Running Thought for the Week: Strength from Running is a Fragile Strength

About a year and a half ago on a run I'd done countless times, I tripped over a small rock or tuft of grass, fell to the ground and dislocated my left shoulder.  Now I've dislocated it again, this time by simply throwing an inflatable ball to my daughter across a pool on a family vacation..  My daughter asked me how long it will be until I can run again.  Like many questions she asks, I don't know the answer.  Maybe four weeks since it took about that long last time.

We runners put in hard work day in and day out, and over time, accomplish feats we didn't think we  possibly had the strength to do.  Some of our non-running friends look at us as if we have some kind super powers, but we're just running.   But this tower of accomplishment is built upon a fragile scaffolding and a small break anywhere within it, whether caused by injuries, sickness, freak events, overwhelming events in our personal life, or other events largely out of our control, can happen at any moment, causing the whole tower to come crashing down.   There's not much else to do but start over.  Like it or not, it's what you signed up for the day you decided to be a runner..

The tenacity to overcome the setbacks makes the inevitable rewards even more satisfying.