As I mentioned in previous columns, an injury is an athlete’s worst nightmare. However, we are not machines, we break down. Some athletes believe it’s the end of the world, but we have to go on. When I was injured I was always irritated and wanted to jump back to competition right away. However, my being a veteran runner I know we cannot rush things, we have to listen to what the sports doctor says. High degrees of self-motivation are critical to the rehabilitation process. Successful injury recovery demands an element of acceptance and patience. Well, here are some tips. Don’t get emotional. Becoming depressed or angry about having to watch at the sidelines actually cause the release of stress hormones that may impede healing, the more we relax and accept our injuries, the faster we heal. Injury as an opportunity – when I was injured I used my recovery time to pursue my other interests like music and painting. My family was happy I get to have breakfast with them. Lean on others – talking with other athletes who have been through similar experiences can give you confidence and could propel you to better performance the minute your back on the groove. Don’t confuse it with misery loves company.
Physical Recovery
After the mind, it’s time to tackle the body. The slogan of Pharmaton Capsules best describe the coordination of mind and body. It goes like this “what the mind can conceive, the body can achieve”. After a layoff, your feet and legs, bones and joints are just not ready for any pounding. They have become somewhat soft and lazy and it takes time to build them to a point where they could renew running without getting re-injured. It’s also possible your injury hasn’t healed completely, even though you may not feel any pain, the affected area will be weaker before it was injured and more susceptible to re-injury. If you stress your body too much too soon then you might be injured again. Depending on how long your lay off is, begin with a walk or jog regimen. During my stay at sick bay, I did a lot of walking ignoring cruel words. “Laos na si Raffy,” but when I was eating asphalt again, they were biting my dust. Walking, exercise the muscles without the hard pounding of running.
Back On Track
When you take shortcuts meaning disregarding the body’s natural recovery time table, you are asking for trouble. Standard chartered Hong Kong Marathon veteran Sergs Amora took steroid shots on is Achilles tendon injury just to run again but after awhile he was back limping. As you become stronger, you could increase your weekly milage by no more than 10 percent. This is true even when you’re healthy. Finally you need to eat well. During lay off most runners cut on their food to prevent weight gain. This is not true you need extra nutrients to mend the injured area and to fuel your training once you’re ready to pound the streets again. The late George Sheehan M.D. said “You must listen to your body, run through annoyance but not through pain.”
Note: we would like to bid Sergs Amora, goodbye. No he will not leave us forever like our dear friend Bernie Lanutan. He will be leaving for Seattle, Washington USA for a few months. SAYONARA SERGS.
Paging Spider taxi operator. My daughter Milo left some important documents in your cab, however she not able to remember the plate number. In case you find the brown envelope, we would appreciate it very much if you could return it to The Freeman c/o Raffy Uytiepo Cell. No. 09157572576.