Running Through Pain: Grit or Negligence?

Ultra running’s extreme distances inevitably bring discomfort and pain. A culture celebrating the ability to endure immense suffering has developed. But when does perseverance turn into harmful negligence of the body’s warnings? This complex issue sits at the heart of the sport’s ethos.

Introduction

Beyond fitness, ultra running tests the mind’s mastery over matter. Prevailing over pain elicits euphoria for exceeding perceived limits. The sport extols stubborn resilience against inexorable adversity.

Yet this mindset also leads many runners to dismiss clear signs of their body screaming for rest and care. Again and again, the community witnesses severe injuries and emotional burnout from overriding the body’s pleas for mercy. Where is the line between gritty triumph of spirit and reckless destruction of the corporeal form? The answers trace to physiology, psychology and personal responsibility.

Understanding Pain in Ultra Running

Not all discomforts while running indicate harm. Distinguishing between productive strain and dangerous pain helps assess when to be stoic or stop.

Differentiating between “good pain” and “bad pain”

Good pain results from exertion well within tolerance levels:

• Muscle burn from lactate buildup on hills
• Stinging lungs from increased respiration
• The overall feeling of physical tiredness during long distances

This productive stress strengthens the cardiovascular and muscular systems. Pacing and fitness allows recovery between bouts.

Bad pain arises from potential tissue damage or mechanical issues:

• Sharp joint, tendon or bone pains
• Muscle strains or cramps
• Pins and needles or numbness
• Laboured breathing, dizziness, chest tightness

These warning signs of harm require prompt attention and modification.

The Mindset of Pushing Through

Beyond distinguishing types of pain, understanding runners’ motivations for ignoring hurting bodies provides insight.

Exploring the psychological reasons runners push through pain

Though ultra runners condition themselves to manage discomfort, several psychological factors motivate them to dangerously override “bad” pain:

• Proving oneself – Using accomplishment to derive self-worth and righteousness from conquering agony, tapping into the martial ethos of ascending through suffering.
• External pressures – Driven by demands and expectations from sponsors, audiences, and social media to finish at all costs.
• Fear of giving up/ failing – Tenacity and perseverance no matter the damage gives a sense of purpose and identity. Quitting means a terrifying loss of that personal narrative.

Of course, only the individual runner can articulate their unique reasons for moving past harmful pain. But these factors commonly recur as motivators.

The Physiology of Pain

Understanding how pain works in the body helps demystify the physical mechanisms warning us of potential damage.

A simple breakdown of what happens in the body when it experiences pain

Pain begins with nociceptors – sensory neurons in tissues designed to detect harmful stimuli. Triggers like intense heat or pressure provoke electrical signals along nerve pathways to the brain.

Reaching the central nervous system, these signals get interpreted as pain in the somatosensory cortex. Chemicals also cause inflammation around damaged sites.

Finally, the signals elicit cognitive and emotional responses. We might react by withdrawing from the painful stimuli or mentally bracing ourselves to push through it.

Why it’s a warning signal

This pain response communicates possible injury requiring care or modification of our actions to prevent further harm. Defying these alarms risks exacerbating tissue trauma.

However, endorphins released during long distance running do numb painful signals. This allows overriding causes like muscle fatigue but suppresses warnings of real damage. For this reason, pain must be monitored pragmatically.

Grit: The Positive Side

When exercised judiciously, grit provides invaluable motivational drive and reveals profound truths extending beyond sport.

The benefits of mental toughness and resilience

Displaying courage and tenacity through physical tribulations builds character applicable to other life challenges:

• Overcoming perceived limitations and building self-confidence
• Cultivating mental focus and present-moment awareness
• Developing resilience, adaptability and calm under adversity
• Understanding the fleeting nature of discomfort
• Finding meaning and transformation in hardship

Experiencing oneself as stronger than the anguish truly unlocks human potential both athletically and spiritually.

Negligence: The Darker Side

But machismo around fighting through pain also leads many runners to rationalise chronic injury and harm in pursuit of empty achievement.

The dangers of ignoring pain signals

Suppressing the body’s warning system leads down treacherous paths:

• Intensifying minor injuries into major ones
• Developing chronic issues like arthritis over years of abuse
• Impairing mobility through unchecked inflammation
• Causing muscle tears and knee, hip, or back breakdown
• Putting excessive load on vital organs like the heart

The line between temporary agony and trauma is thin. Runners cross it frequently in disregard of consequences.

Potential long-term health consequences

While many ultra runners consider pain temporary, injudiciously running through issues can impart lasting damage:

• Accelerated joint degeneration and osteoarthritis
• Chronic pain and reduced mobility
• Heart conditions like arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy
• Acute kidney injury (AKI)
• Stress fractures turning into complete breaks
• Tendon and ligament tears becoming irreparable

A few hours of tenacity can mean years of suffering if not careful.

Personal Stories: Triumphs and Warnings

Perspectives from veteran ultra runners highlight how one person’s inspirational tale may be another’s cautionary warning.

On rising to the challenge

Some runners share transformative pain accomplishments:

• “Finishing Leadville on a torn ACL showed me what I’m capable of. I walked the last 15 miles in agony but found a well of strength to finish.”
• “Letting pain hold you back is just weakness leaving the body. It’s temporary. The fulfilment of finishing is forever.”

On crossing warning lines

But many also warn against using these stories to justify excessive harm:

• “I ran 100 miles on stress fractures. It seemed badass at the time but I couldn’t walk for a long time after and potentially have permanent bone damage.”
• “People praised my grit for finishing Tor des Geants on a sprained ankle. I’m now paying for it with instability as I get older.”
• “I thought I just had tendinitis but forced myself to finish Lavaredo. An MRI showed I’d actually torn my Achilles. Don’t be an idiot like me.”

The divide remains highly individualised. But sharing diverse experiences raises collective consciousness.

Finding Balance: Listening to Your Body

Ultimately, each runner must determine their personal physical and mental limits to toe the line safely.

Tips and strategies for knowing when to push on or rest

With honest communication and caution, runners can fulfil their potential while respecting health:

• Differentiate between muscle pain, injury pain and catastrophic signals like chest tightness
• Make training plans allowing flexibility to modify pace or distance as needed
• Build additional rest and recovery periods into training cycles
• Treat minor aches early before they become major
• Have bodywork like sports massages between intense efforts
• Listen to trusted coaches, doctors and physical therapists if pain concerns arise
• Be mindful and present during training and racing to catch signals
• Find intrinsic motivations beyond ego for completing distances – what matters is the entire journey, not one race. Pain is feedback guiding you with wisdom.

Conclusion

Toeing the fine line between productive struggle and harmful masochism remains an eternal quandary in ultra running. The community walks this razor’s edge between euphoric feats of motivation and catastrophic tales of human fragility.

But with greater perspective, this defining challenge offers profound lessons about human nature. Distinguishing useful pain from damaging pain provides a model for growth in all facets of life. Copious suffering does not inherently produce meaning – constructing purpose does. Ultra runners progress by honouring their bodies as vehicles of their own inner light. Through profound communion of body and spirit, every step leads toward transcendence.