Personal experience, I mostly hated PE as well, but I ran track as an endurance runner (ran 400m, 800m, 1600m, 3200m & 4x400m) aand later competed amaturely in

Personal experience, I mostly hated PE as well, but I ran track as an endurance runner (ran 400m, 800m, 1600m, 3200m & 4x400m) aand later competed amaturely in cycling. When I was running, I was putting in 8-10 miles a day. Cycling was around 1.5 hours for a weekday, 3-4 hours per day on a weekend. I wouldn't say I was depressed at all in those times, but I was certainly stressed quite a bit and I did feel that the exercise was a cathartic escape from the stress and worrying. I'd kind of zone out at 25 mph, 30 miles from home on the bike and the mind would just clear. I also loved the competition. I never won a race, but I placed second with a near win in a bike race. Racing on a bike is an experience of its own right. When you're in the peloton, it can be nearly deathly quiet. You can have a quiet conversation with the person next to you. All you hear is the tire noise on the road and the turn of chains over the gears. Zero wind noise. It's weird and magical. Something you don't expect or get to experience as an amateur training alone.