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Being Careful With That Adrenalin

Good morning!

Grab your coffee and pull up a chair.

This week I get back in my Kinvara’s and begin the process of easing my calf muscles back into propulsion. That process has been a challenge for me for a good part of 18 months and a frustrating one. There have been moments where I felt I was good and then another setback. The problem with me is those times I feel great and believe I have finally overcome. That confidence combined with my eagerness to cover greater distance, has led to disappointment.

Tomorrow I will start back with a walk-run routine and the challenge will not be my calf muscles, but instead the discipline and patience stay with whatever walk-run plan I devise.

I am all about the big picture when I am coaching our runners and I totally understand the science of a process, but when it comes to myself, that is a whole lot harder. Letting my emotions and desire overcome what my brain knows to be right, leads to nothing good. Much like negative splits. We feel great those first few miles and we somehow convince ourselves we can use that feeling to bank some time, or even that we going to feel great for most of the race. These feelings are typical, yet ultimately, we can only perform to the level we trained. We may be able to take some time off our trained pace, but not as much as those first few miles tell us emotionally. Getting a runner to the start line strong and confident is part of a good training plan. Combining that feeling of strength with adrenalin, and you have runner that feels awesome! While that awesome is wonderful, it also can lead to bad things. I preach to every runner, “save that adrenalin for the ladder part of the race.”

Very few, if any have been designed to circumvent the anatomical process of our perfectly created body. While I would like to be back running for an hour-plus, I cannot overcome the reality of my injuries. Even if the desire is there.

Tomorrow I will have to remind myself of my own words and trust that adrenalin will serve me better another day!

Have a great week!

God Bless!

Mike