Walter Brennan and the Zen of the Real McCoys

You know, that advil and two-buck chuck cure didn't work. In my training for the Big Sur Marathon, I had gone a bit overboard in my speed work and was feeling it in my achilles last Thursday. I thought I'd be OK Friday. Well, I wasn't. I went out for a run Friday and got about 10 yards before realizing I'd better pack it in before I hurt myself some more. Yep, I was looking a lot like Walter Brennan in the Real McCoys (for you younger folks, that means I was really limping). Instead of running, I spent some time on the elipitcal, getting my heart rate up without further straining my achilles. By Monday, I was feeling a lot better and went on a 12-miler (around mile 11 I was feeling a lot of pain in the achilles again). On Tuesday I did the elipitical again and then on wednesday was able to do another 12 miler (this time no pain). ... That's a long way to get to what I've been thinking about lately. On Sunday I talked with a friend who's a college football player. He's going through spring practice and I was concerned about his knees, since he's had surgery on both of them in this past year. He said the one is giving him some problems, swelling up after practice. As a result, he has to ice it right after practice and take plenty of anti-inflammatories. He chooses to manage the pain. Why does he go through this? He enjoys being on the team, he has a partial scholarship and I think when he does call it quits he wants to do it on his own terms. ... The times I don't enjoy running are the times I'm doing my Walter Brennan impersonation. Why do I go through this? If you're a runner, you know why (the zen of long distance running). And I guess when it's time to call it quits I, like my friend, want to do it on my own terms. So for now, I'll manage the work load, trying to challenge myself just enough, but not overdo it.