What do you do when you can't run?
Injury, illness, and wildfire smoke will come to you, and they're out of your control. So what do you do next?
A note on Los Angeles and its wildfires
It’s been a week since I evacuated from Los Angeles. The Eaton Fire is on my side of town. I run in Altadena very regularly. A few (a few!) people who I have met through running lost their homes in the inferno that saw fire flying sideways at 70 mph. A whole bunch of places I regularly frequent either before or after runs have been razed to the ground. It is a unique neighborhood, and so much character has been lost, as well as lifetimes of belongings.
I’m permanently thankful that the only thing of mine to be obliterated is my savings as I drove my family 100 miles out of harm’s way.
I’ve watched in amazement from afar as local area run clubs, Eagle Rock, Silver Lake, and Koreatown have banded together through their formidable online communities to provide DIY, boots-on-the-ground, mutual aid support to rescue organizations, firefighting personnel, and individuals alike.
As was said in the wake of November’s general election, run clubs now more than ever. Run clubs are punk as fuck.
I am in the midst of planning a charity drive of my own, but details are not quite ready for this newsletter. Monday, I hope, but this disaster isn’t ending when the news cycle moves on. In the meantime, please buy anything from my shop and I’ll donate all profits to The Pasadena Humane Society. They’ve been doing amazing stuff with the animals of Eaton Canyon.
Why wildfires affect runners
The everyday fallout from the fires is that the air quality is dangerous for everyone right now, but even more dangerous for runners. We breathe the air (and everything in the air) more deeply into our lungs while running, of course. I wrote about that last year in the context of the run club that runs in the most polluted city on the planet.
The majority of people have been smart enough not to run in the worst of the smoke, but a week in and the skies are clear and runners are itching to get back to it, even though they really ought to wait for the less measurable air pollutants to dissipate.
Wildfire smoke is one of the reasons that I don’t sign up for organized races any more. It started in July 2016 when a 10k race in Pasadena went ahead despite wildfire ash falling from the sky. I was astonished that the race wasn’t cancelled. I forfeited my entry fee. I wasn’t running in that, and I haven’t signed up for a race by that predatory organizer since.
The thought of paying a $200 entry fee (and the rest), and then spending days of my life training for a marathon, just for it all to be thwarted on race day by illness, injury, or a natural disaster? No thanks.
Rest day? What’s a rest day??
This weekend I was meant to run the Rose Bowl Half with my friend Phil, who I was hoping to pace to a 2:00 finish. Thankfully, the organizers saw fit to cancel/postpone, thus forcing the hand of runners prepared to brave hazy air for a PR.
Runners are famous for not resting, of course. We are famous for ignoring injury, or not allowing an injury to fully heal before running. One person I interviewed spoke about their ACL tear as “just pain.” He is currently the run streak holder in the USA at almost 55 years strong, for context, and didn’t stop running that daily mile even while his knee was injured.
But we runners are famous for gritting our teeth and just running, because once you accept running into your life, and loudly, proudly acknowledge yourself as A Runner, you’re addicted. We’re addicted to the way running makes us feel. We’re addicted to what running gives us, and giving that up is difficult.
I personally see injury and illness as an inevitability of life. One of the five key Buddhist remembrances – a list that I’ve long paid attention to – is that we will have ill health. We will also grow old, die, everything around us is subject to change, and our actions are the only thing that is true of us.
The point of remembering these tenets every day is to remind yourself that these things are sure to come to us, and that it’s out of our control. If you’ve got a problem with them, take it up with Buddhism.
Back to illness and injury, though. A bad cold might force you to miss a long run. Sometimes an ankle twists on a cracked paving stone or a burly tree root. Other times a tainted chicken salad sends you heaving to your bathroom floor. Maybe a neglected hip flexor finally buckles under the pressure of months of always-ignored strength training sessions.
These things are sure to come to us, and it’s usually out of our control, so what next?
What do you do when you can’t run?
Right now, in L.A., people aren’t running outside because they know that breathing that smoke in will lead to lung disease, or worse: reduced VO₂ Max. How long to keep workouts indoors is up for debate. It’s partly dependent on air quality information from the authorities, which is neither forthcoming nor reliable or consistent, but also on an individual’s risk factor.
If you’re looking to maintain your training for a spring marathon, for instance, but are hesitant to achieve your weekly mileage outdoors, here are some ideas for the next few weeks:
Travel with friends to an area clear of the wildfires to get your run in
Focus more on strength training for a while – you will reap the benefits
Do some zone 2 training on a stationary bike
Get on a treadmill and figure out how to make it suck less. Some ideas:
Watch some TV or a movie
Take some time to focus on your form or breathing pattern
Play with the speed and incline to keep it interesting.
Try and run alongside a friend in a gym
There’s plenty to do that you might not do normally. Try to make the best of it. Remember it’s not forever.
I also asked a handful of my more thoughtful runner friends for their advice based on when they can’t run.
Nickademus De Rosa is a storied ultrarunner (read his story in the NYT) who is taking his experiences — both in running and life — to the field of sports psychology.
“One of the most important things an injured athlete can do for themself is to figure out what running (other than exercise) was doing for them. Was it an emotional release? A way to socialize? A way to stay a part of the community? A time for peace and ease? The pillar upon which waking up early, eating a good breakfast, etc rested upon? Identifying this helps the athlete begin to find suitable replacements while injured.”
“I may have an injured athlete go into a short meditation with me, closing their eyes and thinking back to a time when they were just having a blast running. What was that feeling? Joy? Euphoria? Peace? Calm? Confidence? Where do they feel that in their body? We'd then expand on that feeling and work together to recover other memories or activities that aren't running that elicit similar feelings.”
“On the other hand, if running was the foundation for socializing or connection, pouring oneself into old hobbies during this time can help ease the sudden loss of sport. I really enjoy acting in improv comedy myself and though running (for me) is one of the main ways I connect with my wife, when injured and unable to run with her, I delight in playing board games and connecting with her while she schools me in Rummikub.”
I highly recommend booking some time in with Nick if you’re interested in an hour of thinking and deepening your relationship with running - [WEB]
writes FKA Breakfast Club, and is a constant font of fun and insight into this wonderful sport. Recently he wrote about the magic of a blister, so I knew he would have a measured riposte to the threat of remaining idle.details her life running trails in midlife in her newsletter, . Sarah is nursing a torn IT band right now, so this is red raw advice.“During college, an injury plunged me into a manic cycle of cross-training. Compressed NCAA schedules leave no time for restful recovery; you cling to fitness with tooth, nail, and spittle. I spent many injured afternoons, churning in the pool or on a spin bike in a poorly ventilated gym. This was pre-smartphone, so the only entertainment in the saddle was watching the puddle of your own sweat expand beneath you.”
“These days, I’m more zen about setbacks. I reframe injury as a chance to focus on family, work, or study. It’s healthier and makes me hungry to return when I’ve healed.”
“How do I cope? First, I try my best to stop comparing myself to others and feeling jealous of their training and fitness. To do this, I stop looking at the activity feed on Strava, and I limit viewing of runners on Instagram. I put my head down and focus on my recovery. As part of that, I try to transfer all my training dedication into being the best patient I can be, making my recovery a project with an end goal of healthy running. I also focus on doing what I can do, such as exercises to strengthen glutes, core, and arms, and I try to optimize sleep and nutrition. I also use the extra time for things that make me feel good, such as reading and walking our dogs. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I keep the perspective that my injury could be so much worse. One of my best running buddies recently was diagnosed with a brain tumor. That puts things in perspective, for sure.”
I hope you find some answers for a difficult time, whether you're in L.A. or not.
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Nowhere Fast x Running Sucks: a podcast
One of my last conversations in Los Angeles before evacuating was with
on episode 138 of his podcast. It was an absolute honor to be invited, and what a conversation we had.Coming from the skateboarding world, Wesley’s insights on branding, community, and just being cool as hell are razor sharp.
We talked about…
my writing process
my running origin story
run clubs and community
how running is SO cool now
doing things for the right reasons
how much I like to swear (I f*cking love it)
how running is both the question and the answer
similarities between my music journalism and what I do now
finding out more about a person from their sandwich of choice
a little about social media, but that’s a whole conversation that I may have with someone one day
If you’re into podcasts, please, please queue it up and give it a listen.
Running Sucks Haiku of the Week
Don’t know what you’ve got
Until it’s taken away
I do love running
I’m going to take all of my own advice over the next few months while the fire damage is being cleared up. That toxic ash is going to keep getting disturbed, and there’s nothing we can do about that.
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Thanks for reading
- Raz
Very good post. So many local runners displaced and now without their regular runs. :(
Great post. Thank you for sharing. I’m heart broken about the trails I used to run on in the foothills but have faith that community members like you will help restore and revitalize when the time comes.