There comes a time in every runner’s life that an injury sidelines us for some time. At times we can’t walk. We wear a boot. We lay outstretched with ice packs strapped to our shins. Sometimes we even strain seemingly unrelated body parts like shoulders or backs. You’d think with all the injuries and pain, we would call it quits. Throw in the proverbial towel. But we don’t. We stay the course. We heal. We get better. And we run some more.
We are runners. We run with heart and sole soul. We don’t quit when things get tough. We push through and persevere. We may be sad when we’re down but we know we’re not out. Not for good.
Why am I telling you this? Because I know more than my fair share of running buddies battling injury as we speak — myself included. We can’t run. Or if we can, we can only run low mileage. We have setbacks and failed attempts at getting back in the game. We lost some fitness. We lost some motivation. But we haven’t lost determination. We haven’t lost grit.
So to my fellow runners battling injury of some sort, I say this: hang in there. Stay the course. Time heals all wounds (in this case anyway). Listen to your body. When it’s ready to run again, it will let you know. And if you’re too anxious and run before it’s ready, it will let you know that, too.
Give yourself permission to have a pity party but when it’s over, leave the pity behind. Cross train with activities you can do. Strengthen your weak areas. Focus on staying healthy so when you’re ready to run again, you can do it with grace and dignity.
Take comfort in knowing your running comrades are hurting, too. Commiserate with one another. Find solace in others in a similar situation. Reassure one another that this too shall pass. But above all else, stay strong, stay focused, and stay determined. We will run again!
#runstrong #noexcuses
