Tuesday, September 24, 2024 – Overcoming injury (Carol McFarlane)

Hi Everyone!

I don’t think we had any racers this weekend. But coming up this weekend in Berlin we have Eleanor, Samantha and Elizabeth. Good luck crew!!! Also, congrats to Sean who rode his bike to New York last week! That’s not nothing. Looks like our warm-ish temps will be continuing this week, albeit with some rain, so let’s soak the last of it in while we can.

This week we have a guest post by Carol McFarlane – thank-you Carol!

Overcoming Injury- Lessons from a 14 year old

If you are a runner or amateur athlete, you likely have sustained an injury of some kind over the years. It could have been a little niggly that just needed a few days off, or something considerably more significant such as a concussion or unexpected health issue completely unrelated to sport. If this is not you, then you are among the lucky ones. It would be very easy to detail the health and injury hiccups that I have endured, but I thought it would be more compelling to share the lessons I learnt from my son who overcame a significant injury this past year.

Some of you are aware that my two sons have been playing competitive baseball for several years. My younger son, who just turned 14, was diagnosed just under a year ago with osteochondritis dissecans. This is a condition that affects the outside surface of the elbow damaging the bone and cartilage. Not a ‘take a few weeks off” set back, but instead, a highly specialized surgery, stimulating stem cells and cartilage regrowth. Six months back to baseball POST surgery. Devasting news for a grade 8 boy who was forced to shut down everything. Baseball, hockey, all school sports. Not that he likes running BUT he was not even allowed to run for the first 4 months.

OK, so this story does turn around. He did get the green light to start playing again in early May. He did come back to baseball gradually thanks to a wonderful coaching team. And, he personally had one of the best seasons of play since he started all those years ago. Yes, of course I am a proud mom, but when it comes to overcoming injury, here are the nuggets of wisdom that through observing his rehab and recovery from the sidelines has 100% helped remind me of a few things:

The power of Patience – as hard as it is, if we can’t just take it one moment, one day, one month at a time, the small, glacial progress just won’t come. I witnessed this in so many ways including my son’s rehab which consisted of 1500 reps 3 times a day for 12 weeks to stimulate cartilage growth. Ugh.

Your passion won’t disappear – time off and time away from what you love to do, does not equate to a loss of interest. In fact, when one comes back the drive and passion is even bigger and better. My son did not question for one second, he would not be back at the ball diamond again.

Hard things make you stronger- yes, a bit of a cliché. But he is proof that this also rings true regardless of age. I am somewhat relieved in a strange way that one of my boys has experienced a tough time in his short 14 years of life. He found the determination and grit within himself to get to the other side. This was the first of many hard ‘things’ that will come his way in life, but has he learnt the coping skills, and resilience he can draw on in the years to come? You bet!

Injuries/ dealing with a health issue either personally or someone close to you really sucks. Period! But I could not have anticipated and/or enjoyed the teachable moment role reversal. #23, aka Dax Bell, has yet to hit a home run at the physical ballpark but, he has done it 100 times over in my mind when it comes to managing the darkness of an injury, and with the gift of time and devotion, knowing how to live his best life doing what makes him smile.

On to tomorrow’s workout: Lakeshore and Leslie – 6:05 Drills, 6:15 GO!

1600-1200-1000-800-600-400-200 (rests 3:00, 2:00, 1:45, 1:30, 1:15, 1:00). Paces from tempo on down. *If feeling strong, can add 1 mile @ MRP at the end after a 3 min rest. (that might be too much – play by ear)
If taking a down week or need some recovery, either knock off the first mile or stop after the 800.
If tapering for Berlin: 1 mile @ MRP, 3 min rest, 4 x 400 a lil faster but NOT 5K pace w 90 sec rest

That is all – see you in the am!

Seanna