{"id":169033,"date":"2021-05-24T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=169033"},"modified":"2021-05-20T17:02:07","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T00:02:07","slug":"falan-blake-limitless-sides-to-outside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/run\/falan-blake-limitless-sides-to-outside","title":{"rendered":"Falan Blake: Limitless Sides to Outside"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are so many ways to enjoy time outside. This is one of many unique stories we\u2019re sharing as part of our effort to highlight the\u00a0Limitless Sides to Outside<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always associated running with escaping. I know that many people run for aesthetics and to stay in shape, but that was never a big motivating factor for me.\u00a0I\u2019ve been running since I was in middle school. I played on the girls\u2019 basketball team in\u00a0New York City\u00a0where I grew up. Running was part of our conditioning. The good players had to play all\u00a0four\u00a0quarters, so I was always a runner.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I hit puberty, my breasts grew incredibly fast; by eighth grade, I was a full D-cup. I went to Catholic school and I didn\u2019t own a good support bra. The boys loved watching me plop up and down. I had no idea. The women teachers at my school started duct-taping me down over my undershirt before games. This is when I started to develop a complex about my body.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one sat me down and explained anything. They just duct-taped me, and I never asked why. Maybe I was embarrassed. I remember some things clearly\u2014like getting cut out of the duct tape by my mom after I got in trouble for being in the bathroom too long. That was when my mom started buying better bras for me. Despite all that, I kept playing basketball and I kept running.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During my teen years, I suffered from major depressive episodes related to abandonment issues, being light-skinned in the Black community and looking mixed and not having a father figure. I never fit in, and I definitely stood out. I also grew up poor, often getting only one new pair of tennis shoes for the whole year. They were my going-outside shoes, playing-in-the-park shoes, gym shoes and basketball shoes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once I got into high school, the weight of my life was bearing down. I was on an academic scholarship to a private school and I worked out as much as I could to delay going home, where the problems were. Running was so freeing. I\u2019d cry and run in the rain. I did this frequently to hide my tears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found myself continuing this pattern when I was married. I got married in eleventh grade; I was 16 and turned 17 the day of my courthouse wedding ceremony. I wanted to escape my childhood and I imagined running away. I always wanted to run away. Who knew that I would literally run right into the arms of a man that destroyed nearly a decade of my life? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Black and Brown community we are taught to be strong\u2014we are taught to keep going, and that we must not air our families\u2019 dirty laundry in public. So we bottle it up inside and we use other forms of suppression to keep things at bay.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I now have a much different life. Many of my friends run or work out for aesthetics and still aren\u2019t taking care of their mental health. If you\u2019re reading this and are a member of the Black and Brown community, know that it\u2019s OK to seek the help of a professional. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Running can help you deal with stress and boost your mood. It really made me feel better when I ran endlessly. It was when I was lost in my mind that I ran the hardest. If I ran those distances now, I\u2019d collapse by the end of the first block.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I no longer have the same mentality I had all those years ago. I\u2019ve learned how to speak up about my mental state, and to keep myself accountable.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, I\u2019ve been on a break from running. I crave the runner\u2019s high, and I look forward to working myself back up to running a few hours a week. I love how I feel after. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve learned that running can\u2019t help me escape my problems, though. Working with someone who helps me to break free and find a new way of thinking does. Running can help\u2014it sure does\u2014but it won\u2019t cure you.  <\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are so many ways to enjoy time outside. This is one of many unique stories we\u2019re sharing as part of our effort to highlight the\u00a0Limitless Sides to Outside. I\u2019ve always associated running with escaping. I know that many people run for aesthetics and to stay in shape, but that was never a big motivating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":169374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2139,1376],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-169033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-run","tag-limitless-sides-to-outside","tag-running"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/run\/falan-blake-limitless-sides-to-outside","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Falan Blake: Limitless Sides to Outside","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/run\/falan-blake-limitless-sides-to-outside","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/run\/falan-blake-limitless-sides-to-outside"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/04\/Summer-Campaign_Falan-Blake_Hero.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/04\/Summer-Campaign_Falan-Blake_Hero.jpg?fit=1500%2C750"},"articleSection":"Run","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jessica Bernhard"}],"creator":["Jessica Bernhard"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["limitless sides to outside","running"],"dateCreated":"2021-05-24T16:00:00Z","datePublished":"2021-05-24T16:00:00Z","dateModified":"2021-05-24T16:00:00Z"},"rendered":"