To The Pain

Pain heals.

Chicks dig scars.

Glory lasts forever.

Shane Falco – The Replacements

Don’t you love when you’re having a totally meaningless conversation with someone you barely know, and suddenly you think, “Ah HA!  That’s why I...”?

My friend, the Galactically Badass Rower – so he claims, and I’m willing to entertain him on his claim – pointed out that if 98% of Runners Are Weird, 99% of Rowers Are Masochists. 

To which I said, WHOA there buddy, don’t try to out PAIN a marathoner.  Runners are masochists too.  Only we like to do it for hours.  (That’s what she said)

Wait, are we really bantering about who likes pain more? Runners or Rowers?  I bet Cyclists would want to weigh in.  And Triathletes.

The bottom line is, for those of us who are amateurs, enduring fitness-induced pain on a daily basis makes all of us masochists on some level. We aren’t getting paid to hurt. We are choosing the hurt in exchange for personal glory. (and abs, or assets, or...)

I suspect that 99% of people would try to argue that No one really likes pain. 

I mean, no one does...  Do they?

Me especially.  I mean, I am 82% sure that hate pain as much as the next person.  Except that 94% of the time I label myself as a runner, and approximately 99% of the Rogue miles FECKING HURT.

So, probably I can’t say that I’m “anti-pain”....  I can’t be, or I’d take up crochet or knitting or shuffle board like normal women my age.

Drills.  Speed Work.  Hell Repeats.  Handstands.  PT exercises.  All of these things hurt on some level.  But I do these things despite the pain, or because of it.   Lately when I run, I frequently push myself into the red zone.  I want to see how far I can push myself so I can “see if we can make it hurt, without hurting ourselves”...  Even the stairs at work are just another pain in my ass, and that is just another source of pain that I can’t seem to stay away from.

And so even though my new obsession with pain the 5K PR started as someone else’s idea, I have fully embraced it.  It’s starting to grow into a curiosity about the 10K. Way back in my mind the Half and Full Marathons are getting jealous.

Every time I have another epic training run I wonder if there’s a way to get there from here.

And no matter where I go from here as far as race distance - no matter if I run with The People I Don't Know at Rogue or run solo on the streets near my house - I'm going to have to run through the pain to get where I'm going.

~savor the run~