SKY AND RUNNING: Navigating Injury, decay and other ****

Doing sports have shaped my life in multiple aspects: my body form, my overall health, my mental strength, my connection to other living things (specially not human ones) …I only have grateful words for the experiences and people that the journey is bringing me so far…

We are all aging, some better than others, but decay and death is inevitable, are injuries are getting more frequent and likely. How many knee injured friends do you have when you where in your earlier 20’s? How is it now at your 30’s,40’s…? How many days you recall with little pains here and there in the university or high school? What about now?

Training has commonly the goal of development and improvement. For many runners, speed is the main kpi, together with endurance. We all want to run longer and faster, forever…but even the best training plans, and in the best circumstances, the future comes with unexpected, and sometimes tough surprises.

Injury

A not so random day, something breaks. It is a stress fracture, and accident, a silly twist…suddenly you must stop and schedule multiple appointments with doctors and physios. Your so hard stablished habit of training everyday is compromised, together with your running community, your calendar is suddenly crossed with plans that could not take place as you wished.

We hardly prepare ourselves to manage injury, and, although in some cases is not preventable, there is a lot to do for avoidance, and to navigate decently when it happens.

Most of stress induced injuries are avoidable, but it requires the same commitment as our training log. Regular checkups with physio, biomechanics professionals, blood tests… must be part of our calendar so nothing is deteriorating in our body. A healthy runner eats well and enough, rest like a pro, and run frequently, mostly slow, and sometimes fast, but never hard. Our capacity to absorb running stress is heavily conditioned by our genetics, circumstances, background and overall stress.

It is important not to bend our training, but developing a practice that is exciting but realistic, so consistency is number one priority.  Having an honest dialogue with us is critical to set goals and go through the days without asking too much to ourselves. Remember you are enough, and most of us do not care of how fast you are.

Even the most balanced runners face injury, and in any case, we need to learn to live for some time without practicing our beloved sport. That does not mean disconnecting from our bodies, or with the community at all, or develop in other ways as a runner.  In case of injury, I suggest asking yourself these questions:

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• Why did it happen? Was its bad luck or there is something to learn?
• What should I do to heal it properly? What are the passive and active treatments required?
• What can I do physically during the recovery period? Which sports or practice is positive for healing or maintaining form?
• What can I do to develop as a runner is other ways? Can I improve my knowledge of running (training, nutrition, resting, biomechanics…) or my mental resilience (mediation, yoga, visualization)
• What can I do for the running community? Maybe is time to volunteer for a race, help an NGO or other runners, support other projects logistically…
• What can I do more to the people I love? This extra time can be precious to help the people we do not see or help enough.
• Should I review my WHY? Is my WHY good and strong enough?

Even at the event of very serious injury, the amount of possibilities is immense.  Focus on what you can do and keep connection with people no matter what. You are part of a bigger team, and it is a great opportunity to help others succeed. If everyone else is your team, you are always a winner.

Decay

Physical development is complex, and even with constant and good training, we may not see the progress we expected. Specially when aging gains weight, we will start getting slower and more vulnerable, whether we want it or not.

It is important, specially when decay and aging step in, to keep your why in the process and the love of running. Step out of chasing numeric kpi’s like speed, results or hours of training. We must practice self-love and acceptance, as we are great and unique in many more ways that our competitive self. It is because we move with joy and dear to dream that we remain fresh and young in spirits, not based on our performance or younger self.

Development has multiple paths, and while some development as VO2max is highly genetical and age constrained, our running economy, endurance, experience, skill bag (climbing, downhill, biking, skiing, orienteering…) can grow with years. 

There are multiple dimensions where you can grow as a person and a runner, and the challenge will always be there. Running is the ultimate expression of movement and life, and the possibilities and places are not finite within a lifetime.

Anxiety, Depression and self-criticism… Mental Health

It is common to hear about physical injuries, but few people speak up when they are mentally broken. The incidence of mental health problems in runners can be as high as 20-30%, but we barely talk about it. I do not have the solutions, and do not dare to give more advice that speak up, and trust your community, friends and professionals… WE are all willing to help you, and you will not find any judgement.

As we would not evaluate a person strength on a knee injury, we do not do it either when a person has an eating disorder, depression or any other mental issue. It is now more important than ever to ask for help in needed and accept that not everything is flowers and unicorns, and that could happen to anyone.

Concluding notes…

We are vulnerable, and should be prepared for injury, decay and some mental walls…it is all fine. A community deserve to be named as such when we can all navigate openly not only to physical but also mental problems, and every person who wants to run is a runner, independently of what it is possible today.

Be kind, run lots, mostly easy and sometimes fast, whatever fast means, and help others, your compassion to yourself and to others is your real power.

May the power of kindness be with you, forever