Monday, December 17, 2007

Ramblings of a Runner



I’m typically not a superstitious person but I am looking for my lucky rabbit’s foot.

I’ve been able to run for three consecutive days and that’s starting to worry me.

I was reading an article that basically stated that injuries start to manifest themselves into other types of injuries.

That’s right, I’m in some weird sci-fi type of injury spiral that could be never-ending.

It’s been about three or four years of one injury after another, all leading to time away from training or not being able to perform at my peak.

I was always able to explain my way out of bad races by saying that I was injured or coming back from an injury. Then it got to be more mental than physical. I was uncertain if I wanted to go through the effort and pain of training properly.

Did I want to run to the point of feeling like I was about to cough up a lung?

The line between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ pain was being blurred in my mind by my injuries.

Would running through this pain cause me to have another setback?

Did I need to continue with that additional lap?

These were the questions that I would ask myself and the answer was always, No!

I began running races with other people I knew were slower just so I didn’t have to push myself anymore.

These injuries had brought me to the point where I had lost all confidence in my running abilities. I was just going through the motions.

Even with all of the negatives that were occurring in my running life I stayed close to the running community. I still talked to other runners and cheered whenever I had the opportunity. Being around a ton of positive folks kept me from wallowing in my self-pity for any extended time.

Now I’m not out of the waters just yet. I still have aches and pains that medication helps overcome and the years of pounding the pavement are catching up with me, but I’m going to at least try!

So all of you wonderful bloggers out there in blogland keep those positive vibes coming and if you see an old guy on the side of the road, just honk!

3 comments:

Sonia said...

I understand the feeling, I find its been like that for me the last year... Sending you some positive vibes and yay for 3 days in a row of good running!!

Al Durham said...

Come Coach! Where is the positive attitude that you are famous for? You can not go down with the ship! You are an insporation and a motivator to all of us. Never forget that!

Runner Leana said...

Ken, what a terrific post. It is amazing how much the mental things can affect out running. I really hope that you are able to go out there and run and not worry about an injury to help you meet your goals. You are a terrific inspiration, and a great cheerleader - even if it is just on the virtual side. Tons of positive vibes headed your way.

 
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