The Karate Kid Runner

~ Chocolaterunsjudy

bkaraterunner

Different Ways Runners Deal with Pain

Runners are stubborn people. When most people would take to their couches at the first twinge of discomfort, runners have a tendency to run through the pain. Different runners have different ways of dealing with injury/pain — maybe you see yourself in one of these movie analogies? They came to me on the run, naturally.

I am joining the Friday Five 2.0 from Fairytales & Fitness and Rachel @ Running on Happy to share five ways runners deal with pain — and the movie that has the main character also dealing with problems that way (although you may come up with some movie analogies of your own!).

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Top Gun
If you’ve ever had an injury, you know that fear: the fear of reinjuring yourself. Is that little ache an old stress fracture just ready to break again? Is that ache in my knees an IT Band flare? Is the ache in my other foot Plantar Fascitis spreading?

The fearful runner may be afraid to engage — just like Maverick in “Top Gun” — for fear of aggravating an old injury. They may also be afraid of pushing hard, or running without a brace or taping.

Bull Durham
Are you familiar with “Bull Durham”? If not, you should go out and watch it! Kevin Costner. And Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon . . . okay, so how can running be like “Bull Durham”?

The runner that ignores what their coach/friends/body is telling them and just runs anyway. Because they want to run. Just like Tim Robbins initially ignores the advice of Susan Sarandon and Kevin Costner.

He comes around, eventually. And makes it to the majors.

Gone with the Wind
Scarlett O’Hara: “I’ll think about it tomorrow”. Nuff said.

Karate Kid
We’re talking the original Karate Kid, folks. The runner that just wants to be fixed up so they can run — no matter the consequences.

It worked in the movies, but in real life, not always a great idea.

Divergent
I freely admit that this one is a bit of a stretch — but this is the runner that listens to the coach/body/chiropractor/physical therapist. They do all the exercises and if they’re told not to run, they don’t.

I’m a mixture of Top Gun (how fast/far can I run without having knee pain again? when can I stop taping my knee?) and Divergent (I’m the good little runner that usually follows the rules).

Which type of runner are you?

What other ways do runners deal with pain?

Can you come up with more movie analogies?

24 thoughts on “The Karate Kid Runner”

    1. Well, you are younger. đŸ™‚ But hello, Divergent is not old! And you’ve never seen Gone with the Wind? Really?

      I recommend them all, but you really ought to see The Karate Kid. The original. It’s a classic!

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  5. I’m trying to get better and be like the last one! I have a tendency to get antsy and want to run through things but I’m trying not to do that any more. I’ve never seen Bull Durham, I guess I should add that to my list đŸ™‚

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  6. I ignored injuries at first until they were horrible, and now I’m paranoid about every little niggle. It took hard work to get to where I am now, and I don’t want to repeat it.

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  9. This is a great idea! I”m probably more of a Divergent than anything…although I sometimes am in denial about a potential injury “in the works,” more often than not, I will err on the side of caution. I have seen far too many others stubbornly ignore their reality and suffer nasty consequences as a result (myself included).

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    1. It’s always hard to know if it’s just an ache or impending injury. And in my case, seriously, there rarely seems to be warning. One day something just starts to hurt! But that gets my attention quickly.

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  11. Most of my injuries were impossible to ignore since they involved broken bones and wearing a boot.

    The past 5 years have been ache free.

    I’m either lucky or don’t push myself hard enough to get any aches and pains.

    But I would guess I’m more of an ignorer. Hope I don’t have to find out.

    And I have seen all those movies (several times)

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    1. It’s hard not to be nervous when you’ve experienced an injury.

      As I was running yesterday, without any tape on my knees, every once in a while I’d feel a twinge & wonder if I was running too far. Thankfully they feel just fine today.

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