My first half-marathon was the 10-year anniversary 2010 Memorial in OKC. I finished in 2:40:14

…but if you’re smart and lucky, it gets easier.

Today I ran my first 5K in about a year. 31:03.

I don’t know why I took so much time off from competitive road racing, but I did. Other than my first 13.1 in April, I ran no 2010 races. I still run fairly often, but much less than I used to. And still, 31:03 is better than many of my past 5Ks. But I am ready to begin again – I am going to get serious again and compete in my first full 26.2 in April.

It felt good to rededicate at the same race where I began – the Downtown in December Santa Run in Oklahoma City. I have been running for three years now. The first year was great. As a starter, it is easy to get a lot better fairly quickly. But it has been a bit of a painful journey.

Cycle of Pain

Pain is just a part of running. In my experience, pain is just – as they say – weakness escaping your body. I realize I have been lucky to not have injuries, and I thank Jesus that, so far, nothing serious (other than relative laziness) has kept me from running competitively.

But the pain (especially knee) has been there.

Downtown Dash 2009

Before the 2008 Santa Run, I had run exactly zero competitive road races. I started as a pure green runner about a month before that race, and by the time I stepped up to my first starting line, one of my knees was in great pain.

1) My first experience with running-related pain was on the outside of my left knee. It was excruciating, limping pain. Turns out it was an iliotibial band issue, and with a little hip flexor work, that pain went away as quickly as it came. At the advice of New Zealand sports medicine guru Gary Moller, I started working out with a machine at the gym that simulates leg lifts – sort of like a reverse “thigh master.” Gary was nice enough to exchange some emails with me – and he was absolutely correct. The increase in hip flexor mass lifted the tendon off the bone and the pain was gone. He added, “Also ensure you get quality fats and proteins daily.”\

W/ Sam at 2009 Run for Hope

2)  Shortly thereafter came the lower knee pain at about 6 o’clock on the cap. A sports doctor who I visited, Dan Clickenbeard at McBride Clinic in Edmond, said it was my medial plica band, and that it would probably just go away as I got stronger and in better shape. And it did.

3) By the time I got rid of the knee pain issues, my shins started hurting. The lower front of my shins felt incredibly tight and often it would cut my runs short. Again, I turned to Gary, who informed me that if incorporate leg curls into my workout, the pain would go away. It turned out that my shins were overcompensating for weak hamstrings, and as I got stronger and more militant about stretching, the pain faded. First I noticed that after a couple of miles, the pain would pass. Then it ceased to be an issue. Like the other pains, it resolved itself with strengthening of my body and the realization that it would go away if I ran through it.

Santa Run 2008 w/ knee brace

As an aside, as I realized that the pain is transient and would not cause long-term harm, it would mysteriously go away. Not every time – and obviously the pain was real. But as an example, I had just mediated the pain on my outer knee, which was indeed very painful. Then the lower kneecap pain came and I was worried. It hurt for sure. But mysteriously, as soon as Dr. Click told me that it was no big deal, it went away. Also, as I realized that after two miles my shins would stop hurting, it ceased to be a problem at all. Did worry exacerbate the pain? Maybe.

4) By the time I was training for my first half-marathon, the 10th anniversary Memorial Marathon in OKC, I started getting some arch pain. My buddy Sam told me to be very careful – he suffers from plantar fasciitis. My right arch started hurting after about 10 miles, and it was most worrisome. In this situation, I had just worn out my shoes. The guy at The Runner said I needed new shoes, because after a while they simply don’t offer support anymore. I mildly overpronate, and my shoes didn’t do the job of compensating for it anymore. So I got new shoes, and everything was fine on race day.

My supportive family after my first half marathon in April 2009.

Post-pain thoughts

Now, I don’t experience pain other than usual muscle soreness and some lung issues from being sort of out of shape. That is not to say that there won’t be pain in the future. But I know that when something hurts again, it will most likely go away with conditioning and confidence.

Note: Don’t ignore pain. It is your body is communicating with you. As I said before, I feel blessed to not have serious injuries. But I realize that pain could be your body telling you something is horribly wrong. Always check with a doctor or at least do a thorough Google search about running-related pain.