Pain

Here are some pavement ponderings on pain from this morning - "excruciating pain is not enough to break those who are willing to die".

For me, racing is not about overcoming pain. It's about as running fast as I can. The pain is just the way the body speaks to you, a side phenomenon. It's silly to try to overcome it or attack it. We talk about the "pain" of running as if it were a single phenomenon. Actually, in running as in life there are many different sorts of pains, and one can learn to distinguish these pains in order to respond to them differently. It is very rare that generating the sensation of "pushing through it" is the appropriate response to pain. My sense is that generating that feeling is just layering one type of pain on another.

I didnt run yesterday. In fact, I was in bed from 6pm to 4am straight, drifting in and out of sleep. My legs were ready to go this morning - however, I was plagued by side stitches which I attribute to dehydration and very hot weather. The run was punctuated by a number of walk breaks - each lasting no more than 5-10 seconds though. This is what was on tap this am.

12.25 miles
26 laps in extremely warm water. What is up with this heat?!

I might try and get in a couple more this pm. Depends if my neighbour is up for a walk :-)