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Morgan Beavers's avatar

I LOVE this:

"We’re told to “listen to our bodies” and respect pain as a boundary for exertion. But what if the body sends mixed signals and the pain is malleable? I’m encouraged by the experience in those final miles, when my brain shelved the pain for the sake of racing, and then quickly healed and returned to normal in the next 48 hours. Experiencing all the pain-related discouragement mid-race made the finish feel even more satisfying. That’s why pain and pleasure are linked."

Finding that ability to intuit what's going on (which, of course, is not always so easy) is such an empowering and freeing skill, and I've found that it's taken consistent years of really tuning in and learning my body to start to get a feel for it. It's such a beautiful dance, with the body, that we get to engage in through running. I've found a lot of self-love, compassion, and wisdom in learning the steps. Thanks for this, Sarah.

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Julia Moffitt's avatar

Oh boy can I identify! I’ve done Black Canyon 2x - the 100K distance. The first time I fell on my last shakeout run 3 days before the race and smashed both of my kneecaps. I knew it would be a long day. Everything was fine until Black Canyon city and then it was pretty intense pain those last 25 or so miles. Everything resolved eventually. I just had to suck it up. I knew there was no meniscus tear and no swelling within the knee joint itself, it was all outside the joint so I didn’t worry. Honestly, I believe there is a wisdom to the body. If the pain is bearable enough and things work ok, then usually there isn’t irreversible damage being done - this is my reasoning as a physiologist. I’ve never DNF’d a race but I have been stopped in my tracks mid-run from pain and then I knew I was done! I stopped and walked home. If it had been a race I would have had to quit. From these experiences I feel I will likely be able to distinguish types of pain if I need to. Coincidentally, I was diagnosed with chondromalacia in college. Well…. I’m 55 and still running fine! Knees stay healthy with good running form and targeted strength work. It’s not too late to mitigate. Most orthos see people who just continue on the same path, and do nothing to change the underlying cause of whatever the issue is. It might not be too late to get a good PT and change the trajectory. I’m glad you finished strong and are doing well!

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