Reflections on giving up running

This is hard.  A hard blog post to write but I do need to get it off my chest.  My reflections on giving up running follow on from a recent post about having arthritis.

I fell into running by accident, I think it was 2008 or thereabouts.

I was overweight, very unfit and stressed up to my eyeballs at work.  Back then I was probably heading for a heart attack or something equally serious.

I joined a gym, a 6 minute bike ride from our home.  My induction plan got me doing all kinds of weights and cardio to improve my general fitness.  Part of this was to see if I could build up to a 10 minute run on a treadmill, along with other goals to aim for.

While I did benefit from that all round improved fitness, it was the running bug that caught me most of all.  Not long afterwards I started cycling to work, yet again.  In those days I worked 13 miles away, so 26 miles a day.  The weight dropped off me so quickly and I used to go to the gym a few evenings each week.  My fitness improved quite quickly and I was quite lean and toned.

I started to think about the odd race.  Nervously I entered a 10k at Knebworth having reckoned I could run for an hour.  I can’t remember my time but I was hooked.  I did a couple of other 10k’s and got faster (my fastest 10k on a treadmill was 45 minutes).  Somehow it was longer distances which were motivating me.  A number of half marathons followed (this was my favourite distance) and my time was 1:42 at best.  Not bad for a non-sporty bloke in his 50s?

Then the inevitable happened: a marathon.  I think I enjoyed the training as much as the race itself.  I was fairly disciplined in following a training plan to gradually increase my weekly mileage and to ensure I had a mixture of short fast runs, long slow runs followed by plenty of rest.  Sometimes I used to do a 3 mile run which included blasts at top speed to push me to the absolute limit and then jog slowly to bring my heart rate down.  And then repeat, again and again.  I think my fastest marathon was 3:54 or thereabouts, with a consistent pace throughout.

Dealing with stress

Sometimes I would go for a run immediately after finishing work and before driving home.  Occasionally I would drive half way home, stop the car and do a circular 6 mile run which involved pushing myself hard up a 1 in 4 hill (Charlton Hill?  Near Hitchin).  Once, having already done this run after work, I drove home and ran up Bison Hill, near Whipsnade Zoo and held the Strava course record for several years.  Wow I slept well that night!

I would set off for a run with all kinds of worries and problems on my mind, often wondering whether I should simply quit my job first thing in the morning.  I always knew Rachel would back me.  So often, after those runs, I would be transformed and would know exactly how to solve the problems of the day and would feel on top of the world.  I would think of all those drug users I knew through work and would say to myself “surely this is better than any heroin”.

This elation is, of course, the Runner’s High.  It turns out a few runners I know don’t get this feeling at all.  It’s not that they don’t push themselves hard enough but I suppose we are all wired differently to each other.  The Runner’s High is quite addictive but in a good way, unlike heroin or other illicit drugs.

The joys of running alone, or with others

To start with I couldn’t face running with anyone, even a friend because they would spoil those special moments simply by being there.  Sometimes, after a few miles, I would almost go into a kind of trance with the miles drifting by while I was on autopilot.  I became very aware of every part of my body working in harmony.  My breathing, heart rate, oxygen to my muscles along with whatever other fuel was needed, my balance, my feet making split second adjustments to the way they landed and propelled me forward.  If you’re a runner reading this, you might understand this?

Perhaps the greatest joy of running alone was to think things through.  It was often a feeling of being closer to God.

Running with others has taken many forms.  There’s Parkruns which I have enjoyed over the last few years, although I think I’ve done just 50 to 60.  Some of my friends and I used to have coffee and toast afterwards and those were precious times.

I ran with a colleague at work a few times around Stevenage but he wasn’t very fast and he always slowed me down and then his contract came to an end (we were known as the running highlighter pens with our yellow jackets in the winter).  The best runs with other people have undoubtedly been with my friend John.  We trained for a half marathon together and I beat him; now he’s much fitter than me.  We have talked so much on our runs, sometimes things which are quite deep and personal.

What next?

Well, I have had my steroid injection, right into the joint shown in the above  ultrasound scan.  The pain has 99% gone for now and they say the effects of the injection should be several months but it varies from one person to another.

I am tempted to run through the summer, to enjoy a final fling, so to speak.  Perhaps to re-run some of my favourite routes, for old times sake.  It might be a little bittersweet, knowing that I’ll be doing something for the last time.  Alternatively I could completely quit right now.

I know sooner or later I will need to quit completely, sometime over the next few months in order to avoid more long term damage.  So therefore I will need to take up some form of alternative exercise to keep me healthy.

Cycling?  Maybe (I’ve enjoyed cycling a lot in the past).

Walking?  Maybe but arguably not energetic enough and might contribute to further wear.

Climbing?  There’s a climbing wall at Milton Keynes.  Climbing brings strength, flexibility, balance and it’s hard work!  Plus it is in the dry.  Disadvantage is that it could be costly, I have to drive to the activity and can’t just get up and do it spontaneously.

I think I will volunteer as a Marshall at the Parkrun.  After all, I have benefitted so much from others volunteering their time, now it’s my turn to play my part.

Anything else?