Running and Recovery

Hi, my name is Megan Mahoney and I am addicted to running.

Being educated in anatomy, physiology, kinesiology and overall fitness, you would think I would know better than to over train... But here I am, again. 
I can't help it, I love pushing myself and testing my own limits. This is funny because I absolutely despise being injured and yet have the tendency to over train. I often forget to account for the physicality of my job and my daily life into my training, but especially into my recovery, or lack thereof. My health and ability to perform is not only my livelihood but my sanity.

It has only been two weeks off running but it is moving at a glacial pace. Of course it all happens just as I was averaging out at my sub 4:30/km and the fall race season approaching. Now I am not one for races and running accolades. I have boxes of old dance trophies and medals to last me a life time. I run not because I want to but because I NEED to.

Taking time off to recover is creating an insatiable need to run. It is also highlighting how much I rely on running for my own mental clarity and sometimes my own sanity. Physically I am fidgety and antsy all day. My legs want to break free and run like hell. It doesn't matter how many cycling, HIIT, yoga or pilates classes I am doing, they want to run.

Mentally is where things get interesting. For myself, I have always described running as an active meditation. When I run I can reach a place in my mind that I cannot achieve anywhere else. Yoga and mediation itself are different spaces mentally than the one I can achieve when I run. It is almost as if I blackout on a run. I am fully present in myself, my body and mind dissolve into one. (the only other time this type of presences occurs is yoga and really good sex, TMI? But they are still different places of presences from running).

This place is the place I've been calling home since high school. Problems just seem to sort themselves out here, emotions fade and solutions arise.

I miss this place, I need this place.

This recovery week is forcing me to figure out different coping mechanism. The problems and stressful triggers that would normally send me out running, now have to be dealt with in a different way. I haven't quiet figured out how to do that yet. So here I am feeling scattered, overwhelmed and irritated.

As frustrating as injuries are, they are not necessarily negative. I am trying to be optimistic about this whole scenario. To take a positive spin on this, I can say that this injury is forcing me to figure out other ways to handle life other than running my problems into the ground. It's pushing me to develop other tools for myself to handle stressful or emotional situations.

That being said, I still can't fucking wait to run.

I want to get to that mental space that can only be achieved through a long run.

I want to go back to that space I call home. 

Megan

ॐ