Whether it’s an impact injury, wear and tear, or illness, it’s tough to be separated from your running shoes
Ever woken up in a cold sweat at night, imagining a white-coated doctor wagging a finger at you and saying in your old headmistress’ voice: “You won’t need those running trainers, young lady, not where you’re going,” before rolling your trolley bed off to theatre?
We’re making light of it, of course, but a hiatus from running due to injury or illness is the thing we runners dread the most. We’re runners, for goodness sake; we rely on it for our good mental health, we use it to feel good about ourselves, we love tracking our miles, seeing run buddies and spending time admiring our super-fit stats on Strava. Don’t tell us to stop, doctor, or you’ll have a mutiny on your hands. Having had a big surprise on the Women’s Running team at the end of last year (not the kind of surprise with balloons, more the type with surgical stockings and steroids), we thought it was time to investigate enforced layoffs and learn how to deal with them – pretty sharpish.