Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast, we’re talking about how runners who recover faster workout before the perfect time.
Today I went out for a run, but truthfully I wasn’t really excited about it. It was cold, it was pouring rain, and I had a lot of stuff to do. I could have easily justified not putting on my running shoes, not going out and slogging through a bunch of mud puddles. I also hate to admit that part of the truth is, I had new running shoes. I just didn’t want to get them all nasty and dirty running in the rain, because they were brand new.
I know that’s superficial and stupid, but that’s the truth. The reality is, there’s always an excuse why you shouldn’t go for a run, and the time is never perfect. And this is especially true when you’re injured. I mean, today, the conditions were not perfect for me, but I put on my running shoes, I put on my hat, and I went for a run anyway.
But I did run.
I enjoyed that cold wet run more than I thought that I would. But that’s almost always the case when you’re not really wanting to go out and workout, but you do anyway. Right? When you’re injured, and you’re not exercising, you may wonder, “When should I start to exercise?” Remember, the best time to plant a tree was 100 years ago.
The second best time, well, that’s today. Unfortunately, again, when most of these injured runners call me, and I let them start exercises, when we talk, when we’re on a Zoom call, when we’re on a phone call, what I’m doing is, I’m helping them, in a focused way, rebuild their running fitness. And the sad news is that they probably could have already started to exercise days, or sometimes even weeks before we actually spoke during that call.
What that means, of course, is that they’ve lost a lot of time, and a lot of fitness completely unnecessarily and the simple fact is that injured runners who get better faster are the runners who seem to do something right away. The runners who seem to take forever to get better, well, they’re waiting for everything to be perfect, they’re waiting for the x-ray to look perfect, they’re waiting for an MRI to confirm that it’s okay for them to run, for the doctor, to give them permission to run, for something to change. And there’s never a perfect time, particularly when you’re injured, because all kinds of weird stuff is going to happen as a result of the injury that makes you feel like it’s not safe for you to run. And if you see a doctor who doesn’t treat runners, they’re going to convince you of that right away anyway.
So you’ve got to remember, the runners who recover faster are the ones who start working out before the time is perfect. So, it’s still raining outside, I’m still going to run, that’s okay. And if you’re injured, you have to figure out a way to work out anyway. It doesn’t mean injuring your foot, it means figuring out how you can do that in a way that’s safe for you, that will help you maintain your running fitness. Don’t wait for the perfect time. Remember, best time is 100 years ago, second best time, today. Figure out what to do and get started today.
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