Running hard when it hurts

Image via Wikipedia

Running can be incredibly rewarding, and if your only goal is to finish your daily three-miler, it probably shouldn’t hurt. However, if you’re interested in getting faster, racing, or running long, it’s not going to be a walk in the park. Some running insiders believe that races are won by individuals who can best handle the intense physical pain of running hard. Are our pain thresholds genetically determined? Or is running to your physical limit something that can be learned?

Now, when we use the term “pain,” we’re not referring to a stress fracture or pulled muscle, but rather the mental and physical fatigue that comes from running until you’re exhausted. Research shows that there are things you can do to “trick” your body into running harder and longer. A study published in the Sports Injury Bulletin noted that elite athletes are more likely to utilize association (focusing inward on their breathing, pacing, muscles, etc) while racing while non-elites are more apt to dissociate (listening to music, focusing on the surroundings). Although results were not entirely conclusive, the scientists reached the following consensus:

• Association is related to faster running times than dissociation;
• Regardless of level of performance, it appears that runners use more association in competition and dissociation in training (usually conducted at a slower pace) and;
• Elite runners seem to have flexible attentional strategies that allow them to change focus during races as required. [Source: The Sports Injurt Bulletin].

It should be noted that the above consensus refers mainly to high-intensity racing situations, whereas dissociation produced better results when participants engaged in long, slow endurance runs.

Megan: From my own experience, I believe that there are certain learned tricks that can help you “gut it out” during a race. When I joined the track team my freshman year of high school, I stuck to the 200m and 400m sprints. Anything longer than one lap around the track was just too painful! But 10 years later, I gravitate towards much longer races (like the marathon!). The pain involved in different running distances is difficult to compare, but proper training can prepare you to handle it. While mileage build-up is important, I think tempo runs and speed work are essential for successful racing. If you’re running all of your miles at 9 minute pace, you may struggle mentally (and physically) with a race effort that is significantly faster. One of my favorite “race pace” workouts is 12 x 400m @ 5K pace with a minute rest in between. This type of workout teaches your body to recognize and push through the discomfort of running fast.

Let’s say you’ve done the workouts and you’re hurtin’ mid-race, is there anything you can do? Sometimes I will repeat a mantra to myself to bring back focus – the worst thing you can do is let your mind wander or give up! Your catch-phrase can be physical such as “shoulders relaxed, strong stride” or more creative. One of my favorite things to tell myself is “Pain is just weakness leaving the body.” Maybe it’s a little corny, but it works!

Matt: I recently read a Running Times article on this very subject.  I found it interesting that elite runners have such different ways of managing pain. Some, like Ryan Hall, think about things that make them happy, like religion or family.  Other people play little counting games with themselves, and still others focus on form.  I found the topic really interesting, mainly because I’m pretty inexperienced when it comes to racing.

My last marathon was the first time I felt that my performance over the last few miles would make or break the race, since I was cutting my Boston-qualifying time so close.  Every other time, I tried hard to keep up a good pace at the end of the marathon, but in those races a few minutes wouldn’t have made any difference, so there wasn’t that sense of urgency that comes with trying to beat a certain time (or another person).   I experienced an entirely new level of pain in my BQ race.  A mental image that really worked well for me was that of “tightening up” my form.  Not in the sense of becoming rigid, but in the sense of eliminating excess movement.  I kept my arms in close and made sure to keep a short but consistent stride with a nice turnover rate.  I really don’t know if this did anything physically, but the psychological effect of feeling light, efficient, and aerodynamic was certainly a nice distraction from the pain that I was experiencing and that I knew I would continue to experience for another forty minutes if I wanted to BQ.

While we’re on the subject of pain, am I the only one who thinks 5K’s are more painful than marathons?  Whereas I count down the days until marathons, a morning 5K is akin to a trip to the dentist’s office for me!