Head Over Heels: December 2010

December 2, 2010

The Upside to Injury

Over Thanksgiving break I discovered the problem to why my knee has been bothering me so much lately: I have chondromalacia. Or, in simpler terms, "runner's knee." I'm supposed to be taking it easy on the running, and doing a lot more stationary bike workouts and yoga, to strengthen and loosen my muscles around the knee, giving it a rest. But, I am allowed to run once or twice a week, if my knee isn't hurting that badly. Today was my running day. It didn't matter that it's the week before finals or that I've been working overtime or that it was 34 degrees this morning when I woke up at 5:45. Nothing was going to keep me from my running day. I told myself I wasn't going to push myself and just run an easy 5k. But, once I was out there, I couldn't stop. I was singing along to my music, I was saying hello to every runner I saw, I was smiling at everyone and everything. At one point I even started laughing. I probably looked insane, but I couldn't help it. I was in love with running this morning! While I know being injured is never fun, it's helped me to really love running again. I don't get to run that much lately, so when I finally get to my running day, I'm wanting it. I'm craving it. I'm needing it. The upside to being injured is that you stop taking your body, and your sport, for granted. You learn a new respect for both, and in turn, once you heal, you have a new-found respect, desire and devotion to both running and yourself.

Welcome to Head Over Heels!

Like many 20-something women, I woke up one morning exasperated. It seemed like every day I would find a new passion, a new dream, and get excited about yet another project, just to find that they would all crash and burn. I wanted something that I could control and that would be all mine.

Because our 20s are a time of exploration and discovery, it's very hard to find that path that directs us exactly to our dreams, especially because our dreams have the habit of evolving overnight. I had worn myself into a tizzy of exhaustion, disappointment, and an overwhelming sense of having no control over my own life. And that's when I went for that first run.

Two minutes later, I arrived back at my apartment steps, panting. As long and as torturous as those two minutes felt, they also gave me a sense of liberation, a feeling that had been severely lacking in my life. The next day, pathetically still sore, I again put on my sneakers. Three minutes, yes! This routine was repeated daily throughout the summer and now, I'm a half-marathoner! My ultimate goal, a marathon, still looms in the distant future, but the even bigger goal is one I can actively work on every day: learning to gain control over my own life and learning to fall in love with myself one step at a time.