On December 14, I underwent surgery to repair a hernia. It was a small hernia that only gave me trouble when I attempted to run distances of 30 km or longer. I could have ignored it if I was prepared to give up running marathons but at this time that isn’t an appealing option. It was this hernia that caused me so much pain during the Toledo Marathon last spring, when I set a new personal worst marathon record. And so, as the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews encourages us to do, I chose to deal with this encumbrance so I could run my races with perseverance.
The thought of surgery didn’t frighten me as much as the realization that I would not be able to run for six weeks or more. Those of you who follow “Lessons From the Trail” know how much my spiritual, emotional and physical well-being depends on maintaining a disciplined running schedule. Determined to do everything I could to preserve my fitness level and accelerate the healing process, I began to go for walks 10 days after the surgery. Very tentatively at first, just around the block, but adding distance each day until I was walking 30 to 45 minutes a day, three or four times a week. I walked with trekking poles for stability on snow-covered sidewalks and to give myself a bit of an upper body workout as I was walking.
My surgeon told me I could start running again six weeks after my surgery, and six weeks to the day I went for my first run– only 2 km so I could test how the incision felt after the run. I had no pain afterwards, and have been building my distance gradually since then (up to a 13 km run yesterday). While I’m delighted to be running again, I am thankful that I remembered how important it is to walk before you run. I’ve read of other runners who tried to come back from hernia surgery sooner, and in the end it delayed their healing.
If you think you’re going slow, go slower.
“Walk before you run” is a great axiom to apply to much of life and leadership. Our eagerness to achieve change can easily blind us to the truth that often we need to slow down to succeed. One of my biggest challenges in running marathons has been to remember to pace myself in the early going. The excitement surrounding the event often causes me to start out at a pace I can’t maintain for 42.2 km. The words “If you think you’re going slow, go slower” apply to self-management during a race, but equally to change management— whether it be personal or organizational transformation.
Why is it so important to walk before we run? I can think of three reasons:
- It makes growth and change realistic and attainable. Many people try to change too much too fast. They resolve on January 1 that they are going to cut carbs out of their diet, work out at the gym three mornings a week, and get eight hours of sleep a night—and by the third week in January have have found their goals so unsustainable that they have abandoned all efforts to change. Every individual and every organization has a change threshold; when this threshold is exceeded, resistance increases. Walking before we run—making small, gradual, incremental changes over time— holds greater promise of success and less likelihood of injury or disappointment.
- It eases the transition to more challenging endeavours. Had I spent six weeks in total rest without any periods of sustained physical activity, my return to running would surely not have been as uneventful. Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-Step programs talk about “working the steps”—and any journey of change, like the journey of recovery, begins by working Step One. When Step One has been incorporated into our consciousness or experience, we can move on to Step Two with more confidence. Running places much more stress on the body than walking, so walking before you run gives your body a chance to adapt to the higher-stress exercise. Walking before running is how we can “work the steps” of managing change.
- It allows us to test the strength of our plans. On my first walk around the block, one week after my surgery, I was testing my healing, just as I was on my first 2 km run. If I had felt any discomfort after those first tentative forays into physical activity, I would have pulled back. My colleague Glenn Waterman (Vice-President of Development and Marketing for International Justice Mission Canada) will set aside small amounts in his annual marketing budget to test new ideas—and if the results are disappointing, that’s the end of it. But if the results are encouraging, then it’s full speed ahead next year. Walking before we run allows us to prove our concepts and ensure they are scalable.
If you want to go the distance, you also need to take time to go slow.
There’s always a time and place for walking—even with well-trained athletes—because it builds durability. Don’t hesitate to pull back from the intense pursuit of fitness (or any other form of excellence) to incorporate periods of walking, slower-paced activity. If you want to go the distance, you also need to also take time to go slow.
My journey of change and recovery will continue with a 16 km run on Thursday evening. Then 20 km next weekend. Or less, if my body doesn’t respond well to Thursday’s run. I think I’m going slow as I rebuild my legs and lungs for endurance-running, but I might need to go slower.
