- 1.75 miles
- Slow
- 0715
- From/To Home
- Proving that it is all about mental preparation and attitude, this run was one of the hardest to date...that stated, I still plan to take it easy through tomorrow to see if I can bounce back a little bit. I would like to feel legitimately good, like, spring in my step good (I don't feel bad/sick or anything, just sluggish) by Sunday so I could at least get in the long run, but we shall see.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Day 309
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While it's extreme to compare overtraining or a sports injury with being a Vietnam POW for seven years, I like to do so anyway and call attention to the Stockdale Paradox.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stockdale#Prisoner_of_war
The gist of the paradox is that you have to believe in the happy ending—the final, good outcome—without believing in the specifics of how or when you're going to get that happy ending. That was the mentality I adopted with my Achilles' tendinosis last year. In the first weeks of injury, I thought “I'm not really injured; ibuprofen will get me through this.” But the symptoms worsened, so I rationalized: “Sure, I'm injured, but the pain isn't that bad and I'll be OK in a few weeks—a month tops.” Then I learned just how slow-healing tendons are, and I came around to the Stockdale mindset, which in my case was: “I'll get through this, but I don't know how long it will take.“
Overtraining isn't as serious as Achilles' tendinosis, and we can't even be certain you're overtrained—though you have the symptoms—but know that overtraining can take anywhere from days to months to heal.
CMB -- Thank you and I agree that is most certainly the best mental approach. As for "anywhere from days to months to heal," i'm choosing days for now :).
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