Running has taught me many things about myself and about life.
This blog is about sharing those lessons. The last one I've learned is to ask for help when I need it.
I suffered from a psoas injury right in the middle of my marathon training. An important thing about training is that you prepare your body but you also work your confidence.
Two months into my training I was forced to rest and undergo therapy.
Resting wasn't easy. I was freaking out about loosing what I had built and when I went back to running I knew my injury wasn't just physical but also emotional.
I was able to run while I was still in therapy and at the doctor's office I ran into another fellow runner who asked about my injury. I told her my psoas story and she asked how far I was into my training and I said two months and one more month to go. She looked at me and said: you need to hire a running coach to-day.
She told me about a coach that had trained with her.
That same day I talked to him and told him about my marathon, my training, my psoas and my injured runner's soul.
He listened to my fast speaking self, let me finished and asked: are you fully recovered from your psoas?
Ruth: I have had two runs with no pain at all
Coach: can you train mornings and afternoons?
Ruth: Yes.
Coach: Ok. Then we will work every day at 6:00 am and then again at 6:00 pm
I was afraid to reply I thought it was too much!!! Had he not heard I was recovering from an injury? Maybe he thought I was a professional athlete? I went back home feeling more disturbed than relieved.
Next morning I was up and ready. I had some oats and a kiss from hubby for breakfast and I made my way to the track field.
At the track field I found my coach (I still can believe I get to say those words: MY coach)
Coach: right on time! good sign! five laps to warm up.
Ruth: that's like 2km
Coach: yes.
Ruth- to herself: Yeah, we'll see if I make it to the actual workout.
After my 2K run he taught me some -never done before- dynamic stretches. Men did I look silly! I looked like I was doing senior citizen's aerobics. I found this video on Youtube that includes most of the stretches the coach taught me.
After that I ran around 10K.
I finished my first training session running the farthest I had run after my injury.
I had zero pain.
It has been the BIGGEST confidence boost E.V.E.R.
I've had a total of 4 sessions and still no pain. I have trained harder than I ever had and still have no pain!
Saturday morning I had a long talk with my coach and he said:
1. I am not injured. Let it go.
2. It's all in my mind.
On that day he made me take my pulse after each series (I did five) and even though I was complaining after every single one he made me realize my pulse was even through out my runs which meant IT WAS ALL IN MY MIND.
That has been the hardest work out and I thought I would be sore after I cooled down but a couple of hours later I was still pain free.
The lesson: Ask for help if you need it.
There is absolutely no way I was going to train that hard by myself. I would have stopped with the minor pain or discomfort. Why? Because I don't know any better.
I am not a great runner. I am training for my first marathon. I still have a lot to learn and some things I can't learn them by myself.
I have to ask someone for help.
I had no idea how to make up for the lost training. I can't make those kind of decisions and if I did the cost could mean not running my marathon. That would be just unthinkable and unaffordable.
I told my coach he would be my therapist for the next month and he laughed. But it is the truth. He has given me my confidence back.
I am running Garmin free. I am trying not to count distance and disregarding pace. Coach can worry about that. I will focus on my heart and running happy in the meantime.
Isn't running just like life? Some times we need to ask for help and it is ok. We must stay humble. We must learn to learn.