Lucky to be alive and running
Never have I bought the old jibe, ‘‘hh, running will ruin your knees, you know’’. But if you run, it’s almost inevitable you’ll get injured some time – just as people get injured skiing, or gardening, or knitting. OK, maybe not knitting, though those needles look quite stabby for a klutz like me.
I’ve had some beaut injuries, luckily nothing serious, over several decades of running.
Many of them are down to my own clumsiness. I’ve fallen over more times than I can remember.
Once, I ran straight into a chain inexplicably strung up at shin height across a carpark. It was dark and I didn’t see it in time (the friend I was running with did see it, but failed to mention it . . . ahem).
Anyway, it was like I’d been tackled around the ankles. I went down in a heap and, as I staggered to my feet, I saw my hands looking like I had stigmata, my legs like I’d been knee-capped.
Another time, in a similarly clumsy fall, I cracked a rib.
Most times, though, I’ve just been left with wounded pride.
But over the years I’ve had episodes of sore hamstrings, shin splints, aching IT bands, plantar fasciitis, and tender glutes.
The thing about injuries is how you deal with them. Often, runners tend to ignore them and hope they go away. I’ve been guilty of that myself.
As I’ve got older, I’ve learnt that actually getting treatment works – who knew?! – and doing some preventive work helps too – stretching, massage, taking rest days, all ideas I once thought of as lunacy.
The trickiest bit about injuries, though, is handling the mind.
When a niggle turns into actual pain, it can send the brain into panic mode. Or resignation.
The key is to deal with the problem – spoiler alert: ignoring won’t help – and then deal with what’s in front of you.
On the Dirt Church Radio podcast this week, co-host Matt Rayment and I spoke with someone who had about the best attitude I’ve heard from someone suffering a long-term injury.
Robbie Britton is a world championship medal-winning British ultra runner. But last year, things started to unravel.
‘‘When the initial injury happened, I was in the best shape of my life,’’ he told us.
‘‘I’d done a couple of sessions, which let me know I was fit as a fiddle. And then I pinged something in my glute.’’
It’s exposed an underlying imbalance in his body – one side working harder than the other because of a weakness. It’s just one of those injuries that takes time to deal with to get it properly fixed.
‘‘It’s not a big injury – if I’d broken a leg, we’d be able to figure it out.’’
But rather than wallow in self-pity, Britton has turned his attention to riding his bike (which doesn’t aggravate the injury), and focusing on other things.
‘‘There’s up and downs, but I enjoy focusing on selfimprovement.’’ He’s been coaching other athletes and studying for more qualifications.
And he realises that his injury is not serious, in the scheme of things. He’s been acutely aware of that over the past few months. From his home in the Italian mountains, he’s seen the devastation that Covid19 has brought to Europe.
‘‘It felt a bit self-indulgent to ask for the time of a medical professional to look at my knee or hip when there are people dying out there. I can crack on with the bike. When it comes to it, there’s no rush.’’
How brilliant is that attitude? And it’s one he applies more generally, too.
Feeling sorry for yourself during a race? Here’s what Britton has to say about that: ‘‘It’s a hobby! You’ve done it to yourself. Sorry, you entered this race. Has anyone forced you at gunpoint to do it? No they haven’t.’’
It’s easy to feel miserable, especially when you’re injured, or the run is hard. But it’s important to remember how lucky you are to be out there in the first place.
Deal with the problem, fix it, and try to prevent it from happening again – for example, have a word with mates who see hazards but don’t warn you about them!
Eugene Bingham and Matt Rayment are hosts of a trail running podcast, Dirt Church Radio. Learn more at dirtchurchradio.com or get in touch via email dirtchurchradio@gmail.com
‘‘It felt a bit selfindulgent to ask for the time of a medical professional to look at my knee or hip when there are people dying out there.’’
Robbie Britton