Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we’re talking about the coronavirus and how it has you on lockdown, unless you’re a runner.
Seems like the only thing we hear about in the news right now is the Corona virus. I’ll bet you’re also getting inundated with emails from hotel chains where for you have previously stayed. “We’re cleaning up.” “Everything’s going to be okay.”
Rental car companies are telling you not to be concerned because they’re going to wipe down the inside of automobiles for the hand you the keys.
At the same time the President is declaring a state of emergency. Schools are closed. Races are canceled. Professional sports franchises are all on shutdown for try season.
Yesterday I was looking at the latest news story about the lockdown in Italy. Strict lockdown. Don’t go out of your house. Government orders. And the representative image in the news story showed a street scene of beautiful Italian architecture in Florence Italy. There was only one person on the street.
And that person was a runner, who was running.
So while we are afraid to go to the grocery store, or that someone might cough on us while we’re getting gas, we all want to go out for run. Even under the threat of personal harm or imprisonment…we want to run.
Running 10 miles on a trail really doesn’t seem very risky right now. Yesterday I ran 6 miles on a trail and only saw two other people.
Later that same day, I went to the grocery store and I heard two people coughing. Get me out of that store and back on the running trails…where it’s safe.
Runners like us are certainly more prone to contracting terminal cases of cabin fever than the average individual. We don’t like to be cooped up. We don’t like to sit still. If we don’t go run, if we don’t exercise, we’ll go nuts and so will everyone else around us. It seems our cabin fever might be contagious as well because our family members get irritable as well we don’t run.
Right now I’m looking out the window and it is raining outside. Given the circumstances, it seems like the perfect time for go for a run. You already have relatively vacant running trails, which will be totally empty while its raining.
In California doesn’t rain very much. So when it does rain, most runners would rather just wait until it stops raining and then go for a run. When most reasonable people look out the window and see rain they think it means time stay inside.
For runners like us, that looks like a perfect opportunity for a low-risk run.
Am I going to go to the grocery store today? No way.
What I need a restaurant today? Absolutely not.
But would I go for a run in the rain? Almost certainly.
What I run on a treadmill at the gym? I would rather eat glass.
Would I run on my treadmill in the garage? Sure.
It seems like right now the only thing that makes sense is self quarantine and social distancing. It also seems like right now the further you run into the woods, or the farther down the trail, the more social distancing you get.
Make no mistake. I know I am fortunate. I have a job right now, where I get to do phone consultations and WebCam consultations with injured runners. I don’t have to sit in an office with sick people. I don’t have people coughing in my face. And the people that need a consultation, that need to talk to running expert also can talk to me without having to sit in that same waiting room with all of those sick people.
What do you choose to run or not, it’s all about saying clear of the contagions. It seems to me that a more social distance we keep, the better. Even if the government says you should limit your gatherings 250, I seriously doubt that really makes sense. You do not need to run with a big crowd. Even if the government sets a limit to 50 people I seriously doubt that makes sense. Make the right choices for you, irrespective of what your local government is telling you to do. Be safer.
Stay safe everybody. And choose your run wisely!
All overtraining running injuries are stress induced injuries. If you want to recover as fast as possible, the single most important goal is stress reduction.
Biomechanical stress is the only form of stress many runners (and truthfully many doctors) try to address. Running form, decreased activity, fracture boots, different shoes…all ONLY modify biomechanical stress.
I created a free worksheet to help you assess the 12 Forms of Stress that can slow a runner’s recovery. Download it and go through a series of questions to ask yourself if you want to recover and get back to runnig faster!