Today, on the Doc On The Run podcast, we’re talking about the Marathon Method of Running Injury Recovery.
This is the thing I came up with when I actually was thinking about this, about what I do differently with runners now that I’ve been for about a decade, basically focusing just on injured runners, what do I do differently than when I had a normal practice where I saw everybody with any kind of foot problem?
Well, it’s really simple. Let’s think about what happens when you decide to run a marathon. Nobody just wakes up and says, I think I’m going to run a marathon today, it doesn’t work that way. What usually happens is you have something that triggers your desire to actually run a marathon. Maybe you watch an inspiring movie about a marathon runner. Maybe you hear some story from one of your friends who did a marathon, lost a bunch of weight, they got fit, they set some huge goal, and they suggest you should run a marathon or maybe you read some uplifting story about someone who overcame incredible odds to actually complete their goal of running a marathon.
Either way, we all know it’s really a big goal, we know it’s inspirational, and you decide that you want to do a marathon. So, what do you do? Well, you don’t just show up at a marathon. You don’t just go down there because a Houston Marathon is starting, or CIM is this weekend, and get your number and see if you can do it. It all starts with some little inspiration and some spark that actually encourages you and kicks you into action.
But before you run off to sign up for the marathon, what do you do? Well, you have this vague idea, okay, running a marathon sounded like a good idea because Mary told me so, and I think I should try to do it, but what do you do? Do you train? Do you buy a new book about how to run marathons? Do you go get a new sports bra that’s going to decrease chafing over 26.2 miles? Do you get a new pair of running shoes? Do you hire a coach?
No. You don’t do any of those things. You don’t do any of the action steps that you would normally take in training and completion of that marathon. What you would do is you would go sign up for an event. You would think about it, you would get up the courage, you would go to your computer, you would look for an event, or you’d talk to your friends, ask their input, and then you would actually go and register. You’d sign up.
Then as soon as you register, it’s like everything changes. You suddenly have a goal and you’re suddenly motivated to do the stuff that you need to do right then. So, what do you do? You sign up for the marathon and you’re like, okay, and you go for your first run. Maybe it’s a mile, maybe it’s walking and running for a mile, maybe it’s walking around the block to just get moving. Then you start doing all this stuff. So, once you actually get into motion, once you sign up for the event, once you pick your goal and you start moving, everything else becomes easy. All these little pieces start falling in place.
You go for a short run, you’re like, wow, these shoes are garbage, I need to get some real running shoes. You get some socks that are actually are going to keep you from getting blisters. You do all of these things that are very specific to achieving that goal. That’s why I think that I came up with this thing called the Marathon Method of Injury Recovery because it really is the people who get better fast, the people who get better slow, there’s a big difference between those two groups.
I was just talking to someone about what really makes some runners recover fast versus slow, and there are really two differences. This is the bottom line; the two differences are when you begin, and when you get in motion, those are the two differences. As soon as you sign up for that marathon, what do you do? Then you start to get into motion, right? You do something.
So, you sign up for the event, you take a deep breath, you think you’re crazy, maybe you’re not, but you know you have to do something. So, you go for your first run. You take step one, you actually go out, maybe you walk a mile, maybe you walk run. But you go and you do something and that suddenly sets everything in motion. That first little step of first taking action after you sign up for that marathon. Then you get into momentum. So, you take the step, you sign up, and then everything changes.
You don’t just sit around thinking about it, you know you’ve got a deadline, and so you start taking action. You go get some new running shoes, you get some socks, you get some gear, maybe even get a GPS watch, you hire a coach, you pick out a training plan, you read a book on running a marathon. You start to do all this stuff that builds on itself very quickly so you start to become very fit and prepare for your marathon.
This is the same thing, everybody that I talk to who’s an injured runner, I think about all the stuff that actually makes them heal fast or makes them heal slow. There really are two differences about this because I was just having to talk with somebody who was asking me, what is this difference between runners who recover fast and those who cover slow? And there are two, those two things are really simple; when they get started, and when they get in emotion.
The runners who are sitting there listening to podcasts, and watching YouTube videos, and they know they’re injured and they have all this conflicting advice that confuses them, they don’t do anything, they just sit there, and they wallow in self-pity, and they don’t take action, they don’t get moving, and they’re not even starting yet, they haven’t even signed up for the marathon.
Then the second group are those that get into momentum. Those that know what the problem is, and they actually do something. As soon as they know that it’s Plantar fasciitis, or they know it’s a stress fracture, or they know it’s a Plantar Plate Tear, they do something. They sign up for the runner’s heel pain course, or the Plantar Plate course, or they get a treatment plan from their doctor, they start doing the things that they know are going to help make it better. But they have to do both, you have to get started, and you have to get into momentum the same way that you have to sign up for the marathon, and then you actually have to do the stuff that builds on your fitness all the way up to the time you get to the starting line.
That’s the only way you can do it to do it quickly. But it’s those two things. What it really comes down to is that you’ve got to make sure that these two things are working for you the same way they work for your marathon. Now, the truth is that training for a marathon is a lot simpler because all you have to do is sign up and then get up the courage and the energy to actually do the things to take the next step. The people who have running injuries get confused because they don’t really know what to do most of the time, they post something on a forum and get 20 different kinds of advice about 20 different kinds of conditions, and then they’re just sitting there with this analysis paralysis, where they don’t know what to do. They’re looking for more and more information, but they’re not making any progress.
Remember, you got to get started. You got to get into motion. If you want to know how to do that, go check out the 12 steps. It’ll walk you through the process that I use so that you can use the same Marathon Method of Running Injury Recovery so you can get back to training, get back to running, stay fit, and get back to running faster. Go check it out. I’ll see you in the training.
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