A Matter of Trust

By Frank Evans

I’m only 20 years old… I am indestructible.
I’m just 30 years old… I am still indestructible, and even wiser.
I’m now 40 years old… I have learned to run through petty discomfort.
I’m 50 years young… Through the years, I’ve never been hurt. I can’t be stopped.

I’m 52. Fifty. Two.  Surgery on my back, lingering issues with one leg… I shouldn’t have pushed myself so hard.  I shouldn’t have tried to run through it.  How did this happen?

If you listen to a group of runners training together long enough, you’ll hear it. The piece of advice almost every runner has uttered, with complete sincerity, even though they rarely follow it themselves:  Listen to your body.  It sounds easy enough. Why do so few runners manage to do it with any regularity? Why can’t we trust what our body tells us?

Simple.  Your body lies.  It lies to you all the time, doesn’t it?  Wasn’t it your body that told you it was too difficult to run three miles without stopping for the first time?  Didn’t your body try that same line at five miles?  Ten?  A marathon?  Remember that time last January when your body told you it was too cold to run?  You did it anyway, didn’t you? And you LOVED it.

Our bodies lie to us all the time.  We catch them lying, bold and brazen, and they continue to lie some more.  But we learn to tune out the lies.  We just smile and nod, because we’ve heard them before.  Especially those lies that start with “You can’t” or “You shouldn’t.”  We hear them, but we don’t pay them any mind.

And then the day comes when you find out your body was telling the truth.  Like the boy who cried wolf, your body had very little credibility with you.  After all, if you listened to it every time, you’d be on the couch plowing through a bag of Ruffles and a pint of french onion dip right now.  Not thinking about your last run.  Or your next one.

I’ve been running since I was a kid. I’ve run on every type of pavement, loose sand, mountain trails, cinder tracks… and I’ve never been hurt. Sure, I’ve been sore.  I’ve run while I hurt.  But that’s different.  So what did I do wrong this time? 

Unfortunately, several things. 

Lesson One - Lingering, persistent discomfort is serious.
I failed to see this as something much bigger than I had ever experienced before.  Yes, I ran through it for months.  For most of that time, it actually felt better while I was running.  But, for the first time, I was trying to run through something that didn’t go away.  This wasn’t a side stitch, or a blister, or a sore quad that went away after a few hours, or a few days.  It never left.  Lingering, persistent discomfort is serious.  Treat it that way.

Lesson Two - When the same area of your body had multiple issues, think about how they might be related.
I also failed to connect the dots.  I didn’t have just one problem.  Additional pains kept popping up, all from the left hip down.  They felt like separate issues, in that some days I might have this pain and other days I might have that pain.  But the dots were there, and I didn’t connect them.  When the same area of your body had multiple issues, think about how they might be related… Because they probably are.

Lesson Three - Find a medical professional whose opinion on sports injuries you trust.
Just as importantly, I didn’t have a medical professional whose opinion I valued when it came to sports medicine.  Don’t get me wrong - I like my primary physician.  He’s been good to me for 15 years, and I think he’s a great guy and a great doctor.  But I don’t know if he’s ever run a step.  I’m pretty sure he’s never done a marathon, or a 50k. Same with my chiropractor.  If I had a medical doctor or a chiropractor who shared my experiences, I would have been much quicker to seek their opinions.  That doesn’t mean they have to have had the same injuries I’ve had, or any injuries at all, for that matter.  But I needed someone who understands what drives me… who understands why I would still be doing this stuff at my age and why I will never stop as long as I am even remotely able to keep moving forward.  Find a medical professional whose opinion on sports injuries you trust. And then find another. Even a third, if that’s what it takes.  An occasional co-pay is a wise investment in your health and your running future.

Instead of learning these painful lessons, I probably should have been proactive about injury prevention and recognition.  If you’re thinking of piling up the mileage but want to avoid a fate similar to mine, Byron Powell’s best-selling book on ultra running, Relentless Forward Progress, dives deep into the need to know when to listen to your body and when to overrule it… how to balance tenacity and caution.  Be relentless, friends.  But be smart.

 Frank Evans can be found running in and around Lake Sherwood, as well as other areas, with no outstanding warrants on file.