Running and Stumbling to Recovery: A Carnal Sociological Study of Change in Substance Use

ABSTRACT

Evidence suggests that exercise may be an effective adjunct to recovery processes associated with addiction; however, little research has been conducted outside clinical settings. This article is based on a Canadian carnal sociological study that investigated the evolution of the runner's habitus amongst 11 individuals in recovery from addiction through mobile methods, specifically running interviews, with data deductively analysed through conceptual categories. Running offered a lifestyle structure that supported a nonlinear healing process, fostering connections that stood in stark contrast to the disconnection that had previously characterised their lives. Findings suggest that running may offer an organising structure for those seeking to alter their use of substances, though perhaps specifically amongst those with previous histories of exercise.

1. Introduction

The human body exists in relation to the world, engaging with it through reciprocal interactions, including its ingestion of substances that prompt biochemical processes. Intoxicating substances trigger chain reactions that can induce altered states of relaxation, excitement, euphoria (Dennis 2020) and, sometimes, dependence. Substance use and addiction are thus interrelated, with the sensate cravings of the latter distinguishing between the two (Weinberg 2002). In light of the embodied characteristics of substance use and, by extension, addiction, there is interest in engaging the body in processes of recovery (Nettleton et al. 2011).

This article outlines an investigation of how running can influence shifts in the relationships and in the social disposition of those in recovery. Evidence suggests exercise may support the recovery processes of people with addiction, potentially alleviating cravings and improving mental health, mood and quality of life (Patterson et al. 2022). There remain, however, many unanswered questions about the underlying mechanisms that support its efficacy, in part due to limited investigation of exercise outside clinical settings (Piché et al. 2024) or beyond the end of acute treatment (Patterson et al. 2022).

This carnal sociological study, conducted outside a clinical setting long after formal treatment ended, sets out to address some of these gaps through an embodied investigation of running within processes of recovery from substance use. We begin by situating our study in relation to prevailing theories on addiction and discussing exercise within the recovery process. Next, we present our embodied, mobile approach to running interviews (Bogue Kerr 2024a), conducted primarily in Vancouver, Canada. We then trace the transformation of the habitus through Wacquant's (2015) ‘Six S’ properties, illustrating how running served as a supportive organising structure within the recovery process, before closing with a discussion on the specificity of the runner's habitus, which in this study embodied histories of addiction and processes of recovery.

2. Overview of Addiction

Leading theories on addiction derive from a moral or medical model, both of which situate the problem within the individual (Schlosser 2018). The moral model draws from Christian doctrine, which views human suffering as the result of the first peoples' inability to withstand temptation, making an inability to exercise self‐control evidence of a fault within one's very soul (Foucault 2018). The disease model of addiction similarly situates the problem within the individual, locating it in the brain (Schlosser 2018). These models offer incomplete explanations of addiction, materialising in social policies and treatment programmes that fail to mitigate multifactorial individual and social consequences (Alexander 2008). This article stems from a relational model that understands addiction as an adaptive response to social disconnection, prompted by socioeconomic forces that have disrupted community (ibid.).

Drug uses and experiences entail complex relationships between the substance, brain and body in settings with specific sensory and interpersonal stimuli, elements that become entangled, emphasising the relational nature of addiction and the triggers associated with relapse (Dennis 2020). The ideological separation of body from mind in dominant models, however, often overlooks the network of relationships between these elements (ibid.). This is reflected in much of the sociological literature, which, although drawing attention to the meaning people find in their engagement with substances and the physiological sensations they produce, fails to account for the irrational aspects of addiction, namely, sensate cravings, that distinguish it from substance use (Weinberg 2002). Some researchers, ourselves included, situate the addicted body in a network of relationships, reasoning that these connections are key to understanding and healing those who live with addiction (Kemp 2018).

The word ‘addiction’ has evolved over time: Its Latin roots expose a fear of ‘enslavement’ (Gomart 2004), though at one time, an alternative meaning indicated devotion (Alexander 2008), encapsulating the fine line between passion and loss of control that has interested some sociologists (Gomart and Hennion 1999). The term ‘addiction’ as used in this paper encapsulates both meanings, embracing the nuanced space at the heart of the issue.

The longstanding construction of this population as ‘enslaved’ has not only produced ineffective treatments (Borkman et al. 2016), but has also negated the passionate engagement with substances (Gomart and Hennion 1999). Reconceptualising people with addiction as actors with the capacity to resist and transform engages them in their own lives (Gomart 2004).

The complexity of addiction is reflected in debates about what recovery is and how it might be realised. Normative definitions outline prescriptive steps and outcomes (Barlott et al. 2020), while negating the variability of individual paths (White 2007). Despite research pointing to the nonlinear nature of recovery processes, the addictions field continues to struggle with accepting the uncertainty of relapses and partial states of recovery (ibid.). This illustrates how power is exercised within definitions of recovery, how norms are reinforced and deviations stigmatised (ibid.), while failing to respond to the needs as defined by those who live it (White et al. 2005).

Recovery can be conceptualised as a personal and collective project of self‐actualisation (Weinberg 2002), potentially more successful with interventions that recognise the relational, embodied nature of substance use and of recovery (Nettleton et al. 2011). In this perspective, interventions that promote active engagement in a self‐actualised process (Gomart 2004), such as developing a running practice, may serve as stepping stones to recovery.

Recovery as conceptualised in this article stems from participants' accounts of the experience and draws from a participatory action study that conceived recovery as a self‐realised ‘learning process of growth and self‐development… towards becoming a self‐aware, responsible, moral and more fully realised human being’ (Borkman et al. 2016, 1124).

3. Running and Recovery

The attention paid to bodily discipline within social institutions suggests that bodies obey, even when minds dissent (Bourdieu 1988). In some ways, the emergence of sport within elite English boarding schools to dissuade ‘idle hands’ (Pociello 2005) is reminiscent of exercise as practised by the elite citizenry of ancient Greece, for whom it was part of the art of living (Foucault 1985/1990). This entailed (among other things) achieving a balance through a daily regimen that guarded against the dangers of overindulgence, reflecting a commitment to strengthening body and soul to face life's challenges (ibid.).

A growing body of research suggests that exercise may be an effective adjunctive treatment for addiction. In addition to supporting substance‐free alternatives for experiencing pleasure (Piché et al. 2024), exercise may help control cravings, improve mood and alleviate mental health symptoms, which together may serve a protective function in preventing relapse (Patterson et al. 2022). Many of these promising findings have emerged through studies conducted in clinical settings (Colledge et al. 2018) during acute treatment (Patterson et al. 2022). Although exercise is commonly integrated into recovery programmes, no guidelines exist to orient its use (Gould and Dowla 2024) and few rehabilitation centres document how it is used (Colledge et al. 2018), leaving many unanswered questions as to its risks and benefits for this population.

For some, exercise may be contraindicated or require monitoring due to the physiological toll of substance use (Torres and Hillman 2021). In addition, Moreau et al. (2023) observed that there may be a risk of transferring behavioural and substance addictions into a running addiction. However, involvement with a community of runners was identified as a protective factor (ibid.), which speaks to the importance of group processes when running is undertaken with psychosocial objectives (Moreau et al. 2018).

There remain many unexplored questions within this area, including those specific to different substances (Patterson et al. 2022) and the mechanisms within exercise that work to support change (Moreau et al. 2018). A rare investigation outside of acute treatment assessed a running intervention amongst unhoused people with substance use issues, finding that it served as a coping strategy, improving self‐confidence, resiliency, social connectedness and an ability to set goals (Kemter et al. 2024). There is otherwise little investigation from the perspective of people in recovery, thus limited exploration of experiential, process‐driven benefits, despite research suggesting exercise may help foster processes related to identity (Piché et al. 2024), learning and socialisation (Colledge et al. 2018). The lived and experienced sensate body, rarely explored in addiction research (Dennis 2020), seems to be paradoxically absent from the literature on exercise‐based intervention as well.

4. Research Question

Considering the above, our interest was in the inscription of substance use within the individual's habitus, making the reappropriation of the body part of a process of changing relationships to self, to others and to the environment. With this in mind, we sought to answer the question: In what ways does running influence shifts in these relationships and in the social disposition of those in recovery?

5. Theoretical Framework

To answer the above question, we adopted a carnal sociological (Wacquant 2015) approach to our investigation from the body. Cognition is understood to be situated within and extending out from a body that engages with the world through social and cultural practices that inform its knowledge. This approach compels researchers to connect with their own bodies, engaging in actions and events as they unfold, deepening their social and symbolic integration. Our investigation entailed mobilising the vulnerability of the first author's habitus in her relationship to running to gain insight into the shifting social dispositions of runners in recovery. This author had returned to running in the context of destabilising changes in her life, which provided insight into participants' transitions, the epistemological and methodological implications of which are discussed elsewhere (Bogue Kerr 2024a).

Wacquant's (2015) thinking has been informed by Bourdieu, whose concept of habitus serves as both the means and the object of study in carnal sociology. Habitus is an embodied relational concept, derived from phenomenological, structuralist and constructivist influences, encompassing at once the subjective formation of the individual through their continuous experiences of the world within an objectively shared social reality (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992).

Wacquant (2015) proposes attending to the carnal knowledge of the habitus through the ‘Six S’ properties. In this study, this entailed an examination of: (1) How skills acquired through running relate to the recovery process; (2) biological, social, psychological and existential forms of suffering, within running and recovery; (3) sentient experiences, both from within our bodies (i.e., heart rate or active movements) and from the environment; (4) the situated nature of running, shaped by the physical and social spaces traversed; (5) engagement with symbolic systems including language, religion and science used to understand and express how running and recovery relate to one another and to life; (6) these are sedimented, meaning they are acquired and built upon over the course of one's life and are temporally structured in relation to one another. Thus, relationships to running were examined across one's lifetime, including the recovery process.

There is a dual justification for this theoretical framework: (1) Sport (in our case running), situated at the heart of social life and tensions, reveals relationships to the body that are part of relationships to the world (Bourdieu 1988) and (2) although the body absorbs the initial impact of substance use and is at the heart of the recovery process, it is paradoxically sidelined in psychosocial interventions, notably in social work (Bogue Kerr 2024b).

6. Method

Canada spends approximately 13 billion dollars annually on healthcare related to substance use (Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction 2023). The province of British Columbia, where this study was conducted, is the epicentre of the country's addiction crisis. Although the social construction of addiction broadly contains the nation's problem within a stigmatised territory in downtown Vancouver, this obscures wider trends pointing to the province's overall higher levels of substance use disorders compared to the rest of the country (Canadian Mental Health Association 2024). Interviews were conducted primarily in metropolitan Vancouver, the province's largest city, with some held in the provincial capital of Victoria and nearby Washington State (USA).

Carnal sociology considers the embodied, embedded engagement of the researcher to be a methodological imperative (Wacquant 2015). This study adopted a novel approach by applying mobile methods, a choice aligned with Quidu's (2022) call for methodological plurality, which is explored in a separate article (Bogue Kerr 2024a). Mobile methodologies allowed the researcher to join with participants in the ‘here and now’, in the very places where they routinely ran. Although some routes were chosen for convenience and others for their beauty, the choice of interview location was made by participants.

Prior to beginning this study, approval was obtained from the research ethics board at the University of Ottawa. Participants were given the option of using either their names or an alias in publications. Although participants were not asked to explain their choice, several shared that they wished to be identified as a way of contesting the stigma associated with addiction, whereas others (identified with an *) requested to remain anonymous in accordance with recovery traditions.

6.1. Recruitment

Two sampling techniques were applied: purposive and snowball. Recruitment was conducted through social media posts to running and triathlon groups on Facebook in the Vancouver area. Interested individuals contacted the researcher through email or Facebook Messenger. Those within a maximum two‐hour commute from Vancouver were provided with the consent form. Participants shared the post, exercising a snowball sampling method through which three more individuals were recruited. One participant was contacted directly by the researcher after she appeared in the media. A total of 11 participants agreed to be interviewed.

The participants (7 = he/him, 4 = she/her) met the following inclusion criteria: (1) self‐identified as regular runners; (2) self‐identified as having had an addiction and (3) had been engaged in altering their relationships to one or more substances for a minimum of 6 months. We adopted self‐identification criteria regarding addiction for two reasons: First, a formal diagnosis is not required to modify one's relationships with substances, particularly because peer‐support groups can serve as frontline treatment (Kaskutas 2009). Secondly, this criterion was consistent with our epistemological posture and exploration of a recovery process that may diverge from traditional models. As such, we adopted an approach inclusive of participants' trajectories of addiction and recovery. Nonetheless, participants' accounts were consistent with the DSM‐5‐TR criteria (American Psychiatric Association 2022) for substance use disorders.

6.2. Data Collection

Three methods were used to collect data, seeking to capture not only the recovery processes of the participants, but also the researcher's embodied engagement. Accordingly, we collected data through mobile interviews (Chang 2017), which enriched discussions through emplaced, sensate encounters with the environment (ibid.) and supported experiential engagement with the habitus through the Six Ss (Wacquant 2015). We conducted two semi‐directed interviews with each participant for three reasons: (1) This provided more time without extending the distance of the run because this determined the length of the interview; (2) this allowed participants to feel more at ease in sharing sensitive experiences and (3) it provided the opportunity to explore embodied, sensate elements that arose and may otherwise have been overlooked amid accounts of recovery. Participants invited the researcher on two of their regular running routes. Interviews lasted approximately 1 hour; the pace was set by participants, who were informed that they could adjust as needed, including taking breaks, walking or stopping. Participants (n = 2) who were injured chose to walk. Photos were taken to complement participants' narratives of the geographic context. To maintain the pace of the running interview, the researcher retraced the route afterwards to capture images participants had drawn attention to, a choice examined in detail elsewhere, as are other specific methodological considerations (Bogue Kerr 2024a). Images in this article aim to integrate the situated, sentient and symbolic properties of the Six Ss that trace the transformation of the habitus.

Interviews were conducted by the first author. Considering the significance Wacquant (2015) accords to the researcher's embodied process, field note audio recordings documented her training, embodied transformations, state before and after the interviews, and reflections.

6.3. Participants

Participants (Table 1) ranged in age from mid‐30s to mid‐50s, averaging 45 (based on data from 9/11 participants). One self‐identified as having Indigenous and European ancestry; most participants presented as being of European descent. Participants had been engaged in a recovery process for three to 20 years, and most had participated in conventional treatment programmes (n = 9).

TABLE 1.

Participant profiles (n = 11).

	n
Gender
He/him	7
She/her	4
Civil status
Married or common law	11
Children
Yes	9
No	2
Active in youth
Sports	10
Physical labour	1
Career
Fitness	3
Studying or working in addiction counselling/psychology	3
Other professionals	3
Trades and sales	2
Conventional recovery treatment
Yes	9
No	2
Time in recovery process
3–5 years	4
5.1–10 years	5
10+ years	2
Primary substance
Nicotine	1
Alcohol	8
Alcohol/cocaine	1
Alcohol/crystal meth	1
Running and recovery
Running before recovery	7
Running after recovery	4
Running community
Runs with 1+ groups	10
Runs solo	1
Competitive running
Races	10
No races	1

6.4. Analysis

Interviews were recorded with lapel microphones and transcribed with secure transcription software. Weather conditions affected recording quality, resulting in data loss; thus, 17 of the 22 interviews were transcribed.

Field notes were transcribed and coded according to Paillé and Mucchielli's (2016) levels of examination: (1) scene; (2) context and (3) researcher's experiences, reflections and realisations. Interviews were reviewed and edited for errors made by the transcription software. NVivo software facilitated coding, with annotative notes tracking the researchers' analysis. Wacquant's Six Ss (2015) acted as conceptual categories (Paillé and Mucchielli 2016), orienting the deductive process of data analysis. This involved a reflexive, progressive and continuous process, elaborating six conceptual categories reflecting the intratwined and intertwined properties of the habitus. The second author acted as a ‘critical friend’ (Smith and McGannon 2018), offering an alternate perspective and encouraging reflexivity. Data saturation was reached within the range of interviews (between 9 and 17) generally required to do so (Hennink and Kaiser 2022).

7. Results

The following section will trace the transformation of the participants' habitus through the Six Ss, illustrating how running provided an organising lifestyle structure, creating the conditions that supported the transitions of recovery. This section is divided into five subsections, each corresponding to one of the Ss. The sedimented nature of these characteristics is deeply intertwined within the momentum of each property and is thus integrated within each subsection.

7.1. Suffering

Being down, sad, angry about something and being able to turn that into something that's healthy in a natural way has transformed the way that I relate to my body and to my wellbeing. It’s created this completely alternate pathway to being able to deal with life.

(Troy)

In this study, suffering refers to forms of physical, psychological, social and existential pain that were differently present in addiction than in running. Lives and bodies monopolised by substances were recalled through the vivid, physical sensations of hangovers and withdrawal. Social anxiety, disconnection and poor self‐image weaved through participants' narratives of their past lives, existentially characterised by a sense of stagnation or disconnection.

You're trying to have a normal life, but it's very much that sort of double life… this constant need to think about, plan, sort of try and control things, to set it up so that you can do this other thing in private.

(Wing)

A spectrum of suffering and healing emerged, capturing a gradual, nonlinear transformation of the habitus that was not without slips and struggles (McGannon et al. 2020). Lives once shaped by addiction became increasingly structured by running: ‘Over time, you become more of one and less of the other’ (Wing), echoing Gomart's (2004) analysis of stabilisation within pharmacological substitution therapies. Blisters, stress fractures, sprains and shin splints speak to the intensity of the process and serve as palpable evidence of the creative and embodied skills that support the transformation of the habitus (Nettleton et al. 2011). Developing the capacity for positive self‐talk is essential not only for pushing through moments of fatigue and loss of motivation (Olson et al. 2018), but also for tolerating uncomfortable bodily sensations (Nettleton et al. 2011) and negative emotions associated with addiction (Zautra 2015). Popular narratives of recovery often overlook the unsatisfying messiness of a process characterised by relapses that does not culminate in a cure (McGannon et al. 2020). Running trajectories, however, embodied these entangled relationships to suffering and healing, as the ability to endure (Hockey and Allen‐Collinson 2016) became inscribed within the runner's habitus. ‘Running teaches you discipline and structure, and it teaches you how to work, set a goal, but it also teaches you acceptance that not every day has to be awesome and you're going to have bad days’ (Zan).

There is allure in recovery stories that culminate in redemptive performances such as running a marathon, reflecting self‐transformation aligned with the cultural norms and values of the autonomous, liberal subject (Eren 2017), as opposed to the taboo of lost control embodied within addiction (McGannon et al. 2020). This narrative, however, overlooks the complexity of running practices situated within a process encompassing changes over time (ibid.).

I did have good intentions going into that first marathon… but a lot of it was for the same (reasons) too… like, “Look at me, Look at me!” Now it's not really for that, it's just to stay fit and healthy

(Melissa*)

Some distinguished between reining in substance use and engaging in a process of healing, reflecting a nuanced definition of recovery. ‘Sobriety is a state of mind. It's about being balanced mentally, spiritually’, Rory specified. Using running to stay ‘dry’ was seen as different from its integration within a healing process, without which some perceived a risk of transferring addiction into running.

Passion was distinguished from excess in relation to the life made possible through running. One man identified his ability to be present ‘heart, body and mind’ (Wing) as the difference between the two, whereas Alicia expressed, ‘Running (had) given (her) so much; alcohol just took away’. Some, weary of the fine line separating running as part of a full life from one encompassed by it, specified that it was and must remain ‘a safe space’ (Emily*) in which the joy of movement was protected and, as much as possible, maintained. Oscillations between these poles were also embodied within the researcher's habitus, who grappled with the same delicate balance.

Each participant raised the subject of exercise addiction, unprompted by the researcher. Although none self‐identified as having a running addiction, some questioned if it had, at times, taken too much space in their lives, acknowledging that they had run through injuries in unhealthy ways. For the most part, however, the benefits were seen as outweighing the drawbacks (Moreau et al. 2023).

7.2. Sentient

7.2.1. Senses

Awareness of the physical environment ran through participants' narratives and was contrasted with the disconnection of addiction: ‘You're never where you are’ (Emily*). In recovery, the opportunity to escape from the day to day and immerse oneself in these multisensory environments was part of the allure of running, and part of the ‘enduring consciousness’ that pushes through despite sometimes poor weather and treacherous terrain (Hockey and Allen‐Collinson 2016, 229). Connor shared his appreciation for the sensations of ‘the sound of the feet hitting the gravel or the river or the birds’ and the incredible views of mountainous routes: ‘There's so much reward, especially from views. You can only experience it if you're there yourself, so that's one of the real‐life lessons’.

Participants shared a heightened sense of presence and deep connection to ‘something greater than oneself’, a reference to the spiritual tenets of AA, recalling the meditative journeys of the Buddhist marathon monks of Japan (Stevens 2013). For these ‘spiritual athletes’ (idem p. 62), running begins as a solitary meditation, evolving to deep connectedness with the world. For many, these reflections arose during their runs, providing breaks from the demands of everyday life.

I call it the universal heartbeat…life is happening all around you and there's a heartbeat to it, beating. Even what I was saying about East Van, you'll stop and listen, like you’ll hear somebody yelling…but that’s all life too and so rarely in life do we stop and just listen to this heartbeat.

(Zan)

7.2.2. Body in Movement

Within the varied rhythms of running, participants described the meditative experience of locking into a pace, the exhilaration of moving fast and cutting through air. Running alongside a river overlooked by the clouded tips of the nearby mountains (Figure 1), Troy expressed:

Being able to get into a state where you're just connected to your breath and the way your body is responding, the nature that's around you…There’s definitely something about doing something that's very natural like running, in a natural environment that helps me get recentered.

FIGURE 1.

Port Coquitlam, Canada.

All participants had been physically active earlier in life; however, as Connor succinctly stated, ‘somewhere along the way… I lost that’. For many, the lifestyle dictated by addiction led to a neglect of the body, notably of sleep, nutrition and exercise: ‘There's no space there for taking care of your body’ (Emily*). Although one participant's engagement with an active body had been through physical labour, most associated it with childhood sports. Several described how refinding the joy of this movement made them feel alive and how special it was to join in that experience with their own kids:

I just started running with them on my shoulders, and it felt good… Like having both that really good feeling in my body of being able to run and then also, maybe just the proximity to the total joy that my kid was having up there was a nice reminder that I was like, oh, yeah, this is a good feeling that almost every person, if they're lucky, gets to experience for at least some period of time in their life.

(Isaac)

Emily* recounted how witnessing that very feeling in a stranger's children was a turning point in her life:

The thing that did make me ask for help was waking up that morning and it was raining and there's these kids outside running over puddles, like jumping around in the puddles. And I remember thinking: ‘I'll never feel that type of joy again’… And just seeing them and being like, I want that, but I'll never feel that again if I stay in addiction.

Returning to movement later in life was a way of refinding a sense of play. Participants recalled that childhood experiences of running were never framed as exercise but were following through on impulses to move. ‘I like that statue’, said Wing, pointing to a figure (Figure 2) that the researcher later learnt was meant to represent the inner child.

FIGURE 2.

Proud Youth, Vancouver, Canada. Sculpture by Chen Wenling in 2021.

Playful running experiences were differentiated from the work associated with training runs, recalling the distinction made by Moreau et al. (2023) between the sensuous and mechanised body amongst runners. Training was a means to an end, reflecting the commitment to the plans and goals integral to the lifestyle structure within which there was also freedom in simplicity. For Monique, there were rewards in ‘trying to think less and just do what they tell you. They say run 4k and a couple of wind sprints, just do it. Stop overanalyzing it. You don't have to try to recreate the wheel’. The practice of committing to a plan and to one's goals became inscribed within one's runner habitus. As Emily* expressed, ‘I am an athlete, whether or not I'm doing a hard workout. Because the integrity you have as an athlete is a constant. The training is a variable’.

7.2.3. Sensations of the Body

In addiction, the sensations of the habitus were monopolised by the steady flow of substances: ‘I was addicted to how I felt with it’ (Emily*). Feeling unwell had been so normalised that many were unaware they could feel differently. After the acute withdrawal period, the absence of chemically induced influences made space for new sensations. ‘The second that I started running, I just lit up. I was like, this feels amazing’ (Isaac).

As training mileage ramped up, the meticulous analysis of sensations gained in importance. The achievement of distance and time‐related goals is contingent not only on adherence to the plan, but also on one's relationship to suffering, to what one can endure. Learning to differentiate between stiffness and fatigue, pain and soreness helped guide the careful navigation of the entangled space between healing and suffering, testing the limits of one's self and of one's body (Green 2011), reflecting the nuanced transformations of the habitus. Sensations of pain and discomfort brought to consciousness are not isolated to the duration of the run; the emergence of bodily imperfections risks jeopardising the training plan (Hockey and Allen‐Collinson 2016), requiring or even demanding (Green 2011) attention throughout the day. ‘I'm feeling anxiety about my knee’, Rory began, as we started off on our second interview.

It’s sore all the time, hurts to use it… trying to manage the inflammation. Lots of stretches, different exercises… it’s impeding my training for London, so I’m way behind where I need to be or want to be.

The wide range of emotions experienced by participants during runs highlighted their deeply embodied nature. Participants pondered the varied nature of running, with its moments of flow (Swann et al. 2019), endurance and its influence on emotional well‐being.

It “right‐sizes” you in that I think when you're feeling down, it brings you up a bit. And when you're feeling really anxious or too alert, it kind of brings you down a bit. Right? So, it almost acts to sort of find yourself, like it roots you a little bit.

(Emily*)

This intricate connection between emotions and the rhythms of the body was expressed by one participant who, at the time of the interview, was absorbing the shock of a recent loss. For her, the ‘SOS quality’ (Troy) of running fed rather than soothed her emotional suffering. Asked about her relationship to running in this context, she shared, ‘The breath is so important to running. I found that instead of calming myself down, I was working myself up… I know that about myself. Sometimes it's hard to slow down when I'm running because I'm aggravated’ (Jessica). A reflection that the researcher deeply related to, having uncovered through this study a habit of holding her breath to push through exertion and stress in running and in everyday life.

The connected openness that running helped to support (Gross 2021), along with the symbolic charge of the intertwined training and healing process inscribed within one's habitus, culminated in powerful emotional experiences. Zan recounted the emotional intensity he experienced in the final stretch of a 60‐km race:

The last 2k… I just spontaneously burst into tears as I was running. It was almost uncontrollable… part of it was that I was so happy that at the time, 60k was the farthest I'd gone and just coming in, like how far I had come in two years for this. Just to know that I did something like that was just‐ it was overwhelming to me. But it was gratitude that I was feeling… it was just pure joy that, like, even though I was exhausted, part of it was relief that it was almost over, it was just like at that point in time, my place in the world was just perfect.

7.3. Skills

I actually have this amazing life, that I've always dreamt of because I got sober and running was just a way to get sober.

(Alicia)

For many, a glimpse in the mirror sparked change. Most participants (n = 7) started running before beginning to alter their relationship with substances, initially motivated by concerns about weight gain and body image. For a time, substance use and running overlapped, epitomised by swigs of alcohol taken to ease a hangover moments before setting off on a long run or even a race.

Running was like a lifeline to help pull me into a new chapter and a new headspace…I remember Sunday long runs. I'd show up and have a last drink of alcohol just before the run started… it was not a clean break.

(Wing)

Running was described as a lifestyle that served as an organising structure, supporting the development of new habits, skills and social connections (Kemter et al. 2024). Training for a race requires the ability to look into the future, set goals, develop and execute a plan, and the capacity to accept when the plan must change. Adhering to the plan requires maintaining a routine that supports proper nutrition and sleep (Hockin‐Boyers and Warin 2021), as well as an ability to attend to and care for the body's grumbles about the rigorous process.

This recalls not only the practices of routine and moderation that Wacquant (2002) observed as inscribed within the pugilistic habitus, but also the contrast between that lifestyle and the tumultuous alternative. Navigating these variables is central to the practice of running, with continuous feedback provided through ‘tangible markers’ (Connor), even the smallest of which lay the foundation for bigger goals. ‘Developing a skill set that has let me trust that I can deviate from the plan and still be pursuing a greater goal has just been so protective’ (Isaac).

The running community offered a normalised social context that supported gradual integration and connection. Fears and anxieties associated with the vulnerable working through of early shifts in the healing process were tempered by the ease of interactions made possible by the immediacy of the activity: ‘You just talk about running shoes and learn to be normal again’ (Monique). Connections were made over light conversations about training and deepened through small group social runs, supporting the simultaneous development of running and social skills.

Although participants expressed that they were ‘runner(s) just like everyone else’ (Melissa*), the skills specific to their journeys shaped their relationships to running and to the community. The lessons of recovery were said to make them better partners, professionals, runners, coaches and, overall, ‘better versions of (them)selves’ (Rory), reflecting the nonlinear transition from an isolated, suffering body to a communicative body, as observed by McGannon et al. (2020) in ultramarathoners in recovery. Participants shared these lessons with others through mentorship, volunteer work and new careers in fitness or recovery‐related fields, thereby creating and fostering recovery capital within the community (Best and Laudet 2010). ‘Pretty much everything that affects people in recovery, affects people who aren't in recovery. Lessons that I've learnt… I can share that with people, share my experience’ (Rory). The nourishment of these connections contrasted sharply with the isolation that characterised the limited capacity of the habitus, mediated by the pains (Leeds 2024) of addiction, to engage with the world.

7.4. Situated

It's a really comfortable place for me. It's like my backyard.

(Melissa*)

Participants shared the significance of their chosen routes as we circulated through the streets and along trails, revealing decades‐long relationships to place, meaningfully reappropriated and embodied through running (Allen‐Collinson and Hockey 2015). ‘It's almost like how normies go to a bar and drink to have a conversation and open up. This is like my bar’ (Emily*). Although Wacquant (2015) contends immersive ethnography to be most conducive to carnal sociological investigation, Emily's* choice to be interviewed in her ‘bar’ (Figure 3) supports the relevance of mobile methods in this study.

FIGURE 3.

Pacific Spirit Regional Park, Vancouver, Canada.

Responses highlighted the sedimented, temporal nature of these locations, both in relation to participants' journeys of addiction and recovery and to the sociohistorical evolution of the area, culminating in the here and now of the unfolding interviews. Isaac recounted his two different lives in the neighbourhood we ran through, now walking his toddler to daycare through the streets he had once roamed, seeking out places to discreetly use.

Strathcona … felt like an extension of the Downtown East Side… most of the people that we bump into in the neighbourhood are homeowners, who probably are the people who were calling the cops on the people partying in the park five years ago… I think about who I am and the way that my life has changed, and in some ways, I’m now, you know, part of that gentrifying force. But my history in the neighbourhood is a lot more complicated than that.

Intimate knowledge of the area was revealed through familiarity with the geography of the route, the terrain (Hockey and Allen‐Collinson 2016), the natural environment, the cycles of plant and animal lives and the history of the area. Some spoke about how their relationships to space had changed over the course of their recovery journeys, an evolution that stemmed from the self and reflected a process of opening up and of connecting with the world (Gross 2021).

How lucky and privileged I am to even be able to run and walk in here… Thinking about how we are actually walking on an area that for thousands of years has been Musqueam land and they would come in and do rituals and ceremonies here and bury their loved ones here… And realizing we’re not just in nature, we’re also in another people’s space.

(Emily*)

7.5. Symbolism

Ultramarathons are “like living your life in one day. You have highs, you have lows, you have problems, you have solutions, successes and failures. Takes a really long time, you bond with people along the way.”

(Wing)

The evolution of the runner's habitus revealed itself through running gear—an accumulation of capital specific to the field and symbolic of a deepened integration within it (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992). Participants laughed as they recalled the evolution of their kits, from beat‐up old sneakers and mismatched outfits ill‐suited to running, in contrast to the now ever‐growing collections of running shoes, belts and gadgets.

The highs and lows of training, injuries and races were mobilised as metaphors both for recovery and for life, each requiring continuous, consistent efforts. Running was described as ‘a microcosm of life’, ‘a teacher’, ‘a snowglobe’, ‘a magical power’ and ‘a religion’. Just as each run was seen as evidence of progress, adding up and creating momentum, so too was each day of recovery. ‘Sometimes the only success in a day … is you got to bed sober… You go for a run and it doesn't go the way you want it to, you made it back, it was a good run’ (Rory). Incidentally, the parallel processes of recovery and of becoming a runner highlighted subtle sedimented differences between participants: ‘I never saw myself as a high‐performance athlete… it happened slowly over years and years. And that's sort of just like recovery. You can't force the wisdom of someone that's eight or 10 years sober when you have eight or 10 months sober’ (Emily*).

Some, weary of losing the pleasure they found in running and its place in their recovery, were cautious about engaging with running's extrinsic rewards. The highs of races well run were contrasted with the devastation of those that fell apart along the way. Illness, injuries, fatigue, undertraining or overtraining, or sometimes, simply feeling off on race day, led to less‐than‐spectacular finishes. ‘You really need to be strong, I think, in your recovery life, to handle the failures of running or not being able to run at all’ (Emily*), conveying how the runner's ability to push through relates more broadly to recovery and to life.

Races were experienced as celebrations not only of the training, but also of recovery, culminating in a rite of passage that consolidated the new social role (Thibault Lévesque et al. 2017) through deepened engagement with the competitions of the field (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992). ‘I feel like that first actual marathon was more of a feeling of putting something behind me and moving into the new chapter. The half (marathon) was, like, part of the journey to get to that spot’ (Wing).

All of running's ‘little accomplishments’ (Rory), starting with the first laps around a track in beat‐up sneakers, traced the embodied transformation of the habitus and were a source of pride that defined future challenges, testing the limits of what was possible. The finish lines of races were charged with symbolism specific to that process, whether a small local race or the Boston Marathon; the private shame of addiction was contrasted with the highly visible experience of crossing a finish line, surrounded by family, friends and community.

8. Discussion

Although this study offers insight into the embodied process of recovery, there are some limitations to consider. First, though research suggests that gender plays a role in experiences of addiction and recovery (LaGrotta 2021), this was not expressly investigated. Gendered aspects of suffering and of traditional recovery skill supports were discussed; no differences specific to running were raised and were thus beyond our scope. Second, although mobile interviews allowed for a sentient and situated data collection, technical and environmental conditions also compromised data quality. Furthermore, the researcher's embeddedness is essential to carnal sociology (Wacquant 2015); although this was achieved to some degree through mobile methods, involvement in the running community and relocation to Vancouver, it was certainly to a lesser extent than with an ethnographic method. However, the researcher's embedded and embodied engagement in this study is consistent with Quidu's (2022) contention that ethnography is not the only means of carnal sociological investigation.

As a relational, embodied concept with phenomenological, constructivist and structural influences, the habitus has the potential to shed light on the interplay of the many dualities of addiction, though it has rarely been applied to investigations within this field (Parkin 2016). This study's findings align with arguments for elaborations on the embodied experiences of the habitus, including Leeds’ (2024) proposal for a bio‐habitus to account for how pain (including cognitive, conative and affective manifestations) influences one's sense of self. In addiction, pain and substances come together within a bio‐habitus, mediating its engagement with the world (Leeds 2024), echoing Vitellone's (2004) call for the integration of nonhuman matter within the habitus.

In this study, the first strides towards the runner's habitus were taken decades before in childhood—an impulse to movement that was re‐explored at a moment of transition that compelled a different rhythm for the body and ultimately for life. They returned to a habitus in standby mode (Lahire 2003)—an exercise different from attempting to transform an existing one, which by definition is limited to the experiences offered by its social context (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992). Passion for the substance (Gomart and Hennion 1999) was substituted for a passion for running, reflecting the devotion once understood as an alternate meaning of addiction (Alexander 2008). This has implications for the integration of running into recovery processes and supports the argument that exercise should be seen as a social practice, not merely a behaviour (Nettleton and Green 2014); those without a relationship to movement in their youth would not be engaged in refinding something they never lost.

In this perspective, running's efficacy as an intervention tool may be limited to those with physically active histories, implying socioeconomic conditions that in childhood and in adulthood supported extracurricular pursuits. Our relatively small and homogenous sample, comprised primarily of white, middle‐class participants, who identified alcohol as their main substance, leaves many experiences of addiction, recovery, the body and socioeconomic contexts unexplored. Although participants' socioeconomic status was consistent with that of the largely middle‐class (Gross 2020) running community, the limited ethnic diversity and uniformity of substances consumed is not reflective of regional demographics. Alcohol was the primary substance identified by participants, though some trajectories were also shaped by nicotine, cocaine and methamphetamine. Although Vancouver has been hard hit by the opioid crisis, none of the participants of this study disclosed opiate use.

Reengaging the dormant habitus recalls Gomart's (2004) challenge to the passive conceptualisation of addiction and their call for treatments that open up new ways of being active. Running practices provided structure for participants to create the rules to their own game (Gomart 2004), palliating the suffering bio‐habitus (Leeds 2024), making way for new embodied experiences. Within the limited literature examining the runner's habitus is some analysis of the neoliberal values embodied within it (Eren 2017). For those engaged in a process of recovery, however, the specificity of running as a disciplined, transformative practice is also inscribed within (Foucault 1977/1995). Together, these elements uncover a nuanced, overlapping space between the hypernormativity (Moreau et al. 2023) of embodied neoliberal discourses and processes of recovery that support existence within this social structure. Pursuits of self‐actualisation are intrinsically connected to rhythms of change driven by globalisation (Rosa and Vettraino 2016), the same forces that the relational model understands as causing disconnection and addiction through the destabilisation of communities (Alexander 2008). For the participants of this study and for the researcher, running practices bridged this tension between self and society, supporting a resonance in relation to the world (Rosa and Vettraino 2016), in opposition to the suffering of disconnection.

Past childhood movement experiences were reignited with an intention of altering the body's aesthetic, often beginning with a gaze in the mirror. From this external perspective, internal shifts in substance use gradually followed. Beginning with a return to the once familiar rhythms of the running body grew a connection to community and a life organised in relation to routine, pacing and temporal goals. Although this structure stood in sharp contrast to the chaotic lifestyle associated with addiction, the open, relatively fluid organisation of the running community allowed for a gradual integration during which time the collective purpose, values and systems were internalised (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992) through solo runs, group workouts, gear and, importantly, through races.

Incidentally, races functioned as collective symbolic events, further reinforcing the embodied values of the running community. These were also celebrations of reengaging with life, of emerging from hiding as a runner, embodying the social values of that community and, more broadly, of society, making oneself available to hear the ‘universal heartbeat’ (Zan). Over time, the runner's habitus became deeply inscribed, and though the experiences of addiction faded from memory, these nonetheless remained embodied within. The lessons of running and recovery nourished one another, culminating in a coherent organisation of the internal and external worlds, supporting the emergence of a new identity.

Finally, Wacquant (2002) observed that the culture forged within the walls of a Chicago boxing gym was experienced as a sanctuary by its members, where the disciplined fighting connected by the pugilistic habitus stood in sharp contrast to the desperate, unpredictable violence of the ghetto outside its doors. Although a similar sanctuary was discovered within running practices, the contrasting instability did not emanate from the streets where they ran but existed within the participants themselves.

9. Conclusion

This carnal sociological study addressed gaps in the literature on the body within recovery, focusing on running in a real‐world context, extending beyond the end of formal treatment. Running served as a lifestyle structure for participants, supporting a nonlinear recovery process beginning with a connection to their own bodies, extending to the running community and finally to the world. The sedimented lessons of running were inscribed through suffering, sentient, skilled, situated and symbolic properties that traced the embodied transition from the habitus in addiction to the runner's habitus. These findings suggest that running may constitute a promising relational intervention, particularly for those with the potential to rediscover long‐forgotten embodied rhythms. Relational approaches to recovery may wish to integrate an investigation of the habitus of those seeking support, mindful of the potential for a habitus on standby (Lahire 2003) to support a reworking of the individual's relationship with the world.

Author Contributions

Stephanie Bogue Kerr: conceptualization (equal), data curation (lead), formal analysis (lead), investigation (lead), methodology (equal), writing – original draft (lead), writing – review and editing (lead). Nicolas Moreau: conceptualization (supporting), formal analysis (supporting), supervision (lead), validation (supporting), writing – review and editing (supporting).

Ethics Statement

Our study was approved by the Research Ethics Board at the University of Ottawa (approval no. S‐02‐22‐7700) All participants provided written informed consent prior to enrollment in the study.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Data Availability Statement

No data is available for this study, as participants had not consented to its availability during the consent process.