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Comment by dgallagher | Hacker News Reader

Just want to point out that there's a difference between "pain" and "discomfort".

Pain is your body saying "I'm injured. If you don't stop now, expect things to become worse, potentially causing permanent damage." No athlete I'm aware of pushes through pain unless they expect to retire immediately after, or go into surgery. Runners who do this tend to get knocked out of the sport. Good runners recognize pain for what it is and stop immediately.

Discomfort is different. This is what the article is talking about. Running through cramps. Throwing up but still not stopping. Feeling tired but still pushing ahead. Leg muscles sore but still holding pace.

Of course you need to be careful about discomfort too. It could be a sign that you're severely dehydrated, or have too few electrolytes in your body. This is mostly an issue for distances greater than a marathon, however.

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You have to learn how to tell the difference. It isn't at all obvious to an inexperienced person, which means that "discomfort" as you put it (we just called it "bad pain" and "good pain") can cause a lot of anxiety for someone who isn't used to it. Even professional athletes sometimes make mistakes and injure themselves in training, so the distinction isn't always clear even to them.

You're very correct. The differentiation likely takes years of training to fully develop. A general rule of thumb to keep injury risk low is to never push yourself more than 10% of what you normally do (lots exercise books say this). If you can hold that level for several weeks without problem, it's likely safe to "notch up" another 5% or 10%. Lots of other variables at play too, of course (rest, stretching, warmup, etc...).

Yeah, discomfort v. pain makes it seem like less v. more but that's not the distinction at all.

I'm not a runner at all, but I know that stabbing feeling in my side and my lungs frantically gasping for air isn't going to kill me or make me lose a limb...but that annoying clicking in my knee might mean trouble down the line.

> Just want to point out that there's a difference between "pain" and "discomfort".

You are redefining words to make an argument. Endurance athletes, in particular, will most certainly experience various pain sensations in the course of normal training or an event.

Body awareness is another matter: an elite athlete (presently or potential) is usually better able to interpret what their body is signaling - including noticing when something is going wrong.

Edit: And, actually, sometimes a real injury manifests itself as a discomfort during exercise, not pain.

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For what it is worth, you can become dehydrated enough to compromise performance in an hour, less if it is very warm. Dehydration to the point of needing medical attention can occur in 2-3 hours at a moderate intensity. Typical symptom of mild dehydration (the kind you can suffer sleeping on a hot night) is discomfort in the form of a headache.

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