Coach David read my last post and commented that he wasn’t *that* bad when he said “I told you so.” He wasn’t. I tried to find our conversation so I could quote him verbatim but it was over text message and it is long gone. I think he said something like “Maybe now you’ll listen to me,” which I summarized as “I told you so.”
The point is he’s right, and he has every right to call me out. He’s my coach, I pay him for his expertise because I don’t know enough about running myself, and even if I did I’d still want/need an objective outsider to guide me. Yet I pick and choose which of his advice to follow. I could have seriously injured myself by overdoing it, I’m lucky I did not. As it is I do have an issue: posterior tibial tendinitis (tendinitis near my heal/ankle). While it wasn’t caused by my recent over-training, it’s most certainly exacerbated by it an it nearly prevented me from running my last marathon.
Someone recently told me that there’s a very thin line between training at the peak of your ability and injury. I’ve been trying to train at and improve the peak of my ability. I’m walking that thin line and I have no idea what I’m doing. Coach David is operating more conservatively, which is sometimes frustrating, but he’s looking at the long haul. He wants to keep me running into the next decade, not just the next race.
I have been running for 16 months and endurance-racing for a year now. It’s taught me I can achieve great things and it has taught me my limitations. Most importantly it’s taught me to trust my coach. I have been working with him for 11 months now, and I can say unequivocally that I would be floundering without his expertise. So, thanks Coach for helping me to achieve my potential and for waiting patiently for me to “get it.”
P.S. Seems like a good place to include a plug for Coach David and the awesome Runners Edge of the Rockies. The summer session is just about to begin: five months of supported Saturday runs, weekday fun runs, trail runs, speed workouts and bootcamp, discounts with our partner running store (Runner’s Roost), discounts on race entry fees, and much much more!
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