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The NOVEMBER

Yes I am one of those people. I do not allow christmas until after thanksgiving. I mean all of November is for the celebration of thanksgiving! No lights, no tree, no presents, and especially NO CHRISTMAS MUSIC! I accept christmas stuff after thanksgiving but I don’t truly except it all until after November is over and December has started. To all those freaks that put up christmas stuff before even halloween has come they deserve to go to Hell. I just choose to ignore all the lights that go up in November and stuff, makes me sick. We should be decorating for thanksgiving and being thankful and stuff but then right as thanksgiving is over we just go shopping and ditch everything we are grateful for and go buy more things for ourselves and others. I personally just love thanksgiving and I think that it should be respected and treated as a good holiday because it is. I just wish everyone else had the same mindset as I do but then again that would be kind of boring but still! I love christmas and everything it has to offer but man guys we got to confine our obsession with this holiday just a little bit. I mean seriously some people just go crazy with it all. I understand if we go crazy with it in the month of December but when people do it in October like what even?! Come on people lets all calm down just a little bit haha 

The Krieger Post

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Portfolio Epilogue

Portfolio Epilogue

I’ve written about 18,000 words this semester. I mean man that is a lot of words. I have found myself throughout this class truly becoming better at writing in a short amount of time. Through every single free write that I have written at the beginning of class to all of the assignments and to all the tumblr posts. I remember at the beginning of the semester trying to stretch my mind of what to write about and now it’s not really hard. 

I have loved the emphasis on questions and questioning everything around you. Like being curious towards things you normally wouldn’t really give a second thought to or taking a million different pictures of a pear or staring at a piece of paper that is blank for hours and then asking tons of questions and pondering and really stretching the mind to think and reach its limits.

 I find the nonsense writing very curious, like the one where you just write whatever comes to your mind and then you try and make sense of it. I find that kind of writing refreshing because there are no rules or limits or things you have to do. It kind of wakes you up and makes you think a little deeper. I’ve found that to be one of my favorite parts about this class. 

I also love all the rants we go on and how we relate tons of things to tons of other things that I wouldn’t have ever thought of. Why Wonder? I also just love the emphasis on breaking the boundaries and rules and limitations and thinking and just wondering and questioning and I normally just dreaded english classes before and now I look forward to english and writing in this class and I just love the way you run this class Fish. It’s freaking fun to break away and actually have fun writing. I still remember when you tried to explain how to write in cryptic poetry you related the writing to a Picasso painting or a painting that doesn’t really make sense but is so beautiful. I remember that you had us just write nonsense and then read it to each other and it was so fascinating to see how different everyones was. That was probably my favorite day in class. I will always remember that day. Like I said before, I used to just dread or tolerate going to my english classes but each time before yours I knew I was going to laugh and learn something new and valuable. 

I feel what helped me grow the most as a writer was the tumblr and free writes at the beginning of every class. The free writes just loosen up my mind and just helped me think and shake off the day. I just loved how you would also give us different ways to write the free writes up or suggest certain things but still leave things open. I remember when you had us have conversations on the youtube group chat. The chat was moving so fast we had to type and try and get someone to talk to us and it was so fun and literally everyone was laughing their heads off haha. 

Also there was never a dead uncomfortable silence because you always had lo-fi beats playing in the background haha I love lo-fi now. Just the way you structured your class and how you ran it with such a chill vibe but we all respected and loved coming to your class. Fish your class was literally the best. 

I guess I should talk a little bit about the assignments we had to do. I loved how it was up to us to get the assignments done and how there was only suggested deadlines but like we talked about in class maybe making half of the assignments due during midterms and the rest due at the end of the semester. I think that that would help a lot of students really get things done. Going onto the project proposal. I think the hardest part was just picking what you wanted to write about because even though we may be passionate about something doesn’t make that a good topic to research and write about. Also just really not having a set foundation yet. So maybe go easy on grading the project proposals because most of the students are still deciding on what exactly to write on. The annotated bibliography went really well for me. I found great sources and you showed us great ways to find sources and really dig into our topics. The opinion series was kind of hard for me. It was hard finding who to write them towards but once I got into them it was kind of fun to write them up. Lastly the research paper. I’ll be honest, I don’t much like writing research papers but this one wasn’t too bad. I just loved how we could write on whatever we wanted to write on. Like i’ve never had that freedom in english classes before. All the assignments before really helped me to form my research paper in my head prior to writing it and I like that feeling of being prepared. 

I guess I want to close this epilogue by saying thank you so much Fish. You will go down in history as my favorite teacher ever. You weren’t just a teacher. You cared about english and you cared about us as your students. I could feel the sincerity just coming off of you. The way you are so transparent I felt was key to grabbing us students attention and respect. I’m going to miss you Fish, from your rants to your inspired words. You’ve made a difference in my life and I can bet in everyone else in my class. You taught me so much about myself and what living truly is. I just want to say thank you Fish, for everything. I will always remember you.   

[thekriegerpost]

Research Paper

Adam Krieger

ENGL 2010 

Fish Burton 

Running and the effects it has on our mental health

How many people worldwide do you think suffer from mental health disorders? How many suffer from depression? Anxiety? Do you know people around you that do? You probably do but the fact is that most people try and hide it. What if there was a way that we could have immediate positive benefits on our mental health? I’m not talking about drinking or going out for a smoke. I’m talking about real, healthy, and positive benefits to you and your brain. The key is exercise! For some this might be hard to hear but for others not at all. I can see how some may disagree to what I am trying to promote here. Some may say you should go towards drinking or going out for a smoke. Others might say that it is great for your physical body but not for your brain and most certainly not for your mental health. I am first going to talk about running and give a little history on it and then how exercise in general has powerful positive benefits on the brain. Next I will begin talking about some people's personal experience and how running has impacted their lives and their mental health. I will lastly talk about some resources and provide more information on mental health in the world today. 

I would first like to start off by introducing the wonderful sport of running! Alex Schnee explains running beautifully, “Running is a physical activity that allows people to cover distances at a more rapid pace than walking.” I would first like to say that this is very true. Even keeping a slow jogging pace can cover distances far greater than walking ever can. The very first olympics was recorded in 776 BCE in Greece. At first the only events at the olympics was footraces. This included sprints to long distances. Running has evolved so much since then, and has the olympics. We are now common with the 100 meters, mile, 5K, half marathon, and the marathon which are all well known and well respected running events. I have always wondered why running was one of the first sporting events and why people always have such a drive for competition. Transitioning now into some things that Wendy Suzuki, a world renowned neuroscientist, said about exercise and the positive benefits it has on you and your brain, “What if I told you there was something that you can do right now that would have an immediate, positive benefit for your brain including your mood and your focus? And what if I told you that same thing could actually last a long time and protect your brain from different conditions like depression, Alzheimer's disease or dementia. Would you do it? Yes! I am talking about the powerful effects of physical activity.” Yes! We would all do it and I know I most certainly would. In this quote she talks about exercise having immediate, positive benefits for your brain, mood, and focus. She then states that it can protect your brain from depression, alzheimer’s disease or dementia. I know we can’t trust everything we hear but come on people this lady gave a freaking TED talk I mean I trust her. With what she said about how exercise immediately affects our brains mood and focus is pretty mind blowing to me. I just think it’s cool to hear that it has immediate effects on our brain. I feel as though we as humans now really like to have things be immediate and upfront. We want things right away and we want immediate answers to everything we do in life. To know that running and exercise has immediate impact for good on our brain, wouldn’t we all do it? Would you?

This brings me to my next point in my research paper. I guess I want to bring to light what I am truly researching. How mental health disorders affect a lot of people and how these people used running to combat their mental health challenges. Gretchen Reynolds stated, “Depression is, of course, one of the world’s most common mental disorders, affecting more than 300 million people globally, according to the World Health Organization. Some people experience a single bout during their lives; others face repeated episodes.” This is just shocking to me but at the same time no surprise. With suicides on the rise and all this media and social media constantly bombarding us and getting us to compare and criticize ourselves so much that mental health disorders are on the rise as well. I would like to introduce the story of Sharon. Sharon had everything in life. She had a good job, she had a house, a husband, and family. One year the winter months just hit sharon hard and she noticed that she started to be real moody. She would come home from work and would get angry at times or get real depressed at times. “One evening in early June, when I got grumpy at my husband for something that was entirely my fault, I realised I had become a woman who shouts. A lot. I didn't want to be a woman who shouts, especially for no reason. Restless and ashamed of my outburst, I dug through the wardrobe for a polyprop and running shoes. It had been months since I'd dragged myself around Wellington's waterfront but I needed to move, to propel myself as far away from my poor husband -- and my anger -- as possible.” So she went out on her run. She realized something was off and something just wasn’t right. She definitely doesn’t have a mental health disorder but she still shows small signs. The first night when she went out it wasn’t much but she kept it up. She soon found her bouts of sadness and anger disperse and get less prevalent. She found comfort and peace going out onto the roads with her shoes. This brings me to my next story. Ben grew up always wanting to be a runner but seemed to be destined to be the non-athletic kid with the brains. He always enjoyed running but his asthma as a kid always held him back. Later on in his life when he was about 38 he found himself without a job and in a pretty precarious situation. “I first experienced panic attacks in junior high school, and they’ve reoccurred at various times throughout adulthood. They reached a fever pitch in 2014, when I found myself out of a job and mired in the worst depression of my life. At the worst of my 2014 depression and anxiety attacks, running seemed to be the only thing that would break the cloud cover.” Panic attacks are a big deal. They happen when our brain goes to the fight or flight mode in a sense. You start to breath real shallow and rapidly and you can’t think straight and feels as though you are drowning. He found a solution and found something that broke the clouds for him and that was running. He soon got back into it, it took time but he did it because he felt it was something that was good for him. He is now running marathons and is looking to soon enter into the ultra marathoning world. I came across this poem that I thoroughly enjoyed and I hope you do as well but it is about a man who goes out on a run. He goes out with much on his mind. He is thinking about the world around him and this pretty woman that he fancies. He is thinking about God and passes by some cathedrals. He sees many birds out on his run, everything seems so distracting. When at the end he says this, “It’s then I hear a voice,

      a crystal shining icicle clear voice,

      cold water but made of sound,

      tells me, keep my connection to the spirits strong,

      keep my work spiritual,

      stay connected to the Creator,

      and all my worries will be answered in time.

       Ah, it is a good run . . .” Oh man I just love the end of this poem. It just puts all this distraction aside and simplifies everything and I just love it. Sometimes you don’t need a complex answer, sometimes all you need is some reassurance that everything will be okay and that it will work out. Now for some starting up running may be a challenge and I completely understand that. I also understand that running may not be for everybody. I think what helps people the most with anything is doing it with others and having a set time and place to do it at. 

In my third paragraph, I would like to share ways to get started and reason to keep going when it gets tough. I recently came across this article that talked about this company called parkruns. To give themselves the best summary I’ll let them say it. “Parkrun is a free, weekly, timed, five-kilometre run, taking place in open spaces across the UK and around the world. Events are organised by volunteers, and runners of all abilities participate. Thirteen runners participated in the first event in 2004 and now parkrun in the UK regularly attracts over 100,000 participants (M. Graney, personal communication, 31 May 2017). As of March 2017, there are 445 events in the UK and a further 485 taking place in 13 countries around the world.” I think this company is absolutely amazing! What is better than a free run at a scheduled time and place where you can go your own speed and meet new people who have the same passion as you. I find this company to be supporting the right things. “However, people with mental health difficulties often do not engage in recommended levels of physical activity, and there is an association between lower physical activity levels and an increased prevalence of mental health difficulties.” This makes sense to me but is also so sad. When people have mental health difficulties it can be hard for them to get out and exercise. I believe this correlation to be quite strong. One thing I love so much about this company is that is shows others that there is a huge running community out there. This company helps others reach out and find friends. When you are struggling with mental health issues, one of the best things to have is to have a good support group. Whether this be family, friends, or close neighbors it just helps to know that people are there for you when you need them. Having someone to run with and having a set time and place is super beneficial in keeping you running and to help you stay motivated when you really just don’t want to go out. 

All of these right here are great reasons and correlations to what my research is on but there still will be those people out there who disagree. Those ones who suggest taking a drink of alcohol or sitting down for a smoke. The effects are immediate and help you calm down and forget about your worries and troubles for a while. While this is true it is not lasting and is not a positive benefit to you, your body, and your mental health. Mental health disorders are a huge problem in today's society and we as a people need to work together to fight these illnesses. Running is a great benefit that truly does impact your mental health for good. So I hope someday in the near future that you lace up whatever athletic shoes you have and throw on some sport shorts and go out for a jog, whether it’s just around your block, 1 mile, or a few. I hope you can find peace and comfort in a good run but I hope wherever you choose to go, I hope that you find your peace and comfort there. I truly believe that and my hope is that you do as well.

[thekriegerpost]

Opinion Series

Opinion 1:

Dear Nike Running Headquarters, 

Hello, my name is Adam Krieger. I am writing you this letter in hopes that it gets to you and that you will consider what I have to say. I have begun lately to research running and how it affects mental health. Depression is one of the most common world disorders, impacting more than 300 million people worldwide. I find this statistic to be shocking, that is just so many people with a mental health disorder. I have also found in other articles that running is extremely beneficial and helpful to people who may be suffering from depression or any other mental health disorder. At the bottom of this letter I have attached three sources that you may read over and view. What I am trying to get at here is that, as Nike Running Headquarters, you should advertise how much running can positively benefit those with a mental health disorder. I follow your Nike running page on Instagram, and you post some really great stuff, but I personally think that this could be a great campaign for you. As a runner who has suffered from depression and anxiety, I can testify that running truly has helped me and I’ve seen it help others. Running helps us stay fit in many ways, to lower blood sugar, lose some pounds, and to just feel great, but I feel as though running for better mental health is very understated. With how many people look up to Nike and follow your social media, I think you could spread this campaign and really make a difference. I know this may not be your focus, and I understand if you may not want to do this, but I feel as though this would be a good thing to consider.  I have recently found this company called Parkrun. Parkrun started in the United Kingdom and that is where they are mainly located. What they do is provide a free run at a park near you that is just a 5K. It is free to sign up and it is a great way to get started and get to know others who live nearby. I think a partnership between Nike and Parkrun would be great. It would just add to the campaign of Nike promoting the rise in mental health issues and how running can truly help. I really hope that you consider what I have written in this email and that you look over these articles. I have been a runner almost all of my life, and just these past couple months I have experienced anxiety and depression. At first I didn’t know what to do or who to turn to until my parents recommended that I start running again. It’d been a few months since I’d seriously ran and trained. I felt like I didn’t have the energy but I soon got out with some friends. I noticed that after each run my mood was generally better and as I made it consistent, it made a big difference on my mental health. I really hope you consider this. 

Thank you, 

Adam Krieger 

Opinion 2: 

Dear Anheuser-Busch:

Hello, my name is Adam Krieger and I am writing to you today to share my opinion on your company and alcohol in general. I first want to start off by saying congratulations on being the number one selling beer company. To give you some background on who I am and the purpose of me writing this letter to you, I am a runner. I have been running almost all of my life. My family has a good history with running and they are a huge reason why I love running and it is such a part of my life. Recently, I have begun to experience anxiety and depression in my life to a point that I had never before experienced. These past couple months have been extremely hard for me. I then turned back to running every day and found that it helped when I would get depressed or anxious. So I started researching running and the effect it has on your mental health. I found a strong correlation between running and how it positively benefits mental health. What I want to say is that over 300 million people worldwide suffer from depression. When most people go into depression they look towards the things that will offer them some sort of peace. Often, when people get depressed they turn to drinking to try to make their problems go away. The fact is, their problems don’t go away and they drink and drink and drink until they are even more depressed than when they started. My research is about running, but it is more about helping to inform people about what they can turn to that will truly help them instead of turing towards alcohol that will only dig the hole deeper. I hope you can see where I am coming from, but I really think that you should take into consideration some of these facts and realize that your company isn’t really a benefit to society and at times ruins many people's lives. I have personally never seen anything good come from drinking. I don’t want to come off sounding rude or mean, and I don’t think a small drink of beer is absolutely horrible, but one drink leads to another and next thing you know you can start spiraling down. The purpose of this letter is to inform Anheuser-Busch of how severe mental health issues are and how they are on the rise. I want you to be aware of these problems and how drinking is not helping mental health. I understand that you can’t just shut the company down and stop selling, but I think it would be beneficial to promote mental health and inform the population on drinking and mental health disorders and how they correlate. I think this would be a great campaign to promote. I also know that some beer companies have gotten into promoting exercise with beer. That would be a great way to introduce running into the campaign. I understand you are a huge company, but I hope you will consider what I have said. 

Thank you, 

Adam Krieger 

Opinion 3: 

Dear medical doctor at Springville, UT clinic, 

Hello, my name is Adam Krieger. I am sure to be on your records because I have attended your clinic many times, but I still would like to introduce myself and give you my background. Living in Utah, we are all surrounded by Mormons. Recently, at the beginning of summer, I left for my mission but had to return home due to anxiety. Coming home caused me to go into a deep, deep spiral of anxiety and depression. I was referred to a therapist that I saw once a week, and then I also made several appointments at your clinic to see a doctor and get screened for an anxiety disorder or depression disorder. While I was there, I was prescribed multiple medications to help my mental health. As I continued through these treatments, they all helped and were all great, but when I sat down to reflect on what has helped me the most over these past months, it was running. I would say that running truly saved me over these rough months of my life. This realization got me interested, and I started to research the correlation between running and our mental health. I soon found that there was a very positive correlation between running and the effect it has on your mental health. While you run, it releases endorphins into you and these chemicals in your body make you happy! I think that what you do is great, but I also think that it would be really cool to promote or even prescribe people to go out and run if they are dealing with mental health issues. I think that this would be a great campaign to promote around the clinic; that the best medicine is getting outside and getting some exercise. Over 300 million people worldwide have depression, and I think we as a community should do better at preventing and helping this worldwide problem. As a clinic here in Springville, you and our community should work together to break the stereotype of hushing mental health illnesses and work to bring better light and knowledge to them. Growing up, I always thought that these mental health issues were really nothing at all and that they always happened to other people. When I got slapped in the face with anxiety and depression, it hit me hard that mental health issues are real and are truly happening to people all over the world and right here in our community. I hope you can at least consider what I have said in this email. I feel as though this is a great idea and is worth taking note of. I hope you the best of days and I thank you for all that you have done for me and for our community. I have heard it is very hard to be in a profession that is constantly helping people, but I imagine it to be extremely rewarding. Thank you so much for everything you do to help others..  

Thank you, 

Adam Krieger 

Work Cited

Morris, Paul, and Helen Scott. “Not Just a Run in the Park: A Qualitative Exploration of 

Parkrun and Mental Health.” Fulton Library, United Kingdom : Taylor & Francis , Sept. 2019, 

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=b1475d8f-0bde-47fc-9163-c878cc5bcd7

7@sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU=#AN=2018-40729-001&db=psyh. 

Stephenson, Sharon. “Vampire Running.” Fulton Library, Bauer Media Group, June 2017, 

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uvu.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=bcfd0943-089b-448f-8

1f8-82e3d74f6616@sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU=#AN=123265249&d

b=f6h. 

Freeland, Ben. “The Healing Power of Running Very Long Distances.” Medium, Medium, 27 

June 2018,  

https://medium.com/s/story/the-healing-power-of-running-very-long-distances-3ae36e2ca

d3a. 

Suzuki, Wendy. “‘The Brain-Changing Benefits of Exercise.’” TED, 

https://www.ted.com/talks/wendy_suzuki_the_brain_changing_benefits_of_exercise/transcript. 

Oaklander, Mandy. “Running Can Help You Live Longer. And More Isn't Always Better.” 

Fulton Library, TIME Magazine , 

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uvu.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=8e97f0c9-ceef-459b-87

b8-c66315ce74ec@sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU=#AN=139553396&db

=asn. 

Reynolds, Gretchen. “3 Hours of Exercise a Week May Lower Your Depression Risk.” The 

New York Times, 20 Nov. 2019, 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/well/move/3-hours-of-exercise-a-week-may-lower-your-d

epression-risk.html.  

 Baca, Jimmy Santiago. “[Today, Running along the River] by Jimmy Santiago Baca.” Poetry 

Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53240/from-winter-poems-along-the-rio-grande. 

Schnee, Alex. “Running.” Fulton Library, Utah Valley University, 2018,

 http://ezproxy.uvu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&A

N=114325118&site=eds-live. 

Sabourin, BC, et al. “Running as Interoceptive Exposure for Decreasing Anxiety Sensitivity: 

Replication and Extension.” Fulton Library, Taylor & Francis Country of Publication: England, 

2 Mar. 2015, 

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=9&sid=b1475d8f-0bde-47fc-9163-c878cc5bcd7

[thekriegerpost]

Annotated Bibliography

1. Schnee, Alex. “Running.” Fulton Library, Utah Valley University, 2018,

 http://ezproxy.uvu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&A

N=114325118&site=eds-live. 

The reason that I chose this source is because of the history that it gives of the art of running. It gives a good background of what running does to the body. The article then proceeds to give a brief history on running and how the sport of running has evolved, to how we know running today and how we participate in the sport. The article talks about the evolution of humans from the time we could stand on two legs to the competitions of the Greek Olympics. We then read about the anatomy of running and how there are three stages;  the stance, float, and swing phases. The article then talks about good techniques and common injuries from staying relaxed to shin splints. We then hear about the benefits of running. Some benefits include improved respiratory health, bone and muscle strength, cardiovascular strength, increased calorie burn and more. Lastly, it talks about running events and competitions. We see events from many distances whether it be on roads, trails, or on tracks. There are competitions where you have to jump over hurdles as well. Some of the most well known events are the 100 meters, mile, 5K, half marathon, and marathon. This article will be great to include for those readers that don’t know much about running and will be a great overview. I chose this article for the great background it gives and all the important basic information of running it provides for my research paper and for the viewer to look over and read if they want further information on running.   

2. Sarawut Lapmanee, Jantarima Charoenphandhu, Narattaphol Charoenphandhu, “Beneficial 

Effects of Fluoxetine, Reboxetine, Venlafaxine, and Voluntary Running Exercise in Stressed 

Male Rats with Anxiety- and Depression-like Behaviors.” Behavioural Brain Research, Elsevier, 

21 May 2013, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166432813002891?via=ihub. 

This article is about how some researchers took stressed male rats and gave them medication and wheel running to see if their depression and anxiety went down or improved. They first exposed the rodents to mild but repetitive stressful circumstances. They noticed that when they exposed the rodents to these stressful situations, they had a greater chance of developing a mental health concern such as an anxiety disorder or depression disorder. They concluded that regular exercise that is voluntary, combined with pharmacological treatment, especially fluoxetine and reboxetine, could lower signs of anxiety and depression in the stressed male rats. I chose this article because it shows many different things that I found interesting. It first shows that when the rats are introduced to continual stress that they are more likely to develop anxiety or/and depression. It then shows that for exercise to be beneficial it must be voluntary and not forced. Lastly, the article shows that medication can be a good thing. I think in today's society we speak of taking medication in hushed tones and no one really wants others to know. This article shows that it can help, and while I understand that these are just rodents that were tested, I think this source will be beneficial for my research paper. I think experiments like these and others can be very helpful and can show us many insights to things that we were unsure of and give us solid concrete evidence and facts. 

3. Morris, Paul, and Helen Scott. “Not Just a Run in the Park: A Qualitative Exploration of 

Parkrun and Mental Health.” Fulton Library, United Kingdom : Taylor & Francis , Sept. 2019, 

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=b1475d8f-0bde-47fc-9163-c878cc5bcd7

7@sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU=#AN=2018-40729-001&db=psyh. 

This article talks about how some guys in 2004 put on this event called a Parkrun where anyone could come for free at a certain place and time to run five kilometers. At first they only had 13 runners show up, they now have over 100,000 participants with 445 events all over the United Kingdom and the world. I have always found that it is a lot easier to exercise and run when I am with others and when there is a set time and place. This gives people groups to run with and gives them something to look forward to. In the article they talk about how exercise is very important to people who have mental health issues as they are more likely to have a poor lifestyle such as a bad diet, drinking, smoking, and being overweight. They say that people with lower physical activity have a higher chance of having some form of mental health illness. This also goes to show that people who have mental health difficulties are amongst the most socially excluded people. This also shows that people who are socially excluded have higher mental health issues. The question that they most want answered is what are the experiences of people who have had a history with mental health difficulties when participating in Parkrun? I think this article will be very beneficial while I am writing my research paper. It shows that more than just exercise can help you with your mental health. I also love that this gives readers a chance to find a local Parkrun near them and participate. Someday I would love to participate.  

4. Sabourin, BC, et al. “Running as Interoceptive Exposure for Decreasing Anxiety Sensitivity: 

Replication and Extension.” Fulton Library, Taylor & Francis Country of Publication: England, 

2 Mar. 2015, 

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=9&sid=b1475d8f-0bde-47fc-9163-c878cc5bcd7

7@sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU=#AN=25730341&db=cmedm. 

So this article is a little tricky, but I feel that it has some good stuff in it and it makes sense to why I chose it. In the study, they took 154 women who were afraid of how their body felt when it was aroused, rapid heart rate etc. The purpose was to see how running helped them decrease their anxiety sensitivity. They had them run 10 ten minute running trials over the course of 10 weeks. So, 10 minutes of running once a week. The goal of the trial and test runs was to get the females used to experiencing a rapid heart rate and all the things that occur to their bodies when they are running. This way their anxiety sensitivity towards arousal will go down. What their body experienced while running is somewhat similar to what they experience with arousal. If they get comfortable with how their bodies feel while running, their anxiety sensitivity towards arousal should go down. The studies in the article do show decreased signs of anxiety sensitivity in most of the women. The reason I chose this article is because it shows a different side of how running can be beneficial towards people with any mental health issue. Personally, I didn’t know that this was an issue, and I found it very interesting because I had never heard of it. I think it will be helpful to see all the different sides of how running can be beneficial not just for physical health but for mental and emotional health. I feel as though this article will provide a different view on how running can help people with mental health issues. 

5. Stephenson, Sharon. “Vampire Running.” Fulton Library, Bauer Media Group, June 2017, 

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uvu.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=bcfd0943-089b-448f-8

1f8-82e3d74f6616@sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU=#AN=123265249&d

b=f6h. 

This article that I chose is about a women who started to experience a deep sadness. She wasn’t experiencing such depression to where she was suicidal or wanted to harm herself but she just felt like a gloomy fog had overcome her. She had no reason to be sad. She had a family, a good job, food, and shelter. The winter sadness just seemed to hit her hard. So she decided one deary night that she was going to go for a night run and pull out the old running shoes. It was extremely cold outside but she was determined to out run the sadness. When she finally finished her run she felt endorphins flood her and felt that so called runner's high. She ran in any weather at night through that winter. At times she couldn’t feel her toes but she loved being out there by herself. She often complained but found comfort in doing it. A friend referred to it as vampire running, running at night when most wouldn’t. She soon began to feel less anxious and more calm. That was her favorite thing about running, how much it affected her mood for good. I chose this article because it yet again shows a different side of running and how it helped this woman. I love how we think of running as just running but there are so many different types and options for when and how to do it. Some prefer running in the morning while others at night and each work the best for every different person. I just love this source because it is a personal story and not just research or facts.  

6. Freeland, Ben. “The Healing Power of Running Very Long Distances.” Medium, Medium, 27 

June 2018,  

https://medium.com/s/story/the-healing-power-of-running-very-long-distances-3ae36e2ca

d3a. 

This article is about a kid who grew up as the non-athletic kid and never did much with sports. He had asthma so that always limited him but he always wanted to become an athlete and become a good runner. He was determined to do that but soon he had some severe asthma attacks in junior high that hospitalized him. Then to shoot down his determination even more he got into a car accident when he was seventeen that left him with a bad ankle fracture and some rehabilitation. Then at the age of 37 he took up running again due to the panic attacks that he started to have. He had had them in junior high and with asthma was used to the feeling of losing your breath but these ones seemed worse. By 2014 he was out of a job and found himself in a deep depression, the worst he had ever felt in his life. Running seemed to be the only thing to part the clouds of depression and all those anxiety attacks. I decided to choose this article because it spoke to me pretty personally. I have experienced anxiety attacks before and to see how much running has helped this man I just want to share his and my experience of how much running has helped us through our dark times. I just like the different views that this article offers and how it is a personal experience. I  love reading personal experiences. They are very refreshing and meaningful.

7. Baca, Jimmy Santiago. “[Today, Running along the River] by Jimmy Santiago Baca.” Poetry 

Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53240/from-winter-poems-along-the-rio-grande. 

I chose to include this source because it is unlike any other source that I have in this annotated bibliography. It is a poem! I think there are many ways to interpret poems and each interpretation is slightly different or can be completely different! I just love the variety that it brings and will hopefully bring to my paper. What happens is this man is out on a run and many things are on his mind. It sounds like it is a fall day. He passes the cathedral. He sees many birds out on his run. He scares some off but others stay where they are. He soon thinks about this woman that he is interested in. He keeps reflecting back on the cathedral. He soon hears a voice as clear as day that tells him to stay close to his spirits and do all things spiritually. Stay close to the creator and all his worries will be answered in time. I just love how he begins the run worried and thinking of all different things and ends with such clarity and peace. He ends it with ‘ah it is a good run..’ I don’t know, I just simply love that. Such a little piece of writing but there is so much in the poem. I enjoy these poems that can be abstract and that don’t really have a meaning but at the same time they do. I like thinking through them and rereading them and trying to figure out what it means. I also love that every person has a different meaning of the exact same poem.   

8. Suzuki, Wendy. “‘The Brain-Changing Benefits of Exercise.’” TED, 

https://www.ted.com/talks/wendy_suzuki_the_brain_changing_benefits_of_exercise/transcript. 

The reason that I chose this source was mainly because it was a TED talk, but I love how different this source is as well from the other ones. I think that videos like this can help others really learn better than articles can do at times. Wendy Suzuki is a professor of neuroscience that delves into why exercise is the most powerful and transformative thing you can do for your brain right now. She then talks about the prefrontal cortex of the brain. This is the center of decision-making, focus, attention, and your personality. She talks about the temporal lobe as well. You have two sections to this part, a right and a left. The temporal lobe is responsible for storing your new long term memories for facts and events. Wendy Suzuki had become well known for all her discoveries with memories and she spent lots of time in the lab and dark rooms looking over brain cells and finding new discoveries. It was great for her but she noticed something. When she took herself away from the lab she noticed that she had no social life, had gained 25 pounds, and just was in a really depressed mood. She should have been happy but she just wasn’t. That is when she turned to exercise. She soon lost those 25 pounds and noticed that her mood was always so much better after exercising. She came to three conclusions. First is that exercise has immediate effects on the brain; second is improved attention and mood; and third is it provides protective effects on your brain.

9. Oaklander, Mandy. “Running Can Help You Live Longer. And More Isn't Always Better.” 

Fulton Library, TIME Magazine , 

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uvu.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=8e97f0c9-ceef-459b-87

b8-c66315ce74ec@sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU=#AN=139553396&db

=asn. 

The reason that I chose this article is because it provides some solid facts and research into running but it shows how you don’t have to be a skilled runner who runs tons of miles every week. Researchers took over 200,000 people from all over the world and tracked their deaths and whether they ran or not. They found that runners were 27 percent less likely to die for any reason and had a 30 percent less chance of getting cardiovascular disease. Regardless of how much each person ran, they found that if a person ran at all they had the same benefits. When you run you grow new capillaries and small arteries which help lower your blood pressure. You also use up your blood sugar while running and this helps fight against cancer because your blood sugar is what cancer cells feed on. 46 percent of Americans don’t meet the physical requirements. I want to show how running can help with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety but I also want to show how it can help you with so much more than just your mental health! I’ve found myself to always feel so much better mentally and physically after I run. There are just so many benefits to running and you honestly don’t have to run that far. I think it is so horrible that almost half the American population doesn’t meet the physical requirements to keep their bodies healthy and up to shape. I understand that some really just can’t but still we need to try a little bit harder. 

10. Reynolds, Gretchen. “3 Hours of Exercise a Week May Lower Your Depression Risk.” The 

New York Times, 20 Nov. 2019, 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/well/move/3-hours-of-exercise-a-week-may-lower-your-d

epression-risk.html.  

I’ll be honest, I chose this article because I couldn’t find any other sources and this one fit right in with my topic. Studies have shown that any type of physical activity whether strenuous or intense has shown to offset a person’s genetic propensity for depression. Depression is one of the most common world disorders and affects more than 300 million people worldwide. Some people’s genetics give them a bigger chance of suffering from depression. This just sometimes runs in families. Though people may have these genetic defaults, exercise has shown that it can decrease depression and decrease the intensity or duration of your down times. Exercise doesn’t eliminate the complete risk of developing a mental disorder such as depression but it sure does help. They took 8000 men and women and took DNA samples and had them take a survey on how much they exercise each week. They found that no matter if you have a high or low risk of depression, they found that when the participants exercised they had a significantly lower chance of developing depression than those who didn’t exercise. Concluding the article, they want to enforce that your genes are not your destiny and that you can change, prevent, and live a different life than what your genes may say. I personally love the fact that they focused on humans genes in this because this is something to be thought that we can’t change or are destined to but I love how they flip that and bring light that you can prevent certain gene disorders that you may or may not have.

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The FOOD

I literally love food. Like looooove. People will be like ‘ya I skipped or forgot to eat today.’ and I’m like ‘bro I literally never forget to eat and I don’t skip meals.’ I guess maybe because I run so much I feel as though I am constantly hungry. Food is just so magical. Like pasta, potatoes, salads, meat, fruit, veggies, and on and on and on and on. My favorite dish is probably all the different varieties of pasta there are. Like bacon pasta, just normal, sausage pasta, all the different kinds of noodles and all the different kinds of sauces and meats to add. Love me some good pasta. One of my other favorites is pomegranates. I would say that I have perfected the art of opening them and eating them and they are just the best fruits in the world. I can’t get enough of them. I just love fruits. They are just so sweet and just so good except when they aren’t ripe then they can be pretty nasty. I also just love meats. My favorite is probably tri-tip it is just such good meat and my dad really knows how to cook that meat. I also love smoked meats, they just have such good flavor. Now potatoes. Man you can do everything with potatoes. Mashed potatoes, baked, twice baked, funeral potatoes, smoked, and literally everything! Potatoes are just so good. Man those people out there who really don’t like eating like that is just so sad. I just don’t understand how. Food is amazing. 

The Krieger Post 

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The WATER

Bro i’m about to write 250 words all about water. I freaking love water. Water is literally the breath of life we all need to live with like wow I love water. People be like ‘bro water don’t taste like sh*t!’ and i’m like ‘bro have you ever gone on a super long run in the dead of heat and you are freaking parched dry for water and would probably kill a man for some water?????’ ya I didn’t think so brooo because waters the freaking best. You can honestly do so much with water! You can add fruits, make lemonaide, make hot chocolate, make allllllll sorts of drinks. Right after a run water is always the first thing that I want! Our bodies are literally made so much of water. Also swimming is literally so much fun! I love jumping into a pool or a lake or a river or any body of water on a hot day and it just feels so so so good! I love water fights and just that feeling of the water rushing over your body. Oh baby after a long hot run and going down in the creek and icing with your friends. Man it hurts but it feels soooooooooo good after the first 2 minutes. Water is literally just the best and I will fight ya’ll for water. Hope this beautiful earth never dries up. Because that would be hecka sad if it did. Some of my bestest memories involve water or bodies of water. WATER IS LIFE! 

The Krieger Post 

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The BREAK

Ahhhh thanksgiving break. What a wondrous time. A week long break to study up and do all your homework before finals WRONG! You sit and do nothing all week long and then eat tons of food and then be like ahhh crap I have so much homework to do and not enough time. Welp thats me. Over the break I watched the whole second season of stranger things and some seasons of the mandalorian. I ran but other than that I just mainly did nothing. We had an entire week off for the break and it was so incredibly nice but wow I actually got nothing done. My brother and sister in law were in town that whole week and they have three little girls and they are just may favorite. Their names are Yvonne, Noelle, and Josie. They are 3, 2, and 5 months old. They are so much fun and I absolutely love them with all my heart. I can’t wait to see them again but it was so fun to see them. When ever I first see Noelle she runs up to me with her arms waving saying “uncle adam! uncle adam! uncle adam!” Then I pick her up and throw her in the air and she just laughs her head off! It makes me smile so much and I absolutely lover her with my whole heart. I love my nieces and nephews! I’m most certainly the favorite uncle. The break was well needed and so much fun! 

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The FINALS WEEK

It is here. It is upon me. I am not ready. I am stressed. I have much to catch up on. I am quite behind. I am scared but I can do this. I just have to write so many things especially for english. I had to write all of my annotated bibliography not too long ago and then I had to write my opinion series and then I have to finish these tumblr posts and then I have to write a 2000 word research paper and then a 1000 word reflection thing, still unsure about that last one with what I have to do. I got this. I can do this. I am strong. hahah Oh finals week. Then i’m probably going to wake up early tomorrow to write up a draft for my stress management paper that is due next week. Wow for a stress management class I feel stressed out about this paper. Then after that I have to study for a chemistry final and i’m pretty stressed about that but I think it shouldn’t be too hard. We can hope at least. I knew finals were hard and everyone always told me that but now that i’m experiencing it I fully grasp how HARD it actually is! And how STRESSFUL it actually is! Like holy cow man this week and next is killing me. Keep me and everyone who is going through finals in your prayers. A prayer for a prayer. We all need a miracle from God, don’t we? 

The Krieger Post

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The THANKSGIVING

Ahhh Thanksgiving. What a wonderful time of year it is. Fall has passed and it is now that ugly space in between fall and winter where it can’t decide what it wants to be. So it’s just cold and not very pretty outside but thats when Thanksgiving comes in handy! We all come together as a family and get fat and eat tons of super good foods. We had a little temporary splitting this Thanksgiving. It was technically my dads side of the families turn to go up and have Thanksgiving up there in Idaho but my brother and sister in law came down for Thanksgiving on my sister in laws side but they were staying at our place. So my dad and my brother for sure were going to go up to Idaho but my mom didn’t want to go up and wanted to just stay down here with my brother and his family. So I was then torn in the middle. Both my parents wanted me to go with them and I did not know who to go with. I love both sides of the family. I knew if I stayed down we would have Thanksgiving with my sister in laws family and they are for sure a hoot haha. So I finally decided to just stay down here and have Thanksgiving here. Tough decisions but it all worked out and it was a blast to have Thanksgiving with my sister in laws family. Our families are very close and we’ve known each other for a while now. Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving! 

The Krieger Post 

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The BOB NIKE

Back in November my friend and I went up to Eagle Island, Idaho for Nike Cross Regionals Northwest. My friends name is Josh and he works for this company called MileSplit. MileSplit is a coverage place where they record and track high school cross country and track and field all throughout the United States. He is the head MileSplit dude over Utah but no one from MileSplit was going up to this race so he decided he wanted to go and he asked if I wanted to come because he didn’t want to go alone and also we are just great friends. So we started our journey. He drove his car because it is super nice and gets fantastic gas mileage. So the reason for this title is that this race course hold two very big races each year. The race that I normally go to it for it this race called Bob Firman. This race is held in September and is a big mid season race that a lot of schools go to all over the country so I am use to seeing this course as Bob Firman. When we pulled up to the course it was decked out in Nike because this race is Nike Cross Regionals and it was just so weird to see it as Nike and not Bob Firman. So I mixed the names for the title haha. Josh and I had such a fun time up there though. We raced the community 5K and then ran around got pictures of the high school athletes. It was a blast. We stayed at his aunt and uncles house up close by eagle. We drove up on Friday night, did the race Saturday, and then drove down to my Grandpa Krieger’s house in Burley which is like 2 hours away from Eagle and stayed there Saturday night and drove home the rest of the way on Sunday morning.

The Krieger Post

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The GOODBYE

At the end of October I had to say goodbye yet again to two more of my friends to missions. I��m going to miss them tons. They both left on the same day. So this one was a double punch in the face, stomach, and everything. I’m so sad. It’s okay I guess. The first ones name is Ryan. He was suppose to leave in August but delayed it one transfer, so 6 weeks. He is called to serve in the Brazil Sao Paulo mission. That is where his dad served too so that is pretty cool. He is in the Brazil missionary training center for six weeks learning the Portuguese language. He is on his fifth week currently. My other friend is named Ethan. He is called to serve in the Toronto, Mexico mission. He is in the Mexico missionary training center for 6 weeks learning the Spanish language. Before the summer I wasn’t too close to these two. Like we were good friends but we weren’t that close. Over this summer though we became a lot better friends. Since all of our close friends moved away we were kind of forced to hangout with each other. We started to hangout a lot more and grow a lot more close as friends and when they left we both cried when I last gave each of them a hug. I miss them immensely and I love them both immensely and I can’t wait to see them again. I only hope the best for them and I hope they can get over any challenges that they are currently facing and that are in their future.  

The Krieger Post

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The SPOOKY SEASON

I am a little behind on these but Halloween was just in October! The time is flying by currently and it just seems crazy to me. I love Halloween and I have always loved it since I was young. I would have to say that Halloween and this time of year is just my favorite. Halloween has to be my favorite holiday. All growing up right before Halloween we would go to my Aunts house who lives in Orem and all my cousins and I would set up in their garage and carve pumpkins. It would be a little chilly outside but my grandparents always made good hot soup. We would carve all day long, have tons of fun with the cousins, and we ate such good food. It was always my favorite. I do miss it so much. Some of my favorite memories have come from Halloween and dressing up. I always loved going trick or treating. It was just so fun! I went trick or treating all the way up to my sophomore year of high school. Some of my best costumes have been when I was a stop light, a Christmas tree, a little german boy, Napoleon Dynamite, and Ham from The Sandlot. Halloween is such a fun time when you stay up late as a kid eating candy and hanging out with friends. I also just love the weather. It’s getting cold but not too cold yet. The leaves changing color and shedding their leaves. I just love the fall and October. I also love haunted houses! I am such a scaredy cat but they are so much fun! I like scary movies but not too scary of movies because I can’t handle too scary of movies. I get spooked pretty easy haha but I still love them. 

The Krieger Post

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Look at this panting! Wow! This is incredible! I can’t believe that people are literally this good! This is so shocking! The colors are just so perfect and amazing and the way the sun just reaches through the clouds is outstanding! I have always wished that I could be a better painter, I do try. I love he dark colors but also the light colors. This is like a fall night up in the mountains where the sun is just setting over a cloudy day. What a beautiful painting. Truly a master piece. I honestly would love to buy this painting. 

Gunter H. Korus - Sunlit. Oil on linen.

[thekriegerpost]

Woah!! This is so incredible but so freaky at the same time. The colors are so deep and mystical and I just love everything about this photo. This just makes me want to take up photography. I was talking to my friend the other day about how amazingly cool the ocean is. We said it was like a majestic monster that is fun to be around and see but at times can be unpredictable and very dangerous. Who ever got this close to take this picture is awesome! I would love someday to go and see where this is located at. 

Maelstroms

These truly massive whirlpools form when conflicting tidal flows meet. The swirling vortex is powerful enough to pull in swimmers and small boats. The most powerful is Saltstraumen, located outside Norway.

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It’s so empowering to say “this isn’t serving me” and walk away in peace.

Unknown (via quotethat)

I simply love this quote. I feel as though it has many meanings but for me it means that it is okay to walk away from something that you may be used to or that is prevalent in your life. What ever it may be it can be hard to walk away from but it takes power to say that this situation or what ever is just not right for me and then walk away from it in peace knowing you made the right decision for you and your life. We as humans all need to learn when to walk away from something. 

[thekriegerpost]

This is also me during these next two weeks of finals and holy cow I just want to lay everything down and just nap for a couple months. Like I need a hug and a break from all of these assignments and finals and papers. I knew finals week would be hectic but I didn’t think it would be this hard. I literally relate to this post so much as well. I am so dead and tired right now. Like holy cow. I need a break. Some one give me a hug.  Like as soon as possible pretty please, thanks. 

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