Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we’re talking about why you should not focus on plan B.
Today we’re talking about why it is that if you’re recovering from an overtraining injury, you really should not focus on plan B. So the way that I thought about this episode today is that I just got off the phone. I was on a consultation with a runner and he has a plantar plate injury and he was planning on getting an injection to help the plantar plate sprain heal a little bit faster.
He asked me a question that really stopped me in my tracks. He said, “How long should I give it before I throw in the towel?” And I thought, well, are you planning for this to not work? I actually literally asked him that, I said “If you’re thinking about when you’re going to decide that this hasn’t worked, that means you have to be planning for it to not work.”
The question reminded me of a quote that I remember from Henry Ford and it was, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re probably right.” And I think that’s true with many injuries. In fact, there was a study published in a medical journal in 2019, in Nature, that actually found that patients subjective experiences of pain when they were being treated, were directly modulated by the providers, meaning the doctors, expectations of the success of the treatment.
But what does that mean? Why is it important for you as a runner? Look, I see runners all the of time who are frustrated. They’re tired of being told they can’t run. They’re tired of doing treatments that don’t seem to be really getting them anywhere and these are the people who call me for consultations. And many times when they think, well, I might try this thing, but if that doesn’t work, what’s the next thing? Because they failed so many different things.
One thing I know for sure with working with runners is that the runners who seem to consistently get better believe they’re going to get better and if you think about this, this is totally true with your training. If you believe that you can do an Ironman in 11 hours, you will probably do an Ironman in just under 11 hours. If you believe it is impossible for you to do an Ironman in 11 hours, you have zero chance of actually making it to the finish under 11 hours.
This is really, really common and we all understand this. You have to think about what your goal is. You have to focus on your goal. You have to visualize your goal. And if you’re visualizing failure of the treatment you’re undergoing right now, because you’re thinking about the next thing that you’re going to do after this thing fails, you’re probably going to fail.
So whether you believe in it or not, I promise there is research and there is evidence that this is actually real and that it works with many patients, many runners, many injured athletes. So think about what’s in front of you. Think about the things that you can do right now to actually optimize your chances of actually healing and recovering from your over training injury and you will get back to running faster.
Now, if you want to know the approach that I take, well I outline it for you in this web class, it’s talking about the 12 steps of recovering from an over training injury. You can get access for free at docontherun.com/12steps. So go check it out and I’ll see you in the training.
The only way to recovery from running injury quickly is to systematically apply what works, the same way you apply principles of training when you get ready for a marathon.
Most injured runners who call me for advice, and even some doctors, get these steps out of order.
These 12 steps, if applied in order, will help you recover, maintain your running specific fitness, and get back to running faster than ever.
This FREE web class will break it down for you:
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