Now is the time that many runners are in their last weeks
before their spring marathon. On twitter there are many excited runners who
have put in the hours of training and are now nervous and excited about their
big day. I was planning to be one of them but unfortunately this spring I am
not going to run a marathon. And I am devastated! My running at the beginning
of this year was going really well. My running pace significantly increased and
I was enjoying the progress. I really, really enjoyed running and therefore
went out more often than my running plan told me to. In addition I started
running every day from the train station to work. It’s only 3.5 km each way but
in addition to my normal running plan each day it was too much. My left
thigh/knee went. I have now not properly run in 6 weeks. Since I started
running I have never not run for such an extensive amount of time. I am surprised
how much of an effect it has on me. I spent so much time running. And if I am
not running I am reading about running and planning new races. Without being
able to run I feel totally lost and frustrated. I feel like I have fallen into
a big hole. I don’t really know who I am anymore. I identified myself through
running.
However I believe that everything happens to you for a
reason so I have been trying to see some positives in my injury.
- This injury has made me realise again that you cannot plan your life. Circumstances may arise for which you cannot plan and instead of getting frustrated that things don’t go your ways it is much better to just accept them. Life will never go as planned.
- Enjoy where you are. Besides the pain while running I am healthy. I have two arms, two legs and have an otherwise a healthy body. I can walk without pain. There are people less fortunate.
- I will run again and when I run again I will appreciate the ability to go running even more. Hopefully this will give me some motivation when I’m finding it hard to get up early to go to the gym.
- My body is delicate. It is not a machine. Someone on twitter posted that your body is like a plant you need to take care of. Little sleep, sudden increase in mileage and crappy food are not good nutrients for a delicate plant.
- Listen to your body. My body was achy the weeks before I got injured even after short 10ks but I didn’t give my body more than one day of rest. Stop when your body tells you to stop.
- Take breaks. I have started to really enjoy running and I tend to especially enjoy it after a big race. This however leads me to never giving myself a break from running. For the last 2 years the longest break from running I had was one week. I am slightly nervous losing my fitness but I think it’ll be good to once a year take 3-4 weeks off from running so that your body can recover. This is my plan for next year.
- Cross-training. I love running and therefore when I have some spare time I want to go running and not do something I am less keen on. However I believe that cross training is key to avoiding injury while keeping your aerobic fitness up. I would like to go cycling and swimming more often. I do enjoy cycling but I don’t really enjoy swimming as I only recently learned how to crawl and I still do not proper master it. But only practice will turn that discomfort into appreciation. When I started running I didn’t love it straight away. And I really would love to be a strong swimmer.
I will run again. My body has
taken me to some amazing places and has allowed me to finish my first marathon.
Now I need to be patient and let this body rest. There will be many races to
come.
No comments:
Post a Comment