In April of 2021, I sat on the cold, hard seat of an orthopaedic surgeon’s waiting room and stretched out my legs. My right ankle throbbed. My calf cramped. But this was nothing new. I was minutes away from hearing the news that my Achilles tendinitis, which I’d been trying my best to manage for over two years, was actually a partial Achilles tear. I would need surgery to fix the issue if I wanted to run again.

I was 23, a seemingly once-invincible college track athlete who ate, breathed, lived for long distance running. I had some small injuries throughout my career at that point – a muscle strain here, a bout of tendinitis there. This Achilles issue, though, would just not go away.

After pushing through an injury that nearly broke me, I learned that rest isn’t weakness – it’s part of becoming a stronger runner.

After reconstructive surgery, six months of no running, and several failed attempts at a return to running program, I finally felt like myself in the summer of 2022. I was not the same runner who could run 70 miles a week without worrying about injury (and with no stretching routine).

I was a new runner completely. Slower – but more appreciative.

In the months following my Achilles surgery, I vowed to myself, my coach, and the physical therapist that I would never get to that place again. Sure, sometimes injuries pop up. Running to the point of breaking bones and tearing tendons, however, was within my control.

With college athletics behind me, I was getting back into running purely as a hobby and as something to enjoy for myself, not for validation from a coach, teammates, or an online audience.

When I scroll through TikTok or Instagram, I am inundated with running content, from beginner runners just getting into the sport to seasoned athletes chasing a Boston Marathon qualifying time. Unfortunately, there’s also a lot of harmful content on these apps. I’m mostly alarmed by the people who push their bodies to the breaking point month after month, year after year. It seems like every week there’s another running influencer with a “get ready with me for an MRI” series.

…it is an issue of a culture where more is good, and rest is seen as laziness.

While injuries can be part of the sport, I’ve seen harmful and obsessive behaviours permeate online running culture. I don’t blame the individuals who are getting injured, but I think it is an issue of a culture where more is good, and rest is seen as laziness.

Take David Goggins, for example. The former US Marine, motivational speaker, and multi-time ultramarathoner spouts a no-nonsense approach to running where pain is good, pushing yourself too far is impossible, and rest days are for the weak.

I disagree wholeheartedly with this approach to anything, but especially running. Pain is not good: pain is your body letting you know that it has had too much. It absolutely is possible to push yourself too far. I know because I’ve done it myself and ended up on the operating table. Rest days are necessary for mental health and physical rehabilitation so that you can continue training and gaining fitness.

In stark contrast to David Goggins, let’s look at an athlete with a healthier relationship with sport: Olympic figure skating champion Alysa Liu. Liu was a childhood phenom but retired at 16 due to burnout from a strict training regimen that required dieting and pushing herself beyond her physical and mental capabilities. She took an extended break from the sport to find what she wanted for herself. Then she came back. Just four years after retiring, she won two gold medals at the Winter Olympics, all with an infectious smile on her face.

After winning gold, Liu, now 20, made it clear that her time away from the sport helped her develop a new mindset.

“Taking a break and stepping back, gaining new perspective … really helped me as a person and helped me understand myself,” she said in a podcast with Olympics.com. Her joy in training and competing after taking time away was evident on the ice when she skated her way to a gold medal. Alysa Liu chose not to suffer for her sport, and she excels because of that, not despite it.

It’s not necessary to suffer and push our bodies beyond our limits to have fun and be successful. There’s no good reason to run ourselves into the ground and be sidelined from the sport we love by a boot or surgery.

I will never be an Olympic champion, but I can train like one: with joy, an appreciation for rest, and respect for all that my body does for me.

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