Learning Patience

Wednesday, August 16, 2017 · Mike Davis

Good morning!

Last night Doug and I returned to track for the first time since I tore my calf muscle. This time however, I took the time to prepare my body to accelerate. This was an important test in my recovery and I am pleased to have completed the workout without feeling the slightest discomfort in my calf. I owe much of my recovery to my son in-law, and his professional advice, but I also am back running because I showed patience. Patience has not always been my strong suit in many aspects of my life and especially in my own running.

If you have been a part of “Coffee and Chat with the Coach,” for a long enough period of time, you would be well aware of the ups and downs of my running challenges as they relate to injuries and physical challenges. Like many runners that are advancing in years, I have dealt with both “acute” and “chronic” injuries. Acute being something like the calf tear and chronic being the permanent arthritis I have in my hip. In both circumstances, I have tried various ways to quickly facilitate the repair process and the most times, that resulted in extending the recovery time. With this most recent calf injury, reached out to my son in-law (Aaron Miller) and he gave me some great guidance. Rest and ice, were the initial directives, followed by easy stretching and then he had me progress to strengthening using a dumbbell. The next stage of recovery Aaron directed was to start walk/running and that was where my patience was really tested! When I run, I want to run, and as I started this phase, I felt good enough, that I wanted to minimize the “walking” part of his guidance. Despite my desire to speed things up, I stayed with the walk/running for a few weeks and even used it to get my dog Roy out for his daily exercise.

After finally getting through the walk/run phase and feeling no discomfort in my calf, I joined back up with our NFLR training group. Again, I had to understand that while my calf may have felt good on the flat surfaces I had been walk/running on, I now needed to take the time to prepare for the more challenging elevation that came from running around Dover with the training group. This step most definitely requires patience in carrying out the pre-run preparation. Taking the time to do the proper dynamic stretching AND then focusing on stretching the calf would be important in protecting my calf. After multiple runs, I could tell that I was much better, but I could also tell that the calf was not ready to push up hills at any accelerated speed. Patience Mike!

Last night at the Spaulding high school track, I took the time to both dynamic stretch and also stretch my calf muscles. This was not easy, as I could tell Doug was tired and wanted to get started and get finished! As we eased through our easy warmup mile, I reminded myself that I needed to be patient and accept that this workout was part of the recovery and not let my ego push me harder. My first 400-meter interval was at nearly 2 minutes, not exactly my typical pace, but my calf felt good! My next interval was around 1:56 and as I continued, each interval got slightly faster, with my final (sixth) being @ 1:42. Thankfully I was somewhat gassed because my conditioning and that helped me to keep my pace where it needed to be for my calf. After we finished our mile cooldown, I felt awesome about the workout and was pleased that there was no discomfort in my calf.

As a running coach, I have encountered many runners that come down with an injury and in most cases, they do not want to lose time training. I totally understand that and yet I also know that not taking the time and showing patience, will only lead to a longer recovery or worse, a more serious injury. There are many ways to facilitate the recovery process, but in most cases, time is needed. Learning to be patient and finding other methods to maintain cardiovascular conditioning are both helpful to getting back on the road healthy. I have been encouraged by my wife to slow down, and that is exactly what I am working on, and that is helping me to be much more patient!

Have a great Wednesday!

God Bless!

Mike