Monday Motivation: Pain Leads to Gain

Monday Motivation, Monday Vibes, Training for a Marathon, Running

Most agree pain is something we don’t want to feel. We avoid it and why wouldn’t we? But I have found since training for the Boston Half Marathon at the age of 58, that pain is something I am embracing and it feels good to accept it.

When I look back at the birth of my sons, I remember having labor pain but I don’t feel the sensation of that pain. Pain is something you only feel in the moment you experience it. You can’t feel the sense once it is gone. It is fleeting – although memorable. And most likely the reason women put themselves through having multiple births, run many short and long races, and try to avoid being stung by a bee. Pain hurts.

Today when I was running a new length in my training regimen on a rather hot October morning and my left knee started grinding, almost forcing me to run much shorter than my goal, I realized as I ran through the pain, allowing it to slip out of my mind like a random thought, it emboldened me somehow. I was conquering my thoughts of pain by just running on.

As I look back on it now, I actually like the memory of being able to run through the discomfort to a plateau of ignoring the feelings and focusing on what I was accomplishing. I stopped if I had to stretch or work out a muscle, but I wanted to keep running no matter the feeling because I had a goal and knew I had a lot of stretching and icing on my muscles once I was done.

The statement “no pain, no gain” isn’t quite adequate for what I have been experiencing every week of training for this half-marathon goal. Instead, it is more like, “Pain leads to gain and that’s okay!” I’m not talking about the kind of pain that is stopping me from running, but the kind of pain a woman approaching 60 might feel training at this age. It’s a new pain and takes time to adjust to.

Honestly, if I could, I’d go right back out there now and run another 7 miles on this beautiful October day, but instead, I’ll relish in the accomplishments of mentally and physically working through the tension and aches, and remember it led me to a new win for the day, a soak in my cold pool to ice my legs and stare at the beautiful blue sky with orange leaves, and relish in the fact there is no pain now, only feelings of success.