Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we’re talking about how running injuries are a lot like a savings account.
In this episode, we’re talking about how running injuries are a lot like a savings account.
I am sure that you have heard your running buddies, and maybe even yourself, use these analogies all the time, like, “We just banked another run. We got another hard workout in the bank,” and we think that all these things add up and they create this great store of energy for us to be prepared for a marathon and Ironman, whatever event we’re training for, and it is true.
You have to invest in your fitness and you have to prepare and be prepared for race day, if you really want to do well and if you want to have a good time, but when it comes to running injuries, there’s another analogy that you may not really like too much. And the fact is, is that about the worst place you can keep your money, aside from your mattress, is a savings account in a bank.
Most people will tell you that it’s very safe in the bank. It’s insured, it’s FTIC-insured, so if the bank goes under, your money’s safe up to a certain amount, and nobody’s going to steal your money. If it does get stolen, the bank’s responsible for it so it doesn’t matter. But the thing is, is that, although it’s safe, it’s growing at a very, very, very slow rate. So yes, you’re not going to put your money in the bank and have a double overnight.
You’re also not going to lose it. And a lot of times, what doctors do is they tell you, when you have a running injury, you have to play it safe. You have to be reasonable. You have to stop running. You have to stop all of your activity. You just have to take all your energy and put it into healing.
I agree with that last part, but I don’t agree with the most of the rest of it, because what happens is that you get a running injury and you think that your foot hurts, you need to see a doctor and you need an opinion on what to do. When you go see them and they tell you to stop running and they tell you to just rest and recover, well, they’re talking about the injury itself. They’re not really talking about the rest of you or the whole person who needs to actually perform as an athlete.
We know that bad things happen when you sit still. We know bad things happen when you wear a fracture walking boot or you use clutches. And the longer, the worse it is. And it’s not additive, it’s exponential. So, the longer you stay off of your foot, the longer you’re in a cast, the longer you’re on clutches, the more risk you have of getting a different injury later.
When you’re an athlete who’s injured and your goal is not just to heal the problem, the stress fracture, or the tendonitis or whatever it is, your goal is to run, really treating your injury in the safest possible way is not always the best course of action, because you have to think about what’s going to be safest for you when you actually return to running, not right now.
What’s going to be safest for you when you’re actually performing, when you’re doing your high-mileage weeks, when you’re racing? That’s what you really need to think about, because I’ll tell you that I see runners, I do telemedicine visits with runners all the time, who have not just had one over-training injury, they’re now stuck in a cycle of over-training injuries, and it’s because they go through this injury hoping to get better, waiting to get better, losing their fitness, getting weaker and stiffer, and then, when they return to running, they get a different injury or recurrence of the same injury.
Either way, you’re just not getting what you want. You have to think of what your goal is and you have to think how to get there as quickly as possible.
If you think you have an injury that isn’t getting better, and you are trying to figure out whether or not you can run, you need to check out How to Fast-Track Your Running Injury in Record Time!
Give me 3 days, and I’ll help you figure out where you are are now, and how you can get back to running in record time. Get started for free right now!
If you think you have an injury that isn’t getting better fast enough, and you are trying to figure out whether or not you can run, you need to check out How to Fast-Track Your Running Injury in Record Time!
Give me 3 days, and I’ll help you figure out where you are are now, and how you can get back ton running in record time. Get started for free right now!
Go grab your seat now. I’ll see you in the training.
