Quote Originally Posted by zoom-zoom View Post
but we are ALL built to run
I'm going to respectfully disagree... I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (the hypermobility type) and I literally can't run at all... I might be able to sprint a short distance if I absolutely had to (someone's life depended on it?), but the splitting pain through my pelvis (my pelvic joints are all loose), hips, knees, and ankles and the resulting swelling (and eventual joint damage) really isn't worth it for any kind of long-term running goals. It's just how it is, there really is no treatment and nothing I can do to change it.

I hated running as a kid because it hurt so much, and in a way that I wasn't really able to verbalize well, and I got accused of being lazy/whiny a lot by PE teachers... so I was forced to participate and it was torture. It wasn't until MUCH later that I knew I actually had a physical reason for it, and it wasn't just "in my head" as I had been told MANY times. I remember crying in 6th or 7th grade because we HAD to run a mile in PE as part of our grade, and I couldn't do it. That incident ended with a referral (only one I ever got in school) and a failing grade. I did play tennis and skated as a teen so it's not like I didn't tough it out through a lot because there were things I liked doing despite the problems.. but I realize as an adult that I should have focused more on lower-impact activities to maintain my fitness. I do have joint damage that almost certainly could have been prevented if I knew I had EDS sooner.

Cycling is literally the only thing I can do that doesn't hurt So yeah, I won't be taking up running or thinking about it much