Yesterday someone on Twitter asked me if I was aware how bad for my health running could be? If I realised that running more than 25 miles a week was possibly counter-productive? And my answer was yes and yes! I had, like most runners, read the latest research that linked running excessively at excess speeds (Phew, I’m ok there) with possible wear and tear on the heart.
Great Video here explaining the theory.
Although I was participating in Run the World (7 days of 5Ks in support of Doc Andrew Murray) I was aware that just maybe my body needed a little bit more rest.
So I told him that I like running….but that is only half the truth. I’ve realised that my need to run (I jumped out the car, the other day-I was the passenger!- and ran to work) is also driven by my childhood disability and by all those (myself included) that doubted me, at first.
I want to run because I never thought I could and I want to run to help those that help others . So this weekend I’ll add another 13 miles to the 30 I’ve already done this week when I take part in the Wobbly Williams Half Marathon and then in May 2013, when I run in the Edinburgh Marathon, I’ve decided to try and repay those that helped me walk. Yorkhill Children’s Hospital.
Without the care and attention I received there, my childhood (which wasn’t all fun and games) would have been much harder.
I appreciate that I’ve been relatively lucky. While I couldn’t walk, I was otherwise healthy and although my father’s method of parenting was questionable (and possibly illegal), my mum’s love has always been unwavering and unconditional.
So come May, I’ll be donning a Yorkhill T-shirt and when I’m struggling, I’ll remember those days trussed up in traction and the frustration and pain I felt as I tried to walk unaided, only to fall after a few steps.
