The Running Mike

Guest Post: Getting Back on The Horse

Today’s guest post is by Erin McDougall.  Erin (http://twitter.com/erinmcdougall) lives in Brighton ON with his wife and 4 children. He makes his living as a Project Manager in the Automotive industry, and enjoys running, wilderness camping, and music.

It seems like one thing that all runners have in common is injury. Whether it’s a beginner with shin splints or sore knees, or a more seasoned runner dealing with PF, IT band or Pirifomis issues- it’s something we all deal with at some point. Very often, the way the injury is dealt with is through rest. At first you’re itching to get back out there, but after a few weeks, if you’re not careful, you can lose momentum, and that spark can start to fade a bit.

I’m currently coming off a hip flexor issue. It started to crop up after a fall marathon, and for the last two months I’ve either been training at a greatly reduced volume, or not at all. The timing isn’t too bad- at least I’m not in the middle of a training cycle, but on the other hand, I’m realizing now that if I don’t get back at it soon, training for a spring marathon is going to be affected. Fortunately, the combination of rest, stretching, and massage therapy has got me pretty well ready to go again, but my head’s not quite there yet. I’ve gotten used to sleeping in (if you can call waking up at 6:15 sleeping in) instead of being out the door to run at 4:45am. I’ve gotten used to not having to plan my Sunday around a 3 hour run. I’ve gotten……. lazy?

Today I’m not going to talk about the physical aspect of getting back into training- I don’t want to be the one to advise anyone to start building their mileage back up before they’re ready. Want I want to talk about is getting your head back in the game. As much as we might enjoy training, it’s not easy, and sometimes when we’ve had to lay off for a while, it can be difficult to get the motivation fired back up again. Here are some thoughts for getting off the couch and back out on to the road (or trails).

1. Re-assess your goals. What do you want to accomplish this season? For a lot of us, if we don’t have a goal in front of us, it’s tough to get going again. Are you looking for a few PB? Do you want to break a threshold time?
2. Plan out your race schedule for the season. For runners, it’s exciting to mark your calendar with upcoming events.
3. Run with a friend you don’t normally run with. While recovering from an injury, you may not be able to train at your normal pace- take advantage of that and run with someone slower while you have the opportunity to not have to push your pace.
4. Buy a new pair of shoes. This might sound superficial, but if you have a new pair of running shoes in the closet, can you resist taking them out for a spin? And don’t buy boring white ones- everyone knows bright shoes are faster…….
5. Mix it up. If you normally train on roads, try running on trails or the beach. If you normally run in shoes, try running in VFFs or barefoot- if you’re not on a strict schedule- do whatever you feel like!
6. Most importantly- remember why you run. Most of us started running to get in shape, but continue running because we fell in love with it. Remember that you’re doing it because you love it!

There are a million excuses to not get back out there, and all of us know someone who “used to be a runner.” As much as having a strong and healthy body is important for running, if you don’t have any motivation get out there and put one foot in front of the other, you’ll never lace up your shoes.

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