Things have changed for me since I posted in 2004. As my health has improved I’ve been able to exercise more without experiencing the horrible crash in mood that I described. I haven’t had a bout of hives after exercising in a long time either, maybe because I’m aware that heat is a trigger for that and I don’t allow myself to get to hot. I haven’t turned into a fitness junkie but I have incorporated light exercise into my every day life, and recently I even joined a gym. Really recently - I’ve had five sessions 
FWIW different people really do respond to different sorts of exercise differently.
But responding poorly to one sort does not mean that you respond poorly to another sort. If what you are doing makes you feel like crap then try something else. Maybe you do better with HIIT, or with weight training, or … so on.
I’m 56, been running regularly for the last six years, and it’s tolerable doing the 5k’s and 10k’s, lately being going a bit further than that, can’t say I really enjoy it that much, and actually I look forward to when I’m done. But that’s when I start to fully appreciate it.
Are others saying they don’t feel any afterglow effect at all? I don’t feel any runners high while actually running, maybe I’d have to go further to experience that, but I certainly can feel what must be lots of chemicals being released in my body and brain, I feel it in my face, lungs, just pretty much all over, and it lasts for many hours. If I didn’t get that, I wouldn’t do it. It affects my mood tremendously for the better.
I could have written this OP myself. I tried running as a young buck. People kept telling me it would get to where I’d enjoy it. Kept at it every day for several weeks, almost two months, before saying Fuck It and throwing in the towel. Same with working out in the gym. Hated it. It just made me feel like Death Warmed Over. Got all kinds of advice about what to do and how, but finally I just had to say Fuck It.
The only form of exercise I’ve ever thoroughly enjoyed was bicycle riding. Did it all the time in Hawaii, but it had the advantage of getting me places, it wasn’t just a seemingly senseless waste of time. But the climate over here is too oppressive for bike riding, particularly in this blast furnace called Bangkok, so I hung up my wheels when I moved back to Thailand.
Oh look zombie thread! Wonder if Jadis knows about it?
Swimming is the only exercise I’ve done which makes me wonderfully exhausted afterward. Buoyancy has a lot to do with it because you don’t quite realize how hard your muscles are working while you’re working them. I did water therapy after my knee accident a couple of years ago and I’d emerge from the pool utterly drained even though I didn’t really swim. Just a theory 
I used to walk 5-6 miles daily up until my work schedule became so convoluted that it was too much trouble to try to carve out time. Now I’ve got arthritis, bone spurs, and other age-related aches and pains which cause me to move slower…I mean, I could probably still do those 5-6 miles but it’d take me twice as long to do so now and that doesn’t really appeal to me 
My dogs, OTOH, wouldn’t care!
This certainly is true for me. Up until last year, the only type of physical activity that I had ever engaged in – from childhood until adulthood – was cardio. I tried to do the Couch-to-5K program a few years ago and got stuck at Week 3 for weeks until I gave up. I just couldn’t get past that hump, and the experience of running was horrible. My lungs burned, I broke out in hives, my energy level would conk out before 20 minutes, and I was miserable. Competitive sports have always been a no-go because I didn’t have the cardio endurance to keep up with the team. So I basically spent my life as a couch potato.
Then I started weight training, and it’s an entirely different story. I feel great the entire time, I feel energized, I’m motivated to push myself further. In a year (with summer and winter break off), I put almost 200 pounds on my deadlift (I’m a woman, btw). Last night I lifted 220 lbs and was ecstatic. I love how being strong helps me out in my everyday life, and I want to keep going to the gym. And funnily enough, weight training has improved my cardio endurance without even trying.
I used to think weight training sounded unbelievably boring and tedious (you lift heavy things so…you can lift heavier things? Repeat ad nauseam? WTF), but I love it.
Running still makes me feel like crap, though.
I’ve been dealing with this for the best part of three decades. There is very little that I have not already tried.
I can relate. I play competitive tennis and am now 40 years old. Something always hurts and I am perpetually tired and sore. Sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself and how much longer I can keep it up.
I tried running, I really did, but the olives kept flying right out of my Martini.
When I saw the thread title I thought it was going to be about feeling nauseated after working out. I didn’t see anyone mention it yet but does anyone else feel pukey after exercise? I don’t think I eat too close to my workout - usually no less than an hour- and I drink plenty of water. Maybe too much water? It’s a bummer to put so much effort into staying healthy and then fighting to keep from hurling all the way home.
How often do you work out and how intense is the exercise?
I wonder how things have turned out for the OP in the intervening ten years…
I’m a relatively serious runner who has never felt that mythical runner’s high.
It’s hogwash. The best part of a run, in my opinion, is the moment I stop running.
You may need electrolytes, especially if you are drinking a lot of water.
So, substitute a Gatorade type drink *while *I’m working out?
Me too. I recently started running again and I drink water to stay hydrated both during and after I run, but I feel pukey. I also crave salt, so I bought some Gatorade to see if that helps.
I’m wondering if I’m the only person who has actually gained weight after taking up running. I can barely button my “fat pants” these days. I haven’t changed how much or what I eat and have added in exercise and am gaining weight. :smack:
Um, you are drinking how much extra salted flavored sugar water during those runs?
Also not sure if this applies but running in colder weather seems in particular to stimulate the appetite. If you are able to completely accurately know that your intake is exactly the same and not actually taking in a bit more then you are better than most of the rest of non-OCD humanity.
A little before and a little during. You can dilute it with water, and if you are trying to avoid sugar and sweeteners, try unflavored Pedialyte.
I am guessing my sodium gets low from running/sweating and I thought the smallest sized Gatorade after the run might help. I don’t particularly like Gatorade, so I drink about half of the smallest size they make (which I believe is 12 oz). The weight gain happened before I took my first sip of Gatorade
Running in cold weather is not a factor. I run twice a week indoors and twice a week outdoors in a state where it is already balls hot. (Again, accounting for the sweat and hydration issues.)
I’m not measuring my calories on an OCD level; however, I am a creature of habit and eat generally the same things over and over. I am not eating anything out of the ordinary, nor am I eating larger portions of the same foods I’ve always eaten. And yet, I’ve gained weight. This weight gain has only happened since I took up running again. It just struck me as weird, but it could be entirely coincidental.