How to (mentally) Cope with a Running Injury

I came through mile 22 of my fourth 50k Ultramarathon ahead of pace, but I knew it wouldn't last very long. Not only was I hot and tired, the seemingly unimportant pain in my thigh which I chose to ignore was now forcing me to limp. Still, I wasn't going to let myself DNF. Sure, my thigh will probably hurt for a few days, but I was planning on taking a week off anyway. I gutted it out, mostly walking, and eventually finished 5th in 5:13.

The next day, I wasn't walking very well. The day after: equally bad. One week went by and I was still limping. It was clear that whatever was going on in my thigh was getting better on a week-by-week basis. This was going to take a while.

Running can sometimes be very painful. There are a number of nasty things that can happen during a multi-hour race, including nausea, vomiting, blisters, muscle cramps, dehydration, and pretty much any other complication of exerting oneself for hours on end. For me, however, not running has always been the biggest struggle. I get anxious and have trouble focusing on my schoolwork. The only thing I think about is running, and I can't do it. I had to find practical ways to get myself through a long period of absence from the thing I love to do most.

Here are the strategies I used to keep myself sane (or my usual level of sanity, which admittedly is a pretty low bar).

1. Cross Train: The only way to deal with jumpy exercise withdrawals is to exercise. Certainly, I believe running to be the superior form of exercise, but when I can't run, I have to find an alternative. I started with aqua jogging until I decided it was too mind-numbing to continue doing for months. Then I started lifting weights, which isn't sustainable for a long distance runner (for fear of getting too heavy), but allowed me to tackle some of my weaknesses. The two forms of cross training that really stuck with me were elliptical (Which I could do without pain after about 6 weeks), and rock climbing. I liked the elliptical because it most resembled running and was the only sort of cross training that could really tire me out like running. Rock climbing was not only another opportunity to work on my weaknesses, but I got a chance to meet a lot of relatively like-minded people. It turns out climbers share a lot in common with ultrarunners! Who knew!

I'm not very good, but who cares!

2. Stay involved: Although I didn't run for about 11 weeks, I still woke up early to get to my running club's practices just to greet everybody before heading into the gym to cross train. I obviously couldn't do any racing, but when my friends were running local 5K's I showed up to offer support and take photos. Side note: volunteering at such races earns will earn you a PR at your next race due to running karma! Go you!

The UCSB Running Club at the Gaucho Gallop. The coach and I (Second from right and second from left respectively) were both injured for this race, but came to cheer on our friends regardless.


3. Plan ahead (really far ahead): If you've ever read the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, you might remember the survivors, after weeks on the raft, talking about food. It might sound like torture, but something about merely pondering delicious food eased their discomfort. Of course, this situation is incomparable with the small inconvenience of a running injury, but I found that the strategy still applied. I liked to browse ultrasignup.com, thinking about what races I wanted to do in the next year, and what races I might like to do in the far future. Once again, it sounds like torture, but it reminded me that I was still, in fact, a runner.