The Training- Injury -Emotional Despair Cycle of Life

Running is a mission to achieve harmony between the body and the mind.  A delicate dance of two nimble creatures, carefully tip toeing their way together up a steep, flight of greased stairs. We run fueled by emotional highs pushing us to greater heights and crash at the first sign of strain or weakness from our bodies.  Yesterday, my body posted this message on its blog.  "Dearest Reader - Here is that sign you have been looking for.  Do with it what you will.  Love, Your Body."  Now having been a veteran of multiple years of the training, injury, emotional despair cycle, I have learned how to translate this message into a form my mind will except without argument. Stop now or you will be forced to stop later.  I have learned to stop, take a few days of rest and continue on from a healthy place.  This is not easy for everyone.  When your body says stop, and your brain says go, you must make a difficult decision.  If you follow the path of the mind, you run the risk of deepening your injury and knocking yourself out commission for the rest of the season.  If you listen to your body, you run the risk of what? Losing a couple of days of your training? Really?  It seems really simple to me.  It is difficult to take control of your mind and not be controlled by your emotions.  We are always building up to a great peak, and our emotions refuse to let us stop. We are fueled by the elation found after a strong running effort, be that a new PR or a great track workout.  We must learn to listen for the signs of over training, and physical exhaustion at every turn.  Training for a long distance event is not something that should be taken lightly.  Listening to your body is the most important part of your training regimen.  We must run down this road as a united, healthy and strong self.  The days of mind over body are over with for me.  I train, listen to my body and then have faith in my training.
I believe that we have a lot to learn by taking an eastern approach towards our distance running. We all have plenty to learn from the basic fundamentals of something simple like listening, breathing and walking. The act of running should not be consumed by your mind.  Your first couple of miles perhaps can help you organize your thoughts, sorting out the stress of your day and aid in letting go of the chatter of the ever present radio that plays in the background of you head.  Letting go, and listening to your breath and your footsteps will help loosen your mind and help relax your body.
Thich Nhat Hanh talks of breathing during a walking meditation with a deliberate  "in out deep slow calm ease smile present moment, wonderful moment."  and to "smile with every cell of your body."
See link  ( Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life )
I have learned to adapt his walking meditation to my running.  Some days I do wonder what the people I pass on the roads must think of this crazy man running past them wearing nothing more than a pair of skimpy running shorts and a big ridiculous smile.
 For me, running equals meditation.  Meditation is where I go to craft my prayers.  Running gets me to the place where I am whole, empty, but teeming with power and energy at the same time.
 Running heavy with emotional burden does nothing for me.  My goal of each run I take is simple.  I strive to find a balance between my mind and body.  So, when a small cramp or muscle tear pops up, I too have to fight the urge to continue on and ignore the signs.  But having been around the block a few hundred times, I know that giving up a few days of running to heal your body will strengthen more than just your limbs.  For to be whole, we need to listen, let go and sometimes stop dead in our tracks.