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This article part of our ongoing series at Women’s Running, offering support to runners who can no longer run.
The Not-Running-Anymore Support Group
When you first started running, stopping was the last thing on your mind. Check that: if you’re like me, you regularly contemplated stopping in the middle of a steep hill or on the painful edge of a PR, but thinking about ending the whole pursuit? Never.
You’re not alone. “We rarely plan for the exit,” says Kimberly Dawson, PhD, a professor in Sport and Exercise Psychology and owner of Mind2Achieve based in Waterloo,Canada. “Even though every journey, including careers, childhood, and relationships, is certain to end, we as a society don’t put a lot of thought or effort into the conclusion.”
You get caught up in a blur of effort, endorphins, and the sense of continual astonishment when you run a mile, then…
