.

Recently, we celebrated our son’s second birthday at the aquarium in Mall of America. He had a blast.

In other life news, I’ve been dealing with a couple running injuries, and finally after seeing an orthopedist, I have some answers and a treatment plan. I’m hoping the injuries clear up in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I’m doing very little running and mostly cross training.

That’s it for life updates. I’m not sure if I have enough material to make them a regular feature, but maybe.

Here are some ideas I’m tossing around for regular features. I’m thinking once a month or so for each.

• Race reviews
• Books about running 
• Articles about running
• Books not about running 
• Favorite places to run
• Mental health 
• Life updates 
• Running Tips

Some of those are more interesting to me than others, but I’m wondering what readers think. Are any of those interesting or not interesting to you? Do you have another idea for a regular feature?

I’d love to hear from you. Leave me a comment, message me, or email me at leckbann@gmail.com.

Mental Health Q & A: Early Signs of Bipolar

The following question is specific to me, but it may also be helpful  to recognize signs of mental illness or mental health difficulties in a loved one.

Did you have warning signs of mental illness before your diagnosis of bipolar one?

The short answer to this question is: "yes, but." There were numerous signs of a mental illness before I was officially diagnosed at age 19, including a hospitalization at age 15 and a hypomanic episode at age 18. The "but" of this answer is that these signs were mainly in retrospect. All the signs I'll list below come with the benefit of hindsight. Perhaps I could have been better prepared if I had been working with a mental healthcare provider, and knowing these signs now, as a parent, I hope to be more proactive with my child's mental health.

 While I experienced signs of mental illness, a hard bipolar I diagnosis doesn't come until there is a full-blown manic episode. I definitely had bipolar-like symptoms in my teens, but I didn't have a major manic episode until the fall of my sophomore year of college.

Many of the signs of bipolar were present throughout my middle and high school years. The biggest thing I can always point back to is poor sleep and/or decreased need for sleep. Before high school, staying up late and listening to the radio or reading seemed completely normal. I functioned fine on less sleep than would be considered normal, and never worried about it too much.

In high school, sleep did become an issue. Partly it was due to the fact that I worried I should be getting more sleep, and that worry actually made it harder to fall asleep. Anxiety in general also made falling asleep more difficult, and right around age 30 I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder.

Symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder have been around since I was a child, and even when I'm doing well they still affect me. As a child I tended to worry a lot, and much of my worry would be about things I had no control over. The excessive worry and its detrimental effects on my life were big red flags of potential mental illness.

It's surprising to me that it took until I was 30 to receive a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder, but the reason why it took so long is probably the fact that anxiety is also one of the symptoms of bipolar. I've gone through around a dozen bipolar cycles at this point, and in many of those cycles anxiety has been one of the symptoms.

However, after being evaluated by a psychologist, it became clear to me that my anxiety is always hanging around, and it's something to manage beyond the cycles of bipolar.

I hope this information is helpful. This is the last of the questions I've received about mental illness, but if you have another question, feel free to comment, message me, or send me an email at: leckbann@gmail.com.

Two Years in the Blink of an Eye

Two years ago today the biggest, most joyful change took place in my life. All the changes that have happened since that day remind me of how strange the passage of time is.

In some ways, it seems like it was forever ago that our little one was just a tiny, helpless baby. He couldn’t do anything on his own and was totally reliant on us for everything. It’s hard to even remember what that was like—the hours he spent sleeping in the Rock ‘n Play, lying on the floor looking at his mobile and plastic mirror—it all seems so long ago.



And yet… all those things went by in the blink of an eye. Before we knew it he was rolling, then crawling, then walking all over the place. All of a sudden he could make noises besides crying, and one day he was talking in complete sentences.

Life has become so different it’s hard to remember what things were like before having a kid. The routine of every evening seems so normal and natural—get home, make dinner, play with the little one, then get his jammies on, brush his teeth, and put him to bed. I really have to think hard to remember what I did with that free time after work before he was born.



Though there are challenges and things are definitely busier, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I still make time to exercise and write—getting those things in just mean being more efficient with my time.



Time is a funny thing. When you’re waiting for something, it crawls along with an intolerable slowness. When you want a moment to last, it moves much too quickly. Still, every time I want to freeze time in the little one’s life, he does something new that amazes me. While time is at a premium, the time I spend with the little one is so much better than any time I spent before he was in our lives.

Mental Health Q & A: Offering Help

If I recognize signs of mental illness in a loved one, what is the best way to approach her or him?

This question has a wide variety of answers. Recognizing or suspecting that a love one may have a mental illness can put you in a difficult situation. You may feel you should approach the person, but at the same time be worried that you will offend the person by suggesting they seek help.

A good way to approach a person who you suspect is suffering mental health problems is to do so with kindness and compassion. Be sure the person knows you’re coming to her or him out of concern rather than judging them.

One way you could talk to the person is to let them direct the conversation as much as possible. Ask her or him how she or he has been feeling. If you’re really concerned that the person is struggling and is not opening up, ask the person more specific questions like: “It seems like you’ve been really down lately. Is there anything I can do to help?” or, “You haven’t seemed like yourself lately. How is everything?”

You may be surprised to find that the person really wants to talk and opens up to you. Sometimes the person is looking for someone to talk to. Often, people who are dealing with mental health struggles are embarrassed to talk about it, and they will be happy for the opportunity.

One thing you might have ready for the person is some resources to help them. It’s not necessary, and you might want to use discretion depending on how you think the person will react, but offering her or him resources is a good way to let the person know you care and want them to get the help he or she needs.

There are many ways you can help the person find help if she or he is willing. I’d direct you to the following article from Mayo Clinic, “Mental Health Providers: Tips for Finding One.” You could also share the information and/or website with your family member or friend to help them connect with a mental health provider.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any other questions, feel free to comment, message me, or email me at: leckbann@gmail.com.

Mental Health Q & A: Conversation Etiquette

 

Do you have any suggestions about appropriate conversation or not appropriate topics or questions? If someone discloses a mental illness, what are some questions that could be asked or avoided?

I’ll answer this question in two parts. First, with my opinions on how I would like someone to talk to me when I disclose my mental illness, and second, with some general advice on how to approach someone who has disclose their mental illness.

When I tell someone about my mental illnesses, I really don’t mind answering any question about them. If I didn’t want to talk about my mental illness or be asked questions about it, I never would have brought it up in the first place.

In fact, not too long ago I let a friend know I was seeing my therapist in the morning, and later, when I saw him, he asked me about it. I told him, and we talked for a bit about it.  And, if I didn’t want to talk about it, I simply would have said so.

From my perspective, I really don’t feel like anything is off limits. I’d like to have people look at mental illness like they would any other illness. If you’re wondering what kind of questions to ask someone, think about what you would ask someone about a physical illness. Would you ask about what treatments they were receiving? How they were feeling? How things are going in general?

If you think a question would have been appropriate about a physical illness, it would probably be appropriate for a mental illness.

My opinions don’t apply to everyone, so here’s some general advice. First, consider your relationship with the person. If you feel you’re very close friends, you can probably ask more personal questions.

As for other advice, here are some summaries and links for excellent resources on talking to a person with mental illness. Consider the goal you have for the conversation, whether it’s just to offer support, or if you want to help the person get help.

Here’s an article that gives some good information on communicating with someone who has a mental illness: Communicating with People with Mental Illness. The main takeaway from this article is to be honest and to be truthful.

Here’s another good article about approaching someone with mental illness: For Friends and Family Members - MentalHealth.gov. This is probably my favorite resource to share for someone who’s wondering how they could reach out to a person struggling with mental health. This article does a nice job of providing advice on giving support, offering help, or talking to someone about mental health.

I hope these resources are helpful for those unsure about how to talk to someone about mental health issues. If you have any other questions or specific questions about this topic, comment, send me a private message, or email me at: leckbann@gmail.com.

Mental Health Q & A: Running

After writing a series of posts on mental health myths and facts, I asked readers for questions regarding mental health and mental illness. I received several questions, but I decided to start with one that had something to do with running.

How does running affect your mental health, and how does your mental health affect your running?

This is one I think about a lot, and I think it could be applied to pretty much anyone. Substitute running with an exercise or exercises of your choice, and this answer could definitely apply to you.

Running can help prevent mental health issues, maintain mental health, and mitigate mental health problems. With my diagnoses of generalized anxiety disorder and bipolar, running plays a huge role in preventing symptoms and mitigating those symptoms when they occur -- especially in regards to the mania and depression in my bipolar disorder.

Mania tends to come with increased energy, racing thoughts, and poor sleep. Running helps prevent and control those symptoms by giving a positive outlet for the excess energy, and helps me feel physically tired, making it easier to sleep.

Depression often leads to decreased energy, lack of motivation, and a general feeling of malaise along with the classic symptoms of sadness and anxiety.

Running is a huge help with depression. It often helps me fight the feelings that come along with depression by releasing endocannabinoids and other mood boosting brain chemicals associated with mental well-being.

The feelings and improved brain chemistry from running also help with my anxiety. Besides just the physiological improvements running brings, running also gives me time to process my thoughts. That time especially helps me with my generalized anxiety disorder. By removing other distractions, thinking while running can help me examine some of my thoughts and notice some of my cognitive distortions and finish runs feeling more calm and less anxious.

While running affects my mental illnesses in many positive ways, my mental illnesses can also affect my running. Depression is probably my biggest challenge because it saps my motivation. At times it's a big struggle to will myself out the door to go on a run. When I do get myself on a run, that lack of motivation can make a thirty minute run seem like an hour.

Mania and anxiety can also affect my running for the worse. Both can make it very difficult to concentrate, and doing everyday activities like getting ready for a run or packing a gym bag become a challenge. With things taking longer than they should, I sometimes end up with less time to run -- especially if I want to run in the morning before work. Making breakfast, getting my work things together, and getting properly attired for running can sometimes take as much as ten extra minutes, meaning I've lost the time for over a mile on my run.

My mental illnesses can also affect my running in how I plan and execute a training plan. As I've said before, anxiety and depression can make following a plan more difficult, but mania can do just the opposite. I have to be careful when training for a race when I start to feel a little manic. Goal-driven behaviors often accompany mania, so sometimes mania leads me to train more than I should -- either by sacrificing more time than I should on running and running related exercises, or by increasing my running too much and risking injury.

The interplay between running and my mental illnesses is something I'll always have to manage. When manic, I often will need to hold myself back to prevent being injured or spending too much time exercising. When depressed, I'll have to dig down deep and continue to convince myself that despite how hard it can be, I need to push through and get myself out on runs.

If you have any other questions you'd like answered, feel free to comment, send me a private message, or email me at: leckbann@gmail.com

2018: It's Goal Time

The last few years have not been conducive to meeting my running goals. Factors in and out of my control have led me to miss most of my goals. Last year I decided to go with a percentage system of meeting my goals rather than simple a simple yes or no, so that made me feel a little better.

This year, however, I'm going to put the majority of my goals in the all in my control camp. These goals will happen if I make them happen. Whereas PRs or time goals or mileage goals on races can come up short due to injury or weather, my first several goals will be in my hands. On to the goals:

Goal  1:
Average at least one blog post a week. Between the blog I (mostly) retired, tcruncoach.blogspot.com, and this blog, I averaged over 52 blog posts 2010 - 2013, and 2015 - 2016. In 2017 I only got in 40, so I'm hoping at least twelve more this year.

Goal 2:
Average two days per week doing strength/cross training for my glutes/core/etc. With two lower leg injuries, one that's been hanging around for over nine months now, I'm definitely going to be running fewer days per week and lower mileage, so I want to take to opportunity to do some supplemental exercises. Who knows? I lifted weights a lot in high school and stayed pretty injury-free, so maybe I'll surprise myself and run some faster times on less mileage.

Goal 3:
Submit two stories to Runner's World. I've already got one almost finished, which means I just need an idea for the next one. I'm planning on both being rejected, but also hoping that at least one gets a couple words on why it was rejected (none of the others I've submitted has).

Goal 4:
Set a PR in the 50K.

Goal 5:
Complete a 50 mile race. I have some friends doing the Minnesota Voyageur 50 Mile, so I think I'm going to run that one.

Goal 6:
Break 17 minutes in the 5K. The 50 mile race is July 28, so that means I have a good amount of time to recover and then aim for some fast 5K races during the fall racing season.

That's it for this year! I'm optimistic about meeting all my goals. We'll see what happens!

Run well.