Lessons learned

I woke the same as any other day today, except a song was in my heart. As I headed out on my morning trot in the rain, I felt free again. Injury behind me I know that if I stick to the plan I have been fortunate enough to have been given then there is no reason that I won’t be back to hard running again in the very near future.

As much as the period of 6 weeks were hard where I could not run at all, I know now that this was necessary for me to reach a new level and new appreciation for man’s greatest freedom. I had needed to be humbled and brought back down to earth after the joys of Comrades. Indeed lessons had to be learned about life, greed and giving back.

In a weird way I have learned way more about myself and running over the period I was injured than through the many years that I have run and taken part in other sports. I have not been idle though and wallowing in my own pity party – what started as my own version of a Greg Welch master class of improvement quickly became so much more.

As the latest chick flick says, I have learned to ‘eat, pray, love’. In fact I would add to this the fact that I have also learned to listen, appreciate, trust and rest. So fortunate have I been that my doctor and physio are some of the best and have learned from the very best himself in Noakes. So many times had I ignored his wisdom and scientific findings in favour of my own personal ideas.

For those battling injury, trust that you will be healed, adopt a positive outlook and give thanks for all that you can do in life. Foster a new hobby – swim, write a book or learn another language. All of these will help refresh you for when you are able to return to man’s greatest freedom. Study what went wrong and come back stronger knowing that you will not repeat past errors. As Sheehan says, we are all an experiment of one and no set pattern that works for me will work for you. That is the joy of running and the joy of life.

Reading the Paula Radcliffe book at the moment has given me new perspective on being able to come back from injury and still reach highs. For anyone having not read it, I believe it to relevant to both the amateur and the elite athlete alike. In between the tales of her racing career, she imparts wisdom about nutrition and life that we can all take something from. A strange taking that I also found was how she talks about the power of friendships in running and that only her friends were able to understand her true pain when she faltered in her pursuits.

So true- only a runner truly understands another runner.

For me, Paleo no alcohol eating is definitely the way forward. Who needs the junk food hangover or the alcohol hangover for that matter. I did however cheat this morning and have two coffees in place of the normal green tea.

The itch is back this morning and I was keen to stride out yet I am also heeding the words of my doctor and coach. They have dealt with people of far superior talent to me.

May you stride out injury free and knowing that there are different forms of victory in our lives. – Sean Muller