I hit a really cool milestone this morning. Runkeeper; running companion tells me that in the last approximately year and a half I have burned 300,000 calories tracking my activities. I’m also on the verge of hitting another milestone with them, but I’ll hold off on that one. This is not really what on my heart right now. I got done with my run this morning, and as I was cooling off in the driveway doing some light stretching and walking I checked twitter on my phone like I typically do. I saw a post about a blog that interested me, so decided to read it real quick. I was horrified by what I read, and here is my response. I hope you read it, and I really hope you will take the advice. I want you to know this is out of love, otherwise I would not tell you the truth.
Prior to my marathon last month I was going twitter crazy with all the people that were coming to town for the race. I even went to a meet up with some runners and bloggers that I’d never meet. One blogger particular was actually two people, friends going on a journey that included 12 races in a year culminating in a full marathon in December. This is the link to the post that I read this morning. stubborn runner
Let me just say running with pain is NOT!!!! Ok. Pain is your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. I have known way to many people who have allowed a minor irritation to turn in to a minor pain, then into a big pain, then have had to not do anything for months, and even years. You start your blog off by rationalizing that you’re probably not alone in running through pain. Your right, you’re not, couches are full of people that used to be runners because they ignored their bodies to the point they had to stop running, and once they overcame there injury never started again. I have a friend this year that decided to ignore his body, ran through the pain then ended up sitting on the couch for 6 months. He missed a Tri that he really wanted to do, but luckily he didn’t require a longer stint on the couch. He’s back out there, and recovery has been slow but he got LUCKY. I personally very rarely have any discomfort when I run. During the longest runs leading up to the marathon I would have soreness, but never pain. Running shouldn’t be something you grit your teeth and brave through. It should be pleasurable. You should get enjoyment after a run, not wonder if you’re gonna be able to walk straight the rest of the day. I personally want to be running marathons long into my 70’s and beyond. This is not a short term accomplishment for me. I hope you feel the same way. I look forward to reading about more races you’ve done, and even more meetups in the future. But if you’re not able to get out there and run again because you let your ego get in the way of your common since then you’re running career is going to be short lived, and probably almost over. We only have one body, and if we want to get the most out of it, we must take care of it. Thinking of having kids some day? Want to be able to run and play with them? Think about what you could be doing to your body today that might jeopardize that in the future. Running is a great for our bodies, but you have trained really hard this year, and run a lot of miles. It’s time to sit back and evaluate if you really want to run yourself into the ground, is getting that race bling really worth it? Or could it wait for next year?
Eeek... But, I always admire your honesty
ReplyDeleteIf I had known what I know now, I would have seen a professional about my knee in 1981. Treatment then could have prevented pain now. Now, it's about pain management and possible surgery. People tell me that the surgery doesn't solve much, nor for very long.
ReplyDeleteI would just like to say that Teal has been to multiple doctors about her knees. She's gotten the go ahead to run. She actually had been taking time OFF from running to recover from the foot pain. As a runner and her running buddy...I see nothing wrong with holding out hope to still run a race two-three weeks away. I think it's when you are in the final week away before the race it's time to re-evaluate if you are still having major pain. I actually really respect how Teal has been handling this. She isn't just ignoring it so it makes me sad to read a post where you are making it sound like she is ignoring it. Part of her writing that blog was putting out there what is going on with her and to get advice from other runners. On top of seeing doctors, Teal also goes to a chiropractor to make sure other parts of her body aren't out of line.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to clear up somethings.
-Beth
I agree with LifeisaRun! There is a difference between running with pain and running with pain left untreated. When I pulled my ITB, I was cleared to run (with pain), but I was also being treated for it twice weekly and was doing many other things on my own, as advised by my doctor, to rehab the injury. It is a personal choice. How do I have any right to tell another runner they can or cannot run? If being treated and cleared by a physician, I'm trusting the professional opinion. I think the problem is when people have pain, "run through it" and don't go to the doctor.
ReplyDeleteBeth If the docs are saying its ok to run, then go for it. I don't know the whole story, just going off what I read. It sounded to me like everytime she runs she is in pain, and that's a bad thing that can lead to serious injury if ignored. I'm sorry if I offended you that was trully not my objective. Just concern for anybody who would think its ok to run on pain with out medical treatment. It's only my advice as to what to do when there is pain nothing else. I wish you both the best, and a very Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeletePosts like this make me extremely sad. I always consider the running community as a whole to be very welcoming, supportive and helpful. When posts are directed towards specific runners and addressing personal opinions towards those runners actions, I believe a line has been crossed. My personal goal is to never judge someone or push my beliefs on them. While I respect your personal opinion (and don’t want to judge you), you and I fall on very different sides of the fence on this issue. I don’t believe that Teal should be lumped in with runner friends of yours who have not taken care of themselves. I have run with Teal and have had multiple conversations about running issues and how to work out tweaks and pains that come up with distance running. We’ve shared tips on different icing, stretching, massage and foam rolling as examples. To say she has ignored her pain is a lack of understanding of her. Also, to address her potential relationship with unborn children is completely unacceptable and out of bounds for anyone to discuss. Next time you want to inflict judgment upon someone, I would encourage you to read more than one blog post. Have a conversation with them about your concerns, instead of publicly putting down their personal decisions.
ReplyDeleteI just reread the blog, and I stand by what I wrote. Based on what is written in the blog she is trying to convince herself that it is ok to run even after doctors have told her if it hurts to stop. To theunpredictablejourney you are right the running community is great, and if I encouraged someone to only think of a short term goal, and not look at the big picture I would be irresponsible. Is there more to the story? Sounds like it based on what Beth said. Was it in the blog, or any since the week before SA RNR? No. My blog post was not judgmental, and for you to assume it was, well you know what they say about assuming. The responsible thing to do based on the facts that where laid out is to encourage the person to rest. I am sorry if it offended the indented recipient, but the truth hurts. If a young more immature runner read that, and was in the same situation, and decided that it is ok if other runners are doing the same thing then I can too, and ended up with serious irreversible injury then how would you feel? My concerns did not need to be kept to myself. Other runners need to know that it can be detrimental to their health to ignore their body and continue to pound it with the abuse of running if they are injured.
ReplyDelete