Getting Stronger, But the Achiness Lingers, I Think

Although I was still feeling a comparable level of pain and discomfort, by early-February I started feeling a change.  I could feel muscles in and around my hip starting to change.  Sometimes a little tightness, sometimes soreness, sometimes fatigue.  I also started feeling some soreness on my left side.  I took that as a good sign because I assumed it meant my left side was getting stronger. Nevertheless, that achiness in my right side was still there and concerning. 

I was skeptical that I would ever be able to train for and complete a marathon. Did I have a hip labral tear that was going to signal the end of my long-distance running adventures?  Is it something I cannot fix myself?  I tucked away my skepticism, focused on the goal and went back to the Oracle.  

I searched for posts related to running with hip pain. I stumbled across an interesting web site by a guy named Maks Reznik.  Maks provides his opinions and advice in several fitness related topics.  The two topics that caught my interest are:

Why your hip labral tear diagnosis shouldn’t scare you 

WHY you get hip pain from running and WHAT to do about it

In both articles, Maks touches on the psychology of chronic pain and introduces the concept of our relationship with pain, or how we perceive pain.  He seems to say that sometimes the brain learns to interpret certain signals as pain. We begin to expect or anticipate pain, so therefore we have pain.  It’s our choice, through our relationship with pain, to decide how that pain effects our ability to perform. Part of his practice is an online course that incorporates both physical and mental aspects of dealing with pain.  I am tempted to pay for the course just to see the details of what he teaches.

In my next PT session after first coming across Maks’ website, my Physical Therapist asked, “so what do you think is keeping you from running?”  I said, “Fear of pain.”  The expression on her face, and the slight nod of her head, told me that she thinks I’m onto something.  I made a mental note that I need to learn more, or at least I need to let myself feel good, and not constantly scan my right side for pain.  Perhaps that is why I feel pain on my right side even though my left side is the weak side.

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