Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day. – Markus Zusak
I hurt. Say that the same way I say, I am tall. Well aware many people are taller.
Started decades and decades ago.
Just thought that was part of my job as the World’s Slowest Professional Runner. That’s part of being an athlete, I thought. Think back to before the introduction of the full-length mid-sole.
Maybe thirty-five years ago, my “roommate” took pains to point out she never exercised and she never hurt. (She was also a witch, but that’s another story.) Me, the fitness fanatic, the daily runner come thick or thick, I was complaining all the time about this ache or another, moaning about this pain or that.
Like I said, I thought it was normal to do too much and in the process hurt yourself.
Many variables raised their heads and I stopped running. One humid hundred sunny degrees whenever I could go for a run and the fifty-year-old grocery clerk decided to become a weightlifter.
Two hernia surgeries later, I decided to return to running. And couldn’t.
Every stride, you could almost hear my bones go ‘clank.’ Followed by a ‘clunk.’
The latter hurt more.
My heart was thinking about a comeback at Boston, my brain was working on a training plan but my body screamed, call a fuckin’ doctor. Not even a ‘please.’
Eventually, after the new shoes didn’t work, and the next pair neither and the pair after that, I end up at the top of the medical mountain. The Bone Guru is younger than I expected.
And he says to me – I think I heard a sotto voce ‘tsk, tsk’ – “If only you had come to me twenty years sooner, I could have helped.”
I hadn’t because aches and pains are normal for an aging endurance athlete. Or so I had thought.
In those grocery clerk/weightlifting/pest control/Kiwanis’ years, as I was not running, the symptoms became the reality.
Imagine a tuning fork on fire. Maybe a gong in flames. Low embers. Until you hit it.
If you hurt, you don’t move. If you don’t move, you lock up.
All my life, I thought ‘locked up’ sounded bad. Still think so.
Bottom line – don’t ignore pain. Pain is not normal.
Even if it does become routine.
Why Does My Body Feel Tight When I Wake Up?
And what can I do to feel better?
By Katie Okamoto for The New York Times. February 24, 2022
If you regularly wake up with stiff muscles, creaky joints or the general feeling that your body simply isn’t as limber as it was when you went to bed, the first thing to know is that you are not alone. Waking up with a tight body is “almost a universal human experience,” said Maryclaire Capetta, a physical therapist and assistant professor in the department of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut. And, she added, it’s quite common for it to happen every day.
But while feeling stiff in the morning is normal and typically dissipates quickly, it’s also uncomfortable while it lasts. The good news, experts say, is that there are a few tricks you can use — when you feel stiff, and even before the feeling arises — to help you get relief, faster.
Why you feel stiff
Most of the time, that tight feeling when you wake up is a result of overnight changes to the lubrication in two different features of the body: the joints and the fascia.
The fascia is a complex group of connective tissues that surround and support the muscles, soft tissues, organs and bones. Think of fascia as a fibrous web that wraps around and through muscle tissue to give it structure and stability. It forms multiple layers, with a gel-like lubricant in between that allows the layers to slide and glide smoothly, and which helps you to feel loose and limber, said Dr. Antonio Stecco, a fascia researcher and professor of rehabilitation medicine at New York University.
In certain situations — like when your body temperature drops, when you’ve been still for an extended time, or when lactic acid builds up in the muscles and fascia during intense exercise — the lubricant becomes thicker and more viscous and the layers of fascia can’t glide as easily, leading to feelings of stiffness.
When you sleep, many of those thickening situations occur: you’re usually still for a long time (say, eight hours) and your body temperature tends to drop.
Your joints may also contribute to feeling stiff in the morning. In healthy joints, a thick fluid lubricates the space between the ends of your bones, which are capped with cartilage, to help them move freely and comfortably. Whenever you’re still for a long period of time (like when you’re sleeping), the cartilage sucks up the lubricant like a sponge, Dr. Capetta said, making your joints feel creaky.
How to feel better
The good news is that the remedy for stiffness in the morning — whether it’s caused by your fascia or your joints — is the same: movement.
While you’re still in bed and lying on your back, start by doing a full-body stretch, like a cat or dog does when they first wake up, by extending your legs and arms wide and in opposite directions. Then, try pointing and flexing your toes, or stretching just your arms and torso, mimicking the cliché “just woke up” stretch. To bring fluid back into your joints, try gently bending and unbending your knees and elbows, rolling your wrists and ankles or gently nodding your head from side to side.
If you still feel stiff once you’ve gotten out of bed, try marching in place, continuing to bend and re-bend any joints that feel stiff, Dr. Capetta said. If your back and the sides of your body feel tight, you could try a gentle stretch, like a loose forward hang toward your toes with slightly bent knees, or side bends and cat-cow yoga poses. Studies suggest that a regular yoga practice can be effective in reducing discomfort associated with joint and muscle stiffness and chronic back pain. Do whatever feels good. If you have a dog, taking it out first thing in the morning might get your body’s juices flowing and help you feel nimble more quickly. If it’s cold in the morning, try a hot shower.
While it’s healthy and normal to feel a little tight after a night of stillness, you might feel even more tight if your baseline flexibility is already limited. You can lessen this by staying limber and maintaining an active lifestyle in general. If you don’t already stretch regularly, adding even 15 minutes of stretching to your day may help you feel less stiff upon waking, Dr. Stecco said. If you sit in front of a computer for work, try moving around and changing positions throughout the day.
If you’re waking up frequently with a stiff neck and shoulders, you may want to re-evaluate the position you sleep in most often. If you’re a side sleeper, for example, your pillow should support your head so that your neck is in the same line as your spine. If you consistently wake up with a stiff lower back, you may also want to consider whether your mattress is the culprit. There isn’t one universal mattress type that will cure all tightness, but experts recommend different firmness levels depending on your needs.
If your joint stiffness lasts for longer than an hour after you’ve gotten out of bed and persists for weeks or even months, you should consult with a health care provider, Dr. Capetta said. Joint stiffness that lasts for an hour or longer could be an early indicator of arthritis. You should also see a doctor if you stretch regularly but still feel chronic tightness throughout the day.
Most of the time, morning tightness will naturally recede as you go about your morning. “But everyone has a different threshold for what is bothersome,” Dr. Capetta said. If it troubles you, some movement and stretching first thing in the morning may be enough “to reduce the time or to reduce the impact of this particular experience,” she said — whether it’s a universal one or not.
How much different seven years and a couple of surgeries later? I don’t know.
Do know I am slower and I have not given up trying.
Old, Injured Athlete’s Lament
When life knocks you down, stand the fuck up and growl, ‘you hit like a bitch.’ – Barker Ajax
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