His head was pounding, whole body hurting, and a very slight bluish tinge was creeping over his lips. A few passing walkers looked bemused and tried to ignore him as they wandered by. The pains in his legs worsened as he struggled to get home.
Less than two miles away, another man was suffering very similar symptoms – gasping for breath, heart racing and pounding, dizziness, blurred vision, chest pain, blue lips and wobbly legs. He too was clammy, but cold.
Thankfully, unlike the walkers in the woods, his wife didn’t ignore him and phoned for an ambulance just as she heard the thud as he fell to the bathroom floor.
On the face of it these are two very similar scenarios. What separates them is the context in which the symptoms exist.
Pushing it
I was the first man in the woods. Returning home from a long training run, I was pushing the pace very hard near the end of the three-hour session. My blood sugar was low and energy levels were depleted.
Although very uncomfortable, my symptoms were not of any concern to me. I knew they would pass quickly once I reached home and stopped running.
The second man was a neighbour of mine called Paul, an ordinarily healthy but physically inactive man in his late fifties. He was suffering a massive and sudden heart attack.
I passed the ambulance on his driveway as I reached home. Inside his house the paramedics resuscitated him and administered an injection of clot-busting drugs to try to get blood flowing more freely through his coronary arteries.
As runners we become used to pushing our bodies out of their comfort zone, and as a result experiencing, to a small degree, many of the symptoms and sensations described above.
This is fundamental to our chosen activity. Running is inherently uncomfortable, especially when we are new to it. As our fitness improves we tend to run further or faster until we reach a certain level of discomfort. As it gets easier we always strive to make it harder.
Pushing yourself is important, both physically and mentally. This is not only the route to improvement but also opens the door to a world of new experiences and discoveries.
Risk Management
However, exploring your limits is always matched by an element of risk. But risk is inherent in everything we do. Sitting at the computer reading this has a low risk of physical injury but an increased risk of back pain and cardiovascular disease.
What is important is the management of risk, and the risk / benefit ratio. For instance, if you run you risk injury. Even the most robust athlete has a chance of a fall or twisted ankle. All runners risk feeling the discomforting symptoms already mentioned, but the benefits of running are huge.
Some non-runners point to the extremely rare cases when a person has died whilst running, and suggest that the risks associated with the activity are too great. But this is an abuse of statistics to enable them to justify their inactivity. In reply to their poor argument, just look at the number of people who die whilst NOT running! Almost everyone!
Of course I’m not suggesting for one minute that you go out and run hard beyond your ability, or push yourself physically if you are not certain your body is up to the insult (if in doubt always seek medical advice). However, a little bit of regular ‘controlled’ suffering is like putting money in the bank, or saving for your pension. You will reap the benefits in later years.
Putting it in context
Remember that any discomfort or suffering that you feel (whether during running or not) only makes sense when put in context. Returning to the two scenarios at the beginning, my symptoms were within the context of a hard training session. They were totally expected, but more importantly I was in control of them.
I could have stopped the suffering at any time. And the consequence was that, once I had rested and refuelled my energy stores, my body would recover, overcompensate and make me a fitter stronger and faster runner (hopefully).
Paul was not so lucky. Not only were his symptoms totally unexpected and completely out of his control, but within the context of sitting relaxing at home they were terrifyingly serious. The consequence would have been sudden and untimely death had it not been for the speedy intervention of his wife, the ambulance service and the cardiac specialists at a major teaching hospital.
After Paul’s resuscitation he was rushed to the nearest hospital where, thankfully, he has made a complete recovery (he underwent a procedure called an angioplasty and stenting – a balloon was passed into his coronary arteries to re-open the blockage, then a wire mesh was inserted to hold the vessels open).
He has since modified his lifestyle to reduce the chances of a second attack. And guess what? He has a pair of running shoes, and is out pretty much every day putting in the miles on his feet. Now when he feels a little short of breath or his heart rate rising he is in control of his symptoms.
Feel them, but be in control.
Respect The Symptoms.
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