The Injured Can Never Quit

The possibility of Injury tingles in the back of the mind of every athlete.  To avoid injury, we’ll use ointments, take pills, use powders, and physicians.  Injury is the athlete’s nemesis, because it digs into the core of our deepest fear…that we’re weak.  After spending time and effort building strength and fitness, the idea of being sidelined by a muscle pull or an inflamed tendon is a bit disheartening.  I’ve learned this firsthand as I’ve trained to run a 100-miler.  I’m a non-traditionally sized athlete who’s grown to love running.  I enjoy studying the science of running, and forming the determination necessary to get point-B.  Few other activities compare to the high I get from having completed at long distance trek in a pair of running shoes.  That’s why the moment that I became injured, I felt that my whole world crashed.  Injury, it seemed, was no longer a tingle in my mind, but rather, a full-blown reality.

Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears. –Marcus Aurelius (Roman Emperor)

When my left knee became swollen from inflamed tendons, both walking and running became very difficult.  It felt like my knee popped out of joint and the pain was excruciating.  I tried to mask my pain when I was around my wife, but she knew something was wrong.  The biggest hint to her was in changes to my conversation.  I went from talking about running all the time and planning my next race, to complete and utter silence.  It’s taken me a long time to get up the courage to live again.  Running has given me that.  Just to start the process of really learning how to run again and in Oregon weather, took great changes in my thinking.  I felt ashamed…like a slob for not staring down the injury obstacle, before I gave it the finger and ran anyway.  Visions of a talking couch filled my head.  “Come on over and sit down,” it would say, “the remote is right here next to the sour cream, butter and chives that you can smear over your head.  What’s on the History channel right now?”  For a moment I did sit down, but something else also echoed in my head…the injured can never quit.  Before I knew it, I was back onto my feet.  The same determination that propelled me to complete distances of more than 15 miles was now telling me to rage against the dying of the light.

A few months have passed since that moment.  Within that time I’ve taken on different athletic challenges that have kept me on the path of weight loss, endurance and strength building.  Since the Northwest is the hub for everything outdoors, I’ve taken interests in kayaking and fast hiking.  However, neither of those sports is running, and therefore I’m drawn back to faire ce que j'adore  (French: perform that which I love).  Giving up on my goal to run a 100-miler isn’t an option.  I’ve learned that be injured is only an obstacle and not a stop sign, so it’s for that reason that the injured can never quit!

Cheers and keep running!

By Dorrian Rhodes