Running and I have come a long way. Not just in terms of PB’s or times or parkrun tourism…but in terms of how it affects my life and my views on it.
My yearly calf niggle has cropped up again. This always happens from time to time and to be fair I’ve had a good run (ha) of not having any issues so it was really only time before it happened again. I’ve done a lot recently – three marathons very close to each other. I can feel my body saying “can we please have a rest?”. I like to think I’m good at judging this, but clearly I need something to actually stop me. I’m good, but I’m not that good.
Of course I’m a bit bummed out – I love running. I do it frequently through the week and enjoy the freedom, the endorphins and the mental “ahhhh” I get from it. It makes me sad when suddenly I can’t run, or can’t run as much, and when things aren’t feeling as good as they felt before.
But that’s all – I’m bummed. I’m not distraught, or depressed, or feeling angry. I know this is my fault and I know I just need a bit of rest to clear it up. Time and TLC (tender loving cake? No?) and I’ll be back in no time. It’s a nice reset and refresh for my training if anything.
It did make me think though. There was a time when running was everything. Where getting injured literally ruined my week. I would become very down, very sad and everything else became tarred by the same darkness. Looking back I think this is because I was putting a lot of eggs into one basket. My happiness was quite dependent on my running. If I didn’t run, what else did I have?
Not to sound too pathetic, but a big part of my life was to do with running. I hated my job (the job before this one) and felt unfilled, lost and indifferent. I clearly didn’t have a marriage that was working (though at the time I kind of just ignored this, assumed all was well and didn’t question niggling doubts or feelings). I had my family and friends, but I was very focused on my running and became somewhat isolated in the relationship I was in. It wasn’t healthy.
Then when my marriage fell apart all I had to focus on was my running. Running would get me through the hard times. And it did. I love running for that. I was able to put a lot of emotion into it and use it to strengthen me mentally. It hugely helped and I’ll never regret that. The only problem is when you use running to make you strong, to keep you going and to enjoy life… when it’s taken away things become hard very quickly. What do I do with myself? How do I define myself? How can my body be so weak? Why have I failed?
I had no happy job to keep me focused. A lot of my friends are runners. My whole social media was just about running. My spare time was about running.
Today things are a lot different. Of course I still love running. It’s a huge part of my life. It makes me very happy and I love doing it. It’s one of the reasons Kyle and I got together – it brought us a closer than just talking in the office at work. I hope to always have running. But the difference is, I have so much more to me now than just running.
I have a great boyfriend. I have a fantastic job I enjoy. I love the gym and pushing myself there – the strength gains and being one of the best in circuits class some days. I still have running friends but I also spend quality time with non-running friends – and the close running friends I have are always there for me with or without running. I use social media for more than just talking about running (heyyyy Instagram food accounts). I don’t define myself by my running. It doesn’t control my happiness.
So yeah, I have a niggle. But hey, so what?
Is running a big part of your life?
What’s a niggle you always seem to get?
Running is a big part of my life, same as you, marriage breakup and being a single full time dad need some mental head space.
The feeling I get after a run is amazing and your blog is quite inspiring
Niggles are annoying but they come and go 🙂 I didn’t run for 5 months last year but I did a lot of Crossfit instead and now I’m back to running more and Crossfitting less.
Running is a big part of my life and in the past I’ve struggled when injury has prevented me running, but now I (hopefully) have a bit more of a balance. I definitely miss runnning when I can’t, but am better at listening to my body so I know it will only be a week or two off rather than an indefinite period.
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Running is a big part of my life too- it helps a lot with stress relief and head space from my job (even though I love my job it is very stressful and I need to clear my head). But then when I can’t run, I will go out on a walk for some fresh air, and marshal at parkrun so I don’t miss out on that.
It’s interesting what you say when you look back too- you wouldn’t notice at the time because you get so used to it that it becomes the norm.
I have definitely learnt that if I push through something I will make it worse in the long run- the 5 mile race with my dad was a point there, that I should have just watched, but I really wanted to run, and ended up hobbling around in well over an hour and then couldn’t walk properly for ages after. Hopefully I wouldn’t do that again!