Endless pain.  That’s what it feels like at times.  And when I talk about fitness lately with others my age, the conversation quickly turns to questions on pain.  “Do you hurt like I hurt?”  “How are your knees holding out?”  I feel a bit whiny talking about this all the time, but Dude, I’m 48 and it’s relevant.

Understanding pain as it relates to injury is always important, regardless of your age.  But I will tell you it’s more critical the older you are because one, you recover more slowly from injury and two, routine is crucial to the training discipline and being unable to workout for weeks or months can destroy a fitness habit that maybe took a year or two to develop.

Personally, I’m always wondering if I feel more pain at 48 than at 18.  It’s fair to assume I recovered quicker at 18.  But am I more sore nowadays?  Or am I simply more sensitive to a little pain now than in my conditioned youth?  I suspect part of this pain is due to slow recovery.  And another part is due to my body being weaker.  It feels as if my joints have lost cushion over the years.  A doctor might laugh at that, but that’s what it feels like to me.  My knees hurt after the easiest of runs.  And I have to slowly slip out of bed in the morning.  If I bounded out of bed, I’d end up collapsed on the floor.  And it takes me a full minute to walk down the stairs in the morning.  I start out slowly at the top, gripping the handrail; although I tend to loosen up enough to walk normally by the bottom step.  At issue are my knees and feet arches.  The knees need coaxing to move and the arches are extremely delicate.

I’m not in the habit of taking aspirin or supplements, but I support doing so.  In fact, I intend to do this more myself.  I’m just not in the habit of doing so yet.  Personally, I feel whiskey and weed are fine supplements as well, but you really have to be careful about masking pain.  Despite how blogging may make it appear, I’m not very introspective; but it’s important to put thought into understanding when pain is simply that, or when it is a harbinger of injury.  Sore arches could be pending plantar fasciitis.  Consider picking up some inserts from the sporting goods store – if not new shoes with strong stability.  Injuries can easily be avoided with prompt corrective action.  That’s why pain needs to be closely monitored.  Some of it you need to put up with.  Some of it requires action, or you could be out for the season.  Regardless of age – pain management is good practice.