RUNNING INJURIES

Ultimate Running (and Life) Goal: Perfect Moderation

Sidelined by a stupidly ambitious training plan

christina hughes babb
Runner's Life
Published in
6 min readMay 22, 2024

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engin akyurt for Unsplash

Anything worth doing is worth overdoing. Moderation is for cowards. These words uttered by Lone Survivor Shane Pattona sentiment shared by various other soldiers, authors, and rock stars—once appealed to me too.

Such mentality still resides in the immature, shortsighted, addiction-prone subdivision of my psyche, always awaiting an opportunity to announce itself. If I succumb, it might be the death of me.

Long ago, moderation, especially when it came to using alcohol and other drugs, became impossible for me. I find Saint Augustine’s words “Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation” to be true.

But there are things I cannot willfully give up entirely, such as running, which is both a beloved activity and elemental to my sobriety.

Problem is, if I am not super mindful, my tendency toward excess creeps into my running life, threatens its existence. I’m not the only athlete to grapple with this, I’ve deduced.

Recently, I slipped into some rather mindless behavior, and it did not end well.

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christina hughes babb
Runner's Life

Based on Actual Events: Award-winning journalist and essayist.