Running is an odd sport. It ranks among the most popular physical endeavors for adults in the United States, but unlike work softball leagues or pick up soccer, most of us, me included, are out there, alone, in the dark. I don’t have a coach, I do have a club, but scheduling issues means I don’t get to run with them very much. The most feedback I get from running is on the internet from people I have never met.

 

I am an experiment of one. The solitary nature of running, and the fact that most of us are un-coached, leads to problems. No one looking over my shoulder to correct my form, tell me to speed up or slow down, or give me work outs.

 

Amongst the issues I struggle with is dealing with injuries. When I started running, I was a wimp. Every time I felt the littlest tweak, I would take a day off. That didn’t work. I was never able to get a decent base together because the dirty little secret of running is that sometimes it is just going to hurt.

 

But how much should it hurt? When do you take time off and when do you power through? This is something I am still trying to work out. I have developed two pretty hard and fast rules for this:

1. If the pain feels better after a mile or so, I continue to run.

2. If the pain is acute and constant, when I am running and when I am not running, I don’t run.

 

What about everything in between? I still have no idea. I am beginning to sense the difference between the sharp serious pain of a real injury and the aches and pains that are all too common in running, but I am not there yet in terms of knowing when to stop and when to push through.

 

When I do stop, I then have to figure out when to restart. With this latest injury, I took essentially a full week off (I did a couple of days of stupid one mile runs, but those don’t count for anything). After four days I tried an easy run, but the pain was just too intense, so I stayed off it for another three days. Last night I did 4.5 around the park. The heel was uncomfortable, but did it “hurt”? Define hurt. It didn’t feel good, but it also didn’t make me want to cry or stop. So I kept going, and I think I’ll keep going again tonight.

 

The plan is easy miles, no work outs, and nothing over 15 miles in a day for a while. Until I am at a month of comfortable 50 mpw+, I am not going to push the pace at all. Getting in the miles and staying healthy is the goal for now. Not sure how long it is going to take to get better, but I’ll get there.