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Runners by most accounts are contented people and have a positive view on life. I have often mentioned the fact that running is a very enjoyable form of exercise. It feels good to get outside and put in a few miles, get a little perspiration flowing, obtain a healthy glow to the skin from the blood moving up to the capillaries of the skin, and a chest full of air to clean out the alveoli of the lungs.
Each run is an adventure and a boost to your energy. Usually the first few miles at the beginning of a run has you struggling until your body gets in sync. Breathing gets in rhythm, heart rate is steady, and the muscles are warmed up after a mile or so. After the run you feel good and wide awake to meet the rest of the day.
Runners are always trying to recruit other people to give this running a try so they can enjoy the feeling as you do. You tell this other person that running is so easy to start and how great they will feel when they start running. Most runners tend to forget the first few days that they started to run and how they felt was not the same as they feel now as an experienced runner. But, being a person that needs some exercise this running exercise sounds like it is going to be fun. They can’t wait to get started tomorrow morning.
Then they go out and give it a try. And lo and behold something is not like they said it would be. The ease of running is hard and a feeling of pain is there. You are breathing heavy, your leg muscles hurt, and the bottom of your feet feel like they are standing on a hot stove. Nobody ever talks about a pain in running.
Usually pain only occurs on three separate occasions. The first one is when you start out on a run. The muscles are not used to the extra effort and need time to respond and condition themselves to your new program. The lungs, especially the deeper air sacs (alveoli), have not been used much either. Stretching them out and making them work for the first time is not exactly pain free either. It takes a few runs after those first efforts to reverse these feelings. An experienced runner feels good during the run and tired after the run.
The second type of pain is usually the one people talk about the most, or have heard mention, of the discomfort that comes from running a marathon. Most runners call it “hitting the wall”. Hitting the wall is actually not that painful as you get to stop. Not that you wanted to. It is just that your body tells you it has had enough and wants to stop this foolishness. I had an argument with a first-time marathoner as we were trying to tell another first-time marathoner the best way to complete a marathon.
My friend told him that to complete a marathon, you have to be mentally strong. My premise was that it was more important to be in good physical condition. Put in those long runs and get some speed work in on occasion. We were running the marathon that weekend. He had more bottles of Gatorade and water than he could drink in a week. His wife was going to hand the beverages to him at various point along the way. The marathon was one of the first Austin Marathons and ran on Town Lake trail out and back two times. I was running with another first-time marathoner at a very slow pace. My friend was a mile or so ahead of me. On the second lap I saw his wife and asked how he was doing. She said, "He is struggling and not doing well." We caught up to him about mile 22. He was walking with another runner. I asked him if he wanted to finish with us as we were doing an easy 9:30 pace. He took about three steps, threw up his arms, let out a scream, and stopped. I thought he had been shot. His legs cramped up so bad – both front and back – that his legs just locked up on him. I must say the temptation to tell him to mentally wish himself to the finish line was very close to happening. My premise of doing the training to condition the muscle seemed to hold true. His muscles weren’t going to get him there any time soon. But, I was polite and told him to take it easy. He finished about an hour and a half behind us.
The last form of pain comes when you are trying to run faster and need to do repeat intervals with minimal rest between laps. This pain is also there when you are pushing to establish a new PR in a race. This pain is more of a discomfort and actually feels good because you know you are pushing your body to the limit and the body is responding with harder effort. You know that the discomfort is going to make you a faster and better runner. The pain is worth it because it is going to result in a faster time at the next race. Faster times help neutralize the hurt and you feel good about your effort.
So, if you happen to feel a little pain, or discomfort, don’t worry about it. It is just part of the sport and it happens to all of us. The key is to know the difference between pain from extra effort and the pain of an injury. If it is an injury the best thing to do then is to rest and heal up.
