‘STEP BY STEP MY CONFIDENCE CAME BACK‘

It wasn’t love at first sight between running and me. And that didn’t just apply to running, but to sports in general. Even as a child, I was much more interested in cars and actually anything that had an engine. So, if you like, I was more fascinated by things that could keep me from exercising than by exercising itself. Sports and running had not yet won me over.

At the end of the 1990s, I was coached for a few runs by Waldemar Cierpinski, the two-time GDR Olympic marathon champion in 1976 and 1980, as part of a business coaching program. But even then, running didn’t leave a lasting impression on me. It wasn’t until the 2000s that I really took a liking to exercising for the first time. I started playing table tennis and volleyball – regularly. I played in a team and took part in competitions. That was enough for me.

It wasn’t until I was 55 that I finally discovered running. The Covid lockdown gave me the final push. During a cozy Sunday breakfast in bed during the first lockdown of 2020, I suddenly surprised my wife and myself by saying: ‘I’m going for a run now!’ Her astonishment was at least as great as the speechlessness of my weaker self. I took advantage of the latter and got up.

I put on a hodgepodge of training clothes, all stuff for the gym, as it was quite chilly outside. I put on several layers and the onion look was perfect. Luckily, I had almost brand-new sports shoes in my closet, which seemed perfectly suitable for running. So out and away I went.

It was great! Air, freedom, nature, a podcast about the golden era of the car on my ears, and I was happy. Time? Kilometers? Never mind. It became a 5-kilometer lap. From then on, I ran regularly, my only aspiration was to go for a run at least twice a week. I managed that easily and with joy.

The pandemic subsided in 2021, but the job got a boost. I am a project manager and support several companies on site in Germany and Austria over a longer period of time. That means a lot of travelling and many runs somewhere in the middle of nowhere. But no problem thanks to Komoot. After the first ten meters, I virtually leave my professional self behind. I can switch off immediately. A priceless balance for my inner peace.

It was incredibly fun. Until September 2021, when my hips and knees just couldn’t and wouldn’t go on.

I was having more and more problems and was in constant pain. Pain killers didn’t help any more. I went to see several sports physicians. Looking back, I had done a lot of things wrong. No plan, no expertise, always full on and for as long as I could. And my shoes? They were already worn far beyond their limits. That made itself felt.

I had to take a break for several months and started again slowly. But even tentative and cautious attempts at running immediately led to more pain. It went up and down like that. Although the breaks became longer and longer, the pain memory was apparently so strong that it didn’t work.

The pain slowly but surely took away my desire to run. I was frustrated. As a 55-year-old in the middle of the Covid pandemic, I had pulled myself together, kept going, found joy in a new sport, stayed fit, and then I was stopped short by something like this.

It took until the end of 2023 for me to get back into running thanks to a gym machine that I discovered for myself. On the elliptical trainer, I was able to run in my natural way without being exposed to the ‘impact’ of hitting the ground. Brilliant!

I ran every day for the next five weeks, for around 45 minutes each time. And without any problems. I no longer felt any pain. I wondered how that was possible. What’s different here? After talking to a sports therapist, I realized that it must have something to do with the ‘impact’ that I avoided when I stepped on the gym machine. My sports therapist recommended a running counselling session and for me to get proper running shoes that would at best reduce the impact on my body when I hit the ground. This could possibly solve my running problems. I wanted to try that out.

I looked for a running store nearby and asked for advice. I felt I was in good hands at the running shop in Dresden: friendly measuring, calm advice, lots of tips, and in the end I had found a suitable pair of running shoes. I chose the U-TECH Aion by True Motion. The idea behind the horseshoe technology had convinced me, especially in view of my complaints.

24 hours later the time had come, and I ran my first lap in my new running shoes. The first few runs still felt unfamiliar, the fear of more pain was somehow always present. I was too tense. It took three or four runs before I calmed down.

It reminded me of a situation I had experienced when riding a motorbike. For a long time, I had thought that tires only needed to be black, everything else was up to the rider. Until I switched to higher-quality tires after all. And suddenly I had a completely different and better bike – just because of new tires.

I thought to myself, you know how to run, so just listen to how the new ‘tires’, my running shoes, work – on tarmac, on grass, in the forest, downhill, on rocky terrain, after a misstep, or even in a sprint. I became more confident.

I also realized that there was no more pain. Thus, there was no need to worry. Step by step, I regained confidence in my body. And with it the joy of running. It was simply fun again.

I followed the tips from the running store and took it easy. Since January 2024, I’ve been running regularly again at least twice a week. Still somewhere in the middle of nowhere, around ten kilometers. And the most important thing: without any pain. I’m now also keeping an eye on the time, because in October I want to run the ten kilometers at the Rügenbrücken Marathon in my hometown of Stralsund. And at least not finish last.