Running while injured (RWI, for short). It sounds like a stupid thing to do, no? I have thought about the phrase quite a bit over the past year. I have run many miles. And a good portion of those miles have been run while I was injured. My hamstrings have never fully recovered (even with a long stint of PT) from the marathon and ultra that I ran back to back (a couple of weeks apart) two years ago. I have done plenty of long runs and pacing sessions in the intervening time between then and now, but none have been pain-free. And an ankle injury is the latest malady which I continue to 'run through'.
What is funny about RWI, is that I have realized I'm not alone. In fact, I can think of almost no runner that I know who has not (or does not) regularly run while experiencing knee, hip, ankle, back, tendon, muscle, or fascia pain. RWI is less of an aberration, and more of the norm for runners - especially as we either age or add more miles (or both).
In my mind I mull whether the injuries I have are chronic or if they will someday subside. If I take a month or two or three or six off, will the pains go away? And if they do, will it be a permanent cure, or will they return as my running life resumes? I can affirm that I will never know the answer to those questions. As long as I can tie my shoes and hit the roads or trails for decent distances, I don't want to take more time than I have to away from something I love to do.
So much of running is overcoming obstacles - distance and time being two of them. But pain is also part of the process. Managing it (and in some instance, overcoming it) is what make us better runners. If we stopped every time something hurt, we'd never progress. I won't go so far as to say we need to embrace the pain. But I do think we need to understand it. Runners end up being very in-tune with their bodies (aka obsessive). Self-evaluations for injuries and pain are the norm. RWI necessitates a balancing act whereby we daily determine the risk of escalating injury versus the benefits of the run. When we are correct, we are rewarded with pain, but also with the peace, sense of satisfaction, and endorphins that running provides. When we are wrong in our evaluation, we are forced to take a break, become irritable, and watch a lot of videos and read a lot of books and articles about running.
So, for the coming months, may your roads be long, hills surmountable, vistas sublime, and injuries manageable.
I'm certainly no exception: I elliptical'd every day while recovering from my fibular stress fracture, and did some light jogging on grass waaaaay before the doctor would ok it. (He didn't even like the elliptical idea, since it's a weight bearing exercise.) Since then, I've had calcaneal bursitis in my right heel. Very minor pain, that actually goes away with running. But every morning, those first few steps are really tight. I do wonder how things like this will go when I'm not 26... but I guess I'll find out when I get there.
ReplyDeleteHi Alex, You were one of the many (mainly trail) running buddies I had in mind when I wrote this. I too find that pains go away when I run for a bit (though they sometimes return late in a long run). But overall, I'll take pain with running over not running any day. And yes, I'm waiting a couple of years to find out how things'll go when I hit 50. I'm hopeful we'll both live long enough to find out.
Delete"a balancing act whereby we daily determine the risk of escalating injury versus the benefits of the run". My thought process summed up quite nicely. Hope to see you both "out there" soon.
ReplyDeleteMerci, Monsieur Rube!
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