Common Issues : Unique Journey

• Plantar fasciitis
• Achilles Tendonitis
• Shin splints
• Patella Tendonitis
• Runner's Knee
• Raw Nipples 😕

These are but a few of the common issues I've experienced on my journey to where I am today.  This moment.  Five years and some months later after picking up the sport of running.

I'm writing this because no matter what your goals are, you will experience hardships.  Difficulties.  Obstacles that will get in your way.  Some of them will be self made.  Many of them will be due to your own ignorance or in other cases your own arrogance.

I've been there, thinking that because it hasn't happened to me it won't happen.  Or by some mysticism that I'm immune from the challenges that others have faced and experienced.

But in the end, you have to be willing to be flexible and adaptable.  You have to be willing to be molded yet true to yourself.  You have to be vulnerable.

And vulnerable is something I don't do quite so well.  Many folks don't.  But we're talking about me, not you right?

So how to overcome one's stupidness?

Humbleness and an eagerness to learn.  No seriously.

When I got shin splints.  Those fuckers hurt like hell.  But I read and read and read.  Tried it all.  Changed up the game.  Moved to a minimalist shoe.  Changed my foot strike and my running stride.  And don't think that didn't have impacts either.  A changed stride and foot strike exposed my weak ass ankles.  But the shin splints were gone.

Ankle issues revealed how the muscles in my foot were altered slightly due to a couple of bone spurs I have.  Also exposed the fact one leg is slightly longer than the other.  Go figure this out, that this is true for damned near everyone!  Who'd a thunk?

Longer distances exposed the weakness in my core and back.  Not to mention the issues that come with that.  Rub burns are NOT comfortable.  And those burns will find themselves in the most weirdest of places.

I was told that I would lose a toe and some point.  Haven't yet, crosses fingers.  But in my ambition to rid myself of blisters during that first year of training for a marathon, I learned how to take care of my feet.  I learned how to tape my toes.  I learned how to run on different portions of my foot.

I eventually learned how to alter my strike ever so slightly across the miles to work different muscle groups and prevent blisters all together.  Along with finding the right socks for my feet, terrain, and shoes.

And if you have no idea what plantar fasciitis, patella tendonitis, or runner's knee is then thank whatever gods there maybe!  I'll never forget the morning I went running with a running club here in AZ back in 2013 and I told them I had come down with a case of runner's knee.  LOL!  You would have thought I had said I had a highly contagious disease (it's not contagious - but it will sideline a more informed runner; fortunately I didn't know better).

I learned about raw nipples after completing the Las Vegas Half Marathon in 2013 before my first full marathon.  I had no idea.  No clue until the water in the shower hit them!  Holy #^@^!!!!!!💀    Medical tape and quality shirts solves this problem.

I've been told how running will ruin my hips and my knees.   Funny thing is my knees and hips are the strongest and healthiest they've been at this age of my life! 😆   Especially since I've been on my health recovery kick.  It's all about knowing how not to damage one's self too.

But back to the point of all of this and I want to make sure I'm perfectly clear AGAIN when I say this.  One of the many lessons that running has taught me is to be honest with myself.  To be humble.  To know when I need help.  To reach out for that help.  To consume as much information as I can and understand that I am an individual and what has worked for someone else may not work for me because I'm uniquely me.

You're uniquely you.  Remember that when you're frustrated following someone else's advice or attempting to follow someone else's path.  It's perfectly awesome to be inspired, but don't lose sight of the individual you are when you set out on your own path to your own inner greatness through whatever you do to find peace.

Me?  I run the way my body wants me to run.  I'm not a sprinter.  I'll never podium at Boston.  Hell I will never qualify for Boston.  But I'm satisfied in my own skin knowing how awesome it is to have completed a 143 running mile month with a smile on my face.

You will experience common issues on your unique journey.  These common issues will require you to dig deeper to learn more about who you are.  To be honest with yourself.  To learn what you can do.  To identify what you are capable of and what your limitations are.  To work with your strengths and your weaknesses as you identify them.

That's what makes your journey uniquely yours, because you're uniquely you despite encountering common issues.  Go be awesomely you.  Be good.  Do you.  ✌