The Reality of Pain

The Thoughts Behind it that No One Shares

The older I get the easier it seems for me to get hurt and the slower it seems for my body to get better.  I used to hardly ever have pain.  Occasionally I’d get a headache and I broke my finger once, but I really don’t remember growing up with a lot of pain.  Then when I hit twenty-two it seems like that all changed.  I can’t go running anymore without being sure I adequately stretch, warm up and cool down.  No more get dressed and go.  I mean sometimes I can go out and take a jog but not very fast or long, otherwise I’ll risk soreness.  What the horrible part about being in pain for me is that I am a baby when it comes to it.  And… I get freaked out as I think, “Oh no, is this going to affect my run tomorrow morning?!”  Don’t laugh, apparently I’m not the only runner who thinks this way, it’s quite common.

But as I take my complaints and anxiety to God, I am in good company.  Jesus went through a lot of agonizing pain, for me, and again it brings me back to the reality that pain is quite common.  I am not the only one dealing with it.  Most likely there is someone in the world that is dealing with worst pain than I am at any given moment. 

One thing ya’ll should know about me is that I have a very hard time passing up a challenge once I hear about it.  I love… well… the challenging aspect of the whole thing!  Well, I received a challenge in my email inbox one morning from the No Meat Athlete.  It sounded pretty simple and kind of fun.  30 squats broken in two, 30 hip thrusts broken in two, 1 minute bear plank broken up into 15 second increments, and 4 side planks with 30 total shoulder rotations.  It was more explanatory than this and they made it sound so easy with a 30-60 second break in between each repetition and exercise. 

Only a 15 minute workout!  Hey, most people can fit that into their schedule!  I’ll share some of my thoughts with you.  I dramatized it a little to let you in on how I was feeling, but almost every thought I share, did go through my mind at some point that day. *wink* Hope you enjoy!

15 Minute At-Home Workout Challenge, Day One:

This oughta be fun.  Exercise One, Squats.  I hate it when my knees crack… If I can just find a position… there we go, no cracking.  Oh wow that burns.  Ten left?!  Wow, okay, that’s starting to hurt a little.  Five more… whoa, am I glad that’s done.  Exercise Two, Hip thrusts… this should be easy, I do these quite often.  Okay, those are done, hey I’m half way done with the workout, Wow this is easier than I thought it was going to be!  Next, Bear Planks… never done these before.  They do look pretty easy.  First Rep, well this is different… Second Rep, okay I’m starting to feel it… Third Rep, this is a little difficult, but if I don’t challenge the muscles I’ll never get stronger… Last Rep, yikes, ten seconds left… 9… 8… 7… why do seconds go by so slow?!… 5… 4… oh come on… 2…1… *lay on mat for the next 30 seconds* Wow am glad that’s done!  Side planks next.  I’m horrible at those so I probably won’t get all the way through…  I can only do 10 seconds with the rotations, oh my, normally I can do at least 15 or 20 seconds.  Oh well, I feel pretty good!  *stretch* Can’t wait till tomorrow!

Next Day:

Hey, I feel pretty good this morning!  Can’t wait to go for a run!  *walk down first step* Ouch!  What?… *next step*… ow, oh no!  Maybe if I crouch down it won’t hurt so bad, ouch, ouch, oh this is stupid, I didn’t think I did too much yesterday, ouch, who put this many stairs in a house anyway? Ouch…  Oh well, it should be good tomorrow, it normally is.  I’ll just have to walk down the stairs like I’m a crippled person.  Maybe if I bend my knees more, I won’t have to extend my leg too much.  Nope, that still hurts… oh my.  I’m going to complain to my running group, they’ll know how I feel… and the NMA group, I’m sure others have done the challenge too, I can’t be the only one… Later: Oh yes they have… Lol… someone else said they did it too, Oh I’m in good company!

Day Three – Recovery Day One:

Good Morning God!  Can’t wait to, oh, I wonder if I’m healed yet?! *First step* ouch… what?!  It should be gone today; I haven’t overused a muscle this much in a couple years, what has happened?!  Ouch… I’ll never be able to run again!  *Cry*  What am I to do?  Ouch, Oh God, heal me please!  Okay Allison, get yourself together, my goodness it’s not the end of the world.  You wanted to make yourself stronger, well here you have it.  Except you should have had some protein, you should have probably stretched more, and oh, I forgot about foam rolling, yeah you should have done that all day yesterday. Okay, time to switch from complaining to acting, Recovery Mode, here we come!  Ouch, *wimper*.

Day Four – Recovery Day Two:

Okay, remember Allison, walk down the stairs sideways, that relieves the pain, and use your hips as you move that wheelbarrow, you won’t feel it in your thighs as much.  Be sure to foam roll today, and don’t focus on the pain, a little bit of pressure for a few seconds will break up the lactic acid and help you heal faster.  Oh, but when can I run again.  I haven’t ran in three days, I’m going to start gaining weight!   Does my face look rounder already?  Oh my, I hate pain.  It feels like this will never get better.  How many days has it been now?  I’m going to complain… well maybe I could just go for a run anyway… maybe just a slow jog.  Jesus, would you go with me?

So I think you get the gist of what kind of thoughts can run through one’s mind.  Crazy, non-realistic, self-focused, fear… we all have it, but the trick and challenge for all of us is what we do with those thoughts.  Join us Next Week for Part Two of the Reality of Pain, where I will be giving four steps, of which I have been personally following this year, to steer clear of anxiety and stay in the positive reality.

But for now, Happy Running and May God Bless you!