No pain no gain…right?

April is the month I hope to be running again.  The last two months have been difficult physiologically. Dealing with injuries is part of training, and I have learned a few things, the most curious being:

Pain… is what I need.

I figure, if the cure hurts, it must be good. Last week my deep tissue massage was 90 minutes long. When I booked it, I asked John to spend most of the time on my very tight calves. I should have brought something to bite on, as his fingers dug deeply into my tightly bound muscle. “Breathe,” John directed, but somehow holding my breath and clenching my teeth was all I could do. “OK John,” I said, starting to breathe through the pain. “This is good for me… yes?”

Jump starting my calf muscle 

The next day I saw Jaclyn, my acupuncturist. As she tried to push the acupuncture needle into place, she told me that she could feel the muscle wrapping around the needle, resisting its incursion.

 

“OUCH, I can really feel that,” I told her. “Breathe,” she said. I was starting to get the idea from my rehab team that breathing was important. “I thought this was supposed to be pretty painless,” I said, trying not to sound like I was whining. “Well, if your muscles are inflamed, like they would be after a hard workout, then yes, it can hurt.” “Ok,” I said, breathing through the pain. “But this is good for me… yes?”

Then there is my once a week session with Trevor, my personal trainer who is also a trained chiropractor. His exercises are specifically designed to aid in healing my injuries, while building muscles and stamina. I am in pain for days after a one-hour session. “Yes,” Trevor says, “this is good for you.”

My injuries are painful but the cure... ouch!!!!