Runners glorify the suffering needed to keep moving in spite of pain. And the payoff is almost always increased fitness, and improvements and mental fortitude for endurance.
Think about the works we use to describe running and training for endurance events:
Enter the Pain Cave!
Glorious suffering.
Embrace the suck.
Surviving a work out.
The Goggins 40% rule.
There is even a race called the Sufferfest.
No pain no gain is a terrible approach when you are an injured runner. If you really want to get back to training, racing in full return to running fitness as fast as possible after a running injury you have to stop causing pain in that one injured part. Do not confuse that with stopping running-related exercise.
That’s the lazy doctor way.
“Just stop running.”
“You ran too much.”
“Just come back and see me in six weeks.”
If you do that, six weeks later you’ll be weaker stiffer and more prone to injuries than ever before.
The trick is not to avoid training.
The trick is to make sure that your training is designed in a way that allows you to exercise, do meaningful work out, maintain your running fitness all while avoiding the stresses that load that one injured part to the point that it is not able to continue to heal and recover, while you maintain your running fitness. It is a delicate dance, but it is possible. It just requires careful thought, planning and attention to detail and listening very closely to your own body as you work your way through the process.
With training the solution is often in the suffering.
With injury, the solution is never in the suffering.
Having said that, you might encounter a completely different, unexpected type of suffering.
That is the suffering of sitting still.
If you have an over training injury right now, whether it is a stress fracture or a plantar plate sprain or an Achilles tendon issue, you may have gone to the doctor and been told you have to take 4 to 6 weeks off of running. Even worse, you might have been told you have to wear a fracture walking boot for some or most of that time. 6 weeks of sedentary life is not really the best solution for an injured runner, who really wants to get back to running.
Don’t ever forget. Those cookie cutter treatment plans are designed for all the other people in the waiting room, who don’t look anything like you.
You simply would not train for a race without a training plan, and you should not recover from an injury without a strategic recovery plan…that includes working out!
If you were told to sit still, and want to try to figure out whether or not it’s possible to take a different approach, you can jump on a strategy call with me (not an assistant or sales person or an AI chat bot) but a real 10 minute conversation to help you figure out which pieces you’re missing, and what strategy you should really be considering to make sure you start moving, stay fit and don’t unnecessarily lose all your running fitness while you were waiting for that one injured piece of tissue to completely heal.
You can block my calendar for your free call at DocOnTheRun.com Just click on Talk To The Expert tab.
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