Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast were talking about two perspectives for recovering runners.
Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we’re talking about two perspectives for recovering runners.
The fact is, every day I think about running injuries. Every day runners call me for consultations to figure out why they aren’t healing. Every day I meet with injured runners via webcam through a telemedicine visit, I see the same trends.
There is a big difference between the runners who turn things around quickly and those who stagnate. Most of that difference is in perspective.
All rapidly recovering runners get excited at the prospect of improving. They treat their running injury as a challenge, something to overcome, something to achieve.
But some runners view the running injury as something that happened to them, and accordingly, they are not excited about digging their way out of the hole. They know they are losing fitness. They know they are getting weaker. But they aren’t acting as if they have have it under control.
So why these two different perspectives?
Runners are used to following instruction. Think about all the ways you have taken instruction when you started running, signed up for your first marathon or decided to do your first triathlon.
You talked to your running buddies, and you listened for advice you could act on. You adopt those habits. They become part of your routine.
We start reading running magazines and look for the tips and tricks fast runners use in training. We start thinking about our cadence and running form. We try out a new kind of running shoe. We start following forums on running websites to see what we can learn. We start thinking about the variety of runs we add to our training schedule throughout the week.
We start following a training plan. That often begins with someone just following the training plan that one of their bodies is following. But all of these little steps lead to progress. We see growth. We can see that our are times are getting faster. We feel stronger.
Sooner or later you might even take the big leap of hiring a running coach. We all know that the fastest path to progress is getting clear instructions from someone who can see that path clearer than we can see it ourselves.
Expert advice simply saves times.
Every step in the process of becming a better runner involves getting motivated enough to look for something we can do differently. Each improvement inspires us to move a little bit further down that path.
Your coach gives you a plan and you get fired up and spring into action. You get a medal. You wear a finisher shirt. Everything about the process of training, setting goals and achieving those goals is positive. Everything about the process of training is inherently inspiring and aspirational.
It is all positive, and with each step of the process we get the opportunity to make a conscious decision to move forward.
But the truth is when you get injured the exact opposite happens. The entire process is inherently negative and you do not feel if you have any control and you were not given the opportunity to make a decision to overcome the goal which has been placed in front of you, without you choosing the situation where you need to overcome that goal.
You know have a new goal: heal the running injury. And because that goal has been forced upon you it has a tendency to adopt a victim mentality.
You do not really want to go see the doctor the same way you want to hire a coach.
You don’t really feel inspired or excited to research running injuries the same way you get excited about researching and learning about more efficient running form.
Overcoming a running injury feels like a burden. It is inherently negative. It just feels like damage control mode. Running injuries feel more about digging yourself out of a hole, and less about accomplishing something significant.
To make matters worse we start to believe that there is some specific healing timeline attached to each specific overtraining injury.
You hear things like “it takes six weeks to heal a fracture,” or “it takes months to heal and Achilles tendon injury.” We start to believe the process of healing is related to some timeframe, over what you may have no control.
Your doctor gives you a plan but you think it is a timeline. And that really is what I see is the biggest difference between runners who get better quickly and those who get better slowly.
Every over training injury is unique and can have a unique healing timeline. But it all depends upon what you do.
Runners who heal faster than those cookie cutter timelines do so because they actually perceive the injury as a challenge to overcome in the same way that they decide to run a four hour marathon or two hour half marathon, or qualify for Boston. If you’re motivated enough you will figure out what it takes to beat the standard healing timeline.
The runners who heal the fastest view the doctor’s instructions the same way they would view a coach’s training plan.
How can you make the mental shift between a coaches plan a doctor’s plan?
Take action. Do something. Think about what you used to do in training, every day. I am betting that when you were last building up for a key race, even when you were sick, you tried to find something to do that day…that made you feel stronger.
Every day you at getting weaker or stronger. Every day you are either getting closer to your goal, or your goals is drifting further away. It all depends on what you do today.
You have to create a plan now. And that’s why I wrote the Runners Rapid Recovery Journal. It’s just a thing that actually gives you a way to really, and truly look at what you were doing in training and apply it to your healing. That’s really all there is to it. So remember you already know the path to recovery. Just figure out what you were doing in training and start doing that today.
That’s really the key!
Right now the Runner’s Rapid Recovery Journal is on sale and you can get it at discount. You can get an instant download version today. You can find a link in the show notes at the bottom of this episode at docontherun.com under the podcast tab.
Go check it out!
Get the Runner’s Rapid Recovery Journal…
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