The Healing Power Of Running
When your life is pretty good: you have a good job, loving family or your loved one is always near you what else you can wish for your life! You have a lot of friends and you feel comfortable among colleagues at work, you are interesting to other people and people would like to meet you – what could be better to be in the center of attention.
But in a moment everything can change dramatically. It may happen that you’ve gotten hurt… The injury is serious… From this moment you change and the world around you also changes.
I know what I’m talking about. I had such a terrible situation in my life when I lost everything and first of all, I lost myself.
Great Depression… What can help?
When I`ve hurt my leg in a car accident I had the open fracture, my bone was crushed and my ankle was also dislocated. I got to the hospital and spent there more than two months. It was a complicated surgery and a long period of recovery. The doctors said that I would use a cane probably for the rest of my life and I would hardly walk normally. I was desperate and I didn’t know how to go on living.
Of course, my nearest and dearest people tried to help me at that moment. They always tried to be near and supported me, but at that time I didn’t want to see anybody. I had a horrible depression as I couldn’t live like before. Then one article got me interested. It was about a girl with HIV who became running every day and then began to take part in the marathons around the world. She got a lot of awards and became a winner in several races.
So, I thought that if the person with the incurable disease not to lose faith in her and her capacities if she continued her fighting with infliction why I kept my chin up and gave up on myself. I hadn’t a terrible disease and my leg wasn’t amputated, fortunately, I was only limping for a few months after the hospital and that’s all!
Running Through The Pain
After this article I thought about this brave girl constantly – her strength of will inspired me. I decided to start running. At first, I wasn’t sure that I could do that. Thus, I bought a treadmill and some good running shoes and started warming up my legs very slowly and carefully. At that time I used a walking stick and I couldn’t do without it, but when I trained I tried to put it aside.
I don’t want to remember my first workouts. Even now remembering those workouts I want to cry. They were awful… They were difficult and so painful. I won`t hide I thought to stop the training, but I remembered that girl and I remembered her every time when negative thoughts crossed my mind. It gave me the power to continue my work… my work of getting over myself, over my fear and over my pain. I started with the training which lasted only 10 minutes, but gradually I increased that time to 50 minutes. It was my first own record.
Finally, in three months the result was brilliant. I stopped limping and began to walk normally! My everyday exercises (sometimes I tried to work out two or three times a day) allowed me to throw away my walking stick and I confidently stepped along the street.
Big Victory Over Yourself
When I could do without the cane I decided to train in the open air and transferred my home workouts in the park. And it was my second record! Since then I can’t imagine my life without running. I train in the park twice a day – in the morning and in the evening. Commonly my training lasts 45 – 50 minutes. The use of a fitness tracker is essential. I try to use different types of run every 10 minutes (I start my training with a slower run and next 10 or 15 minutes I increase my rate to 10-minute-per-mile, then I change slower and faster run, of course, I can use power walking during the workout it`s also a useful thing).
I have complicated my training gradually to get the best results as today I also want to take part in the running marathon firstly in my city. It will be just the beginning for me.
So, I hope my story makes you think about life. Sometimes we find ourselves in hopeless situations as it seems to us. But reading this article you must realize that there aren’t hopeless situations sometimes we don’t want to find a way out. If you want to change something in your life that`s up to you! The key thing is never to lose heart and you can overcome all difficulties in life!
Written by Andrew Guerra
