The “Pains” of Running

Hi Friends!!

I know I just did a post on 5 things I am loving right now, but I have to be honest about one thing I am “hating” (okay hates a strong word, so lets go with disliking) right now….

RUNNING!!

Let me explain. For nearly 2 years I have been running with pain. Not every run has been painful; some worse then others, some more bearable than others. I have had some great runs in the past couple of years and races, like the Missoula Marathon just recently and Ragnar Wastach Back. I have PR’d and finished strong, but most of my races have been ran with pain.

Since November of 2011 I have been battling running related injuries (also the year I started running higher mileage…hmm connection?). I started with a strained IT-band on my right leg. I trained for Boston with the nagging injury and went religiously to physical therapy until the race. It wasn’t my greatest race, but I ran it and finished. After Boston, 2012, I felt ok. I had a tender ankle for months, probably from over compensating for my strained IT-band but PR’d in another marathon. The pain in my ankle never went away and then it came time for Boston 2013.

No knee pain, but that ankle wasn’t feeling any better. On my long runs I could really feel it. I went full force with my training. I thought my training was much better than the previous year training for Boston. I worked hard and paid no attention to my right ankle.

I ran Boston, a race that was my worst yet and most painful. I ran on some gnarly blisters, that only got worse. My right hamstring cramped up and I wanted to quit. Every time my feet hit the pavement I wanted to cry. I finished, it wasn’t a PR, but it didn’t matter for me, not this year at Boston.

So again I overcompensated while trying to run through the pain, and a week after Boston my left IT-band was strained. I gave it TLC with icing, foam rolling, massaging, and taking it “easy.” I even decided to run a marathon 4 weeks later (that’s taking it “easy”). That’s my form of TLC (tender loving care). It was painful and I barely finished but I PR’d by 6 seconds. I could barely walk upon finishing and was back at my physical therapist. He always tells me “You’re crazy. You need to stop running.” I always respond. “You’re crazy. I can’t stop running!!” He smiles, but he knows there’s truth behind my statement. I can’t stop running.

I don’t ever ask my PT “How long before I can run again?” Instead I ask, “How long before there’s no pain when running? When will it heal?” He always gives two answers, as if it’s going to change my mind. If I stop running it will heal faster, but if not it will take more time and more PT treatments. I say I won’t run as much and will take it easy, and there’s some truth behind this.

I run, but I also do pain and inflammation shots, and take anti-inflammatory’s, which I haven’t taken since I was 16. I don’t like taking conventional medicine, but I did to help with the pain. I think that shows that I am trying!!

I dial back on mileage, and this isn’t easy for some runners, not when you know there’s a intense relay coming up and a marathon you hoping to hit sub 3 at. I missed some workouts, cut other workouts short, and subbed low intensity for high intensity, just to show I was trying and to “baby” my legs.

I ran the Ragnar Relay as an ultra team nearly 3 weeks after my painful marathon. I did better than I expected. My knee was tender afterwards and my shins were tender for a couple of days. A couple of weeks later I ran another marathon, the Missoula Marathon, all with the same tender ankle, but a better knee. I felt great during the Missoula Marathon, but after the race my Achilles wasn’t feeling so great.

I could barely walk on my right foot, because my Achilles was so sore. I didn’t run the day after the marathon because of this. I did a low mileage week after the marathon with just over 23 miles.

It was suggested by my PT, through begging, to really, seriously take it easy, I could rupture my Achilles. He said this is serious, and I have been doing too much. I have been running through too many injuries and not allowing any injury to heal properly. He told me to bike or swim, and if I run take it easy, go slow and do some walking. But I can’t seem to wrap my head around it. Ruptured Achilles?

At the commands of my doctor, I have decided to seriously try to take it easy. “You don’t want a ruptured Achilles Bry. Or you won’t be running for a long time.” No one wants a ruptured Achilles, but I also don’t want to stop running. I have goals. I have plans. I have stress to run out.

What I want is a complaint free. pain free run. A run where nothing hurts and it feels amazingly great. There’s no pain, no tender joints or muscles. I want to feel like a kid feels when they run. Those days in my youth when I could run and run and feel awesome. Nothing seemed to ever hurt.

If I want some pain free runs my only option is giving those pain stricken legs a rest!!

Maybe if I would have taken the advice of my PT sooner, I wouldn’t be here on the verge of rupturing my Achilles. I have many years of running left in these legs, but only if I start to dial back when my body is telling me no more. Sometimes, the “pains” of running aren’t worth it. And biking isn’t so bad. It’s not running, but it sure beats being stuck doing nothing. At least I can bike!!

Happy pain free running!!