Know Your Pain

My wife and I both suffered through slight injuries over the weekend.  Hers was more severe than mine, but neither injury was something to prevent us from training.  We are both becoming accustomed to training with hydration packs.  Mine had rubbed a small raw spot on my neck and caused some slight chaffing on my back.  My wife, on the other hand, had a patch of skin, the size of a half-dollar, rubbed off of the middle of her back.  She was smart enough to take off her pack and check the spot and stopped her run shortly thereafter.  I could have easily reduced my chaffing by stopping to adjust my straps, but I stubbornly trudged on and kept going.  That led me to a couple of conclusions:  #1 My wife is obviously a lot smarter than I am and #2 the topic for this week, knowing the difference between injury and soreness.

We all have a tendency to want to push through pain and an instinct that makes us want to keep going regardless of the amount of damage we are doing to ourselves.  What many of us have to learn is that pain is the body's natural mechanism for telling you not to do something or that what you're doing is wrong.  The other thing we have to learn is the difference between pain and soreness.  Pain is actually invaluable in the training process.

For example, shin splints and runner's knee are some of the more common injuries that new runners get when they start on their fitness journey.  Unfortunately, many of these new runners seek to "run through the pain" and one of three things happens: they seriously injure themselves, they modify their behavior to correct the pain, or they quit running and think "Awww.... running just isn't for me."

This is where knowing the difference between soreness and injury comes into play.  From my understanding, shin splints are actually caused by micro fractures in the bone.  This means your shin is literally broken.  This, if you haven't guessed, is an injury.  The pain you are feeling is not because you worked it too hard, but because you're hurt.  Things like this are not going to go away without finding the root of the cause.  For shin splints, there are many competing theories.  Personally, I think everyone has to find the right combination of shoe and training regimen that works for them.  For me, a combination of minimalist shoes, yoga, strength training and not running daily has drastically reduced my pain. 

Soreness on the other hand is something that you should welcome.  Soreness is a sign that you are working and that you are improving.  Soreness lets you know that your muscle fibers are tearing slightly and when they re-build they are re-building stronger and healthier.  You can train through soreness and you should actually strive to train through soreness.  Training while you are sore actually helps to alleviate the pain.  Again, the key is knowing the difference between the two types of pain and knowing if you can train. 

Knowing the difference between the two is really requires a certain tacit knowledge.  It's difficult to explain.  It requires you to know your body intimately and to know when something is wrong.  One key indicator of an injury is usually bone or joint pain, but that's not always the case.  It's important to come to understand how your body feels as you train and to understand that difference.  We all train for our own reasons, but I believe a common goal for all of us is general well being.  It's impossible to achieve that goal if you're constantly nursing injuries.  Train hard, train smart and have fun.