Yesterday morning, I went on an early morning trail run with my coach and mentor. It was a beautiful area, and we planned to run two laps of a 2-mile loop on an unpaved trail.
Heading downhill on a steep gradient to start our second loop, I rolled my ankle pretty badly. I’ve never rolled my ankle before, which has been a point of pride!
But after it happened, I immediately jumped into the way I approach all situations, which is to a.) accept this new reality as something I cannot change and b.) very quickly determine what my next steps should be.
For years, I’ve shortcut the learning process and increased my speed of insight by leveraging the minds of people who have the knowledge and experience I lack.
I asked my coach what steps he’s taken for rolled ankles in the past, sent a text to a friend of mine who has often lamented how frequently he’s rolled his ankle, and even asked a friend I ran into at Kroger while buying ice and an ankle compress what she recommends.
Without setting aside a ton of time to research or making big changes in my immediate plans, I was able to pull in information from three sources I trusted, compare them, and make plans for treating my ankle.
I do this all the time, and recommend you do the same. Crowdsource and find information from trusted sources around you and allow it to come in naturally in the workflow you’re already engaging in. Conversation, text message, Facebook status, etc. I’m consistently surprised by the speed and quality of information I receive from trusted sources.
And don’t worry, the ankle is OK. Traditional RICE – Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation for me. But, I won’t be running again in the immediate future.