I was returning from Phoenix, Arizona, where I had attended a course offered by Dr. Michael Schuster on practice management. Mike likes to recommend books, lots of books, to his students to read. So I was on a plane reading a book on goal setting. In the book was a worksheet that the reader was challenged to complete. It led me to write down a number of things I hoped to accomplish.
I was turning 40 within a few months, and writing down goals. Hmmm, sounds like a “mid-life crisis”.
One of the goals I wrote down was that I was going to run a marathon. I had never competed in a race in my life, other than a 100 meter footrace in elementary school. I had started running to stay in shape, but I had never ran more than 3 miles at a time. I didn’t know what I was getting into. But a marathon sounded so dramatic, so accomplished. And how hard could it be anyway?
I did an online search and found a marathon training plan and started logging miles. It didn’t take long before the injuries started to appear. Not knowing anything about running, not having a coach, and not having any form of training, I was naively and ignorantly trying to be a long-distance runner.
Granted that some people have the genetic ability to run marathons without training…I am not one of those. I suffered tendonitis in my feet, heal pain, shin splints, IT band/knee pain, hip pain, lower back pain, shoulder pain, blisters, lost toenails, and chafing. I am not going to document solutions to all of these challenges. Instead, I will recommend just two things: stretching and core strengthening.
I hate both stretching and core strengthening. “Can’t I just get out on the road and run miles?” I ask myself. I’ve learned that the answer to that question is—only if I want to experience unnecessary pain. But as a weekend warrior (one who indulges in a sport on an infrequent basis, usually on weekends when work commitments are not present) I struggled to find time to complete my running and also find time to stretch and do core strengthening.
Finding time to stretch and strengthen the core is a challenge, but after struggling through injuries that interrupted my training, I am a firm believer (now) in these two critical activities.
You can find lots of different crunches, stretches, and answers to questions about injuries. My purpose isn’t to detail all of that. It is simply to warn the “weekend warrior” beginner runners to stretch and strengthen your core.
I thought that one marathon would satisfy my goal, but five years after writing my goal down I am still enjoying the next marathon—this time it’s St. George, October 3, 2015.