Why I Run FBR - Michael Hanisco

Another profile in our Why I Run FBR series. Michael describes the transformative power of running.

 

I’ve been running fairly regularly for three years now. But what started as an effort to rid myself of a 9-to-5-induced tummy has transformed into something much more in 2015. This is the year that running saved my life.I’ve struggled with depression for as long as I can remember, although I didn’t always call it that. I was clinically diagnosed in 2012 and I’ve been treating it with varying degrees of success ever since. A bad breakup in March sent me spiraling deeper into its clutches – deeper than I’d ever been before. Forget about loving myself; I didn’t even like myself. My world was dark.Two weeks after the worst day of my life, I moved to Fishtown. Not only was I single for the first time in six years; I was now living alone for the first time too. I never realized how much I took the presence of others for granted. Real or imagined, there is a certain comfort in knowing that someone – anyone – is in the next room. That comfort was gone. My friends were gone. NetFlix and my couch became my closest allies. I was simply going through the motions – and even that was a challenge.I had to change.Running became therapy. As the weeks wore on, I stopped beating myself up and started pounding pavement instead. As the miles piled up, so did my positive thoughts. It’s funny how certain things only make sense when you’re dripping with sweat.I ran with the Fishtown Beer Runners for the first time in May at the urging of a co-worker. We did a “deodorant run” for the St. Francis Inn, dropping off personal care items on our way to Memphis Tap Room. It was an extremely hot night – one that reminded me how extremely lucky I am to have a home to shower in and a bank account that allows me to feed, clothe, and take care of myself. My own troubles never seemed more trivial.Sitting at a picnic table after the run, I looked at the faces around me. Each one was a varying shade of red, but they were all smiling. I introduced myself to a few runners seated at my table. We shared some laughs. We toasted the professor. We talked about wanting to do more to help the Inn.For the first time since moving to my new neighborhood, I felt it. I was happy. I was home.--Michael Hanisco