REintegration

As I step inside, taking off my running shoe after a 6 mile run, I’m feeling a sense of fatigue, the physical and mental fatigue us runners get after training hard, easy and hard again. I think to myself, why do I feel fatigue and not that runner’s high I usually get? I shrug it off, like I often do, place my shoe on the shoe rack and step into the kitchen only to feel a paper airplane flying towards me with the fierce intent of hitting me right between my eyes. Right from the time I saw it flying across the room, I knew who the mastermind was. My 7 year old, who is chuckling as he folds 10 more paper planes to throw at me. A normal occurrence in our family.

As an avid runner, I believe running is a way of life rather than something I do just when I feel like it. It can be really hard to balance training and family. As runners, we know how fragile that balance is, how it can easily tip over to where something we enjoy doing can become an obstacle to the day to day life of our families. I always think about this, how a healthy habit that makes me a better person can also turn out to be the source of pain at times.

So after many paper airplanes and miles run, it got me thinking about the idea of reintegration. I thought, what does reintegration look and feel like after my daily training sessions? How could I train as much as I do and not only reap the physical and spiritual benefits but also use the lessons learned as a force for good in my day to day life? Reintegration requires greater self awareness.

In the past, I remember that reintegration after a workout or a race was not easy but easier than in present times. Maybe because I had fewer responsibilities, meaning I had the freedom of knowing that I could rest, sleep and recover as much as I wanted. Plus, I never had intense workout sessions in the past and never really pushed myself to sign up for races.

So when I find myself chasing a dream of becoming a better runner, that challenges me physically and I feel its effects not only on my mental wellbeing but I strongly feel the spiritual shifts occurring inside me. It can be exciting, but also drains a lot of my energy and resources to the point where it becomes difficult to reap the benefits of running. Being a person for whom running is more than a physical movement but a way to discover the world around me and explore my spirituality, conserving my energy becomes vital to letting all the ideas, feelings and discoveries I make turn into actions, words and emotions in my daily life. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that as an ultra-runner, the higher the stakes, the concept of reintegration becomes more vital than ever. I’ve found if I make a clear intention of what I want to get out of a workout session days, weeks or even months before, I’m able to ignite the reintegration process. For me, it starts with conceptualizing all the components that go into being an ultra-runner, a father, a husband and listing out my priorities. After I have listed the components, I prioritize what is important, gauge how much of my physical and mental energy I need to allocate for each. Then, my favorite part is to visualize my workouts and my runs, making an intention of why I’m doing it, who i’m doing it for and see where it fits in the bigger picture of my training and ultimately my life. 

So, Reintegration. I have found that not only is it beneficial for longevity in the ways of ultra-running or preparing you for recovery, but also reintegration can be used as a means of self-awareness and also a way to let the lessons learned from training, racing and adventure be used in practical and spiritual ways.

I’d love to hear what are some of you reintegration methods.