The week that follows an injury does not belong to the category of memorable days. I usually start eating, I feel a bit depressed, my day suddenly becomes longer than a year and I start liking people less. In return they seem to like me less too.
This is the moment when I start talking to very few and close friends about my mood and the status that affects my personality from the minute I wake up to the second I fell asleep again. I am aware of how annoying that can be.
Caroline is getting familiar with this other part of me, which is probably less fun to deal with. But I think she's doing great, her stuff being still at home.
Some days ago I talked to my fellow friend Sajjad, who shared a number of running experiences with me and being a runner as well knows exactly what I am talking about.
My question was very simple: how do you overcome the depression from not being able to run? His answer was brutally simple and it opened a new way of thinking about those periods of injury.
He said that the first three days are really annoying. But then it becomes slightly easier because I should start focusing on other types of work I have. Which is a good thing anyway.
"It's a reminder of how we always need change" he added.
"When I get injured and I have to stay at home, I am reminded of my vulnerability. You appreciate running much more when you start again".
I never read something more true.
Feeling down, experiencing a knockout and touching the ground with your face, if you know what I mean, is exactly why people need to stand up and keep moving.
Yearning for the motivation to motivate.
Indeed I was focusing on other things last week, such as a new book I bought, some academic papers in my reading queue for a long time. I even spent much more time in the kitchen, not just eating, but experiencing new recipes and experimenting with food.
With great results too. Caroline ate my food and was never hospitalised for food poisoning. That's great to start with :)
If it’s true that the seventh day God rested from all His work, then I’m clearly not a god.
Last week I felt busier than the days when I covered three-digit distances. On the other hand, my injury seems to improve everyday and my recovery phase being shortened with the help of a physiotherapist at the Sport Medical Advice Centre of the University of Leuven. We're working on strengthening the posterior tibial tendons and ankles with specific exercises and they're observing my running posture in search of some imperfection that might be lethal on the long distance of +50 km. Carefully inspecting images and videos of me running on a treadmill or during some drills on the track and field is quite a daily task.
My physiotherapist advised me to go back to run again after a week of therapy and exercises, completing up to 70% of my running schedule. Even in the presence of a small pain or stiffness I have been advised to continue, unless the pain doesn't go and it actually becomes more consistent. That's right! It's even better than any song in my mp3 player, and honestly I couldn't disagree with the medical prognosis for several reasons. One of which is that my physiotherapist is a runner herself.
Back to my state of depression (which by the way sounds worse that it really is), a good coincidence is that I got injured exactly at the beginning of my resting period. This means that I would have rested anyway, regardless of the injury. Hence the status of depression has been on a steady decline, with respect to the one I had right before running a marathon a few years ago.
I always have in mind quotes that try to motivate me even when I am sleeping and I remember of that anonymous genius who wrote "you never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have". Well, I should let him know of another nice fact I will summarise in "you never become stronger if you never choose to give your body some rest".
Which is exactly what I've been choosing for.
Run happy!
