How My Desire to Run Again Pushed Me to Walk – The New York Times

I run because during that one brief interval, in a hectic world filled with responsibilities and worries, running turns off my thinking brain and allows it to roam free and float in the moment. When I run alone, as I mostly do (or did, and hope to again), I prefer to run the same route, because that way I’m familiar with every random tree root, metal grate and trail segment prone to mud or puddles, so I don’t have to think about being careful. At what pace? No idea and it doesn’t matter.

In that mental state, I absorb the world I too often forget — whether the beauty of the Capitol and the majesty of the Hudson River, or the smaller things, like the tinkling of the tacky carousel in front of the Smithsonian. And problems are solved seemingly out-of-the blue. The perfect sentence to start an article I’ve been struggling with. A birthday gift for a friend who has everything. How to resolve a sibling conflict. When I finish the three to four miles, I feel physically tired but emotionally energized — excited about plans now waiting to be activated.

The need to recapture that emotional sustenance running provides is what’s motivated me through months of tedious physical therapy and rehab.

Physical rehab from a head injury is the opposite of running’s mental …….

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/30/well/move/running-walking-jogging.html