The achilles tendon on my right foot was inflamed recently so I ended up limping.  A day after, the back of my ankles were ok but the top and outside part of my foot were stiff and sore from the limping.  Experience & how it felt was hinting that I should walk with proper form to start softening up the adhesions in the foot.  In fact after I sprained my foot this year, an experienced runner (Jun Cruz) told me to run after 1 or so week of healing — it felt painful but the adhesions let go of their grip on my foot after 15 mins.  So this time around I decided to do the same thing.

I started out limping. I really couldn’t put weight on my right foot so it was like I was limp-running (maybe more limp-jogging ‘coz I was going so slow).  Every time I took a step on my right, pain would shoot up my foot and I’d quickly move the left foot forward.  I’d grit my teeth and do forceful exhales to manage the pain.  But I forced myself to get the form right as much as I could because going through this was better for me in the end.   I ended up doing 22 awkward & painful minutes.  The foot did loosen up enough that I could put weight on it and felt like I was running almost normal.

I think more than anything I’ve done and learned, it has been running that has taught me about pain.

Pain (both the physical and the emotional) makes us stop.  It makes us complain. It makes every step we take a vicious warning that it could get worse — and scares us that if we keep on, we might just break.  It forces us to limp through life until the pain dulls and we end up adhered to the compromised form of our lives.

But in running as in life, from what I’ve gone through and seen in other people, we don’t break.  (And if we do, there really is a peaceful acceptance that comes with that brokenness.)   So the way past the pain is to face it: to take each painful step forward with gritted teeth until there is more acceptance.  And sooner or later, acceptance will bring healing.

It also helps, sometimes, to go out for a run.