Sunday morning coffe and chat about what runners hate the most!

Sunday, August 11, 2013 · Mike Davis

Thanks for joining me on this beautiful Sunday morning for coffee. This weekend is exactly what we (both my wife and I) need after 12 consecutive days of working along with the beginning of the half marathon training group coming this week and the end of the 10K training. If you’re running 5 to 6 miles comfortably and want a life changing experience, come out to Runners Alley on Tuesday and join up with the Seacoast Half marathon training group. This particular training is really special and will make a lasting impact on you! Did you know that 83 percent of runners get injured? 83 percent! Much to my frustration, I have contributed to that number over the course of my running life. As a coach my greatest challenge is in dealing with runners that experience an injury while training for a particular race. The frustration of following a good training plan and then that pain in their shin won’t go away. Now runs become painful, speed becomes a challenge and just walking hurts. Aside from the pain, the biggest fear is; how can I keep training and will it mess up my training? As a coach I look at the injury and try to determine how to treat the problem and can they continue running? Do they need a few days off? Or worse case; should they see a doctor? This can be easy in some cases such as an IT Band issue, I have them get on a foam roller but continue running. Other cases it can be much more difficult and can get downright frustrating. Shin (tibia and fibular stress) stress pain is the perfect example; it can range from a simple strain that can be handled with some ice and a tweak to their training or it could be as serious as a fracture. Not being a doctor I am put in a tough spot to help my runners without knowing exactly what it is. I see the frustration, I understand the timeline they are up against and I know what a trip to the doctor means. I have to admit there have been times that my focus as a coach is on both the injury and the forth coming race. It’s difficult when someone comes to me for a particular race and the clock is ticking while they are being hindered by an injury. A great example of this was this summer when I was working with a runner that was training for a Boston qualifying marathon. The heat was becoming a challenge, but the training was going well and then her shins begin to hurt. While we were fortunate that it wasn’t serious, the injury forced me to adjust her training in what was already a limited training period. Ultimately it forced us to train later into the schedule when tapering should have started. The results ended up not what we desired. The life of a runner! I have yet to work with any runner that wants to give in to an injury and while that may be admirable, it’s not always wise and I have to be better at pulling in the reigns. In some cases where the runner has started training early enough it’s easier but when they have limited time as I described earlier, it becomes important to not sacrifice injury for a specific goal. Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation (RICE) is always a good first step when presented with those injuries that may not be possible to run through. The hardest part is the “rest” part because no one wants to miss a run or worse multiple runs. Training schedules and falling behind get into our heads and so many runners try to tough it out. Then you have those runners that are not training for a particular race but running has become so much of their life (that’s a good thing), so the thought of taking time off to heal is not an option. I was talking with a physical therapist the other day and he discussed a certain demographic of runners who they see a lot of and how they struggle with taking time off from running because they somehow fear the results. No doubt I would fear some of the things that I would experience if my running had to be shelved for any extended period of time, but as long as it wasn’t permanent I would deal with it. The idea that taking some time off to fix a problem isn’t a fun thought, but running should be a “big picture” thing. The muscle between the ears is as important as the ones in the legs. Meaning; we need to be smart if we want to run healthy. Moving forward I am going to be more adamant about those that I train giving themselves more time to train so that they can be trained at a pace that allows for safe effective training. Overuse is normally the culprit in most injuries as well as gait functions. The both actually go hand and hand at times as our running gait abnormalities will get exposed by overuse. That’s definitely why I am a huge proponent of gait analysis in order to correct those abnormalities. Proper training provides runners the best chance to run healthy, but injuries still happen. In those cases it’s important to remember that running is a lifetime activity and missing a race or taking some time off is worth the ability to continue running later into your life. No Finish Line Running is about running for life not for a single finish line! This week is going to be crazy but I am excited to meet some new people who will come out for the beginner half marathon training and I will also enjoy seeing those that are coming back to do it again! I have a few meetings and training sessions with clients and those are always fun. I also have a meeting with my website designer to hopefully make some improvements to better serve runners locally and from afar. Today is our bi-weekly NFLR Newsletter so if you haven’t subscribed to receive our free Newsletter go to www.nofinishlinerunning and be sure to subscribe. There is a new addition that gives you an opportunity to send in a question and we are hopeful they will roll in. Have a great Sunday, enjoy your coffee and run well!