Discomfort... get over it!

So following up some of the thoughts Mollie posted about the appetite.

I had almost forgotten how long runs bring weird stomach pains. That lovely, easy to identify feeling comes after the workout. Your stomach feels uneasy. For me it's not like I'm going to barf. It's more like a subtle, nagging uneasiness.

That uneasiness doesn't prevent me from eating food though... I eat a lot when I train. I don't eat stupid, but I eat those big plates of food they bring out at restaurants. I need the calories and I still lose weight. Eating after my runs isn't fun at first, but quickly my body goes, "yeah you're right, we need this.... let's do this." So the food intake isn't the problem.
The biggest problem with the stomach discomfort after long runs at night is when I'm laying in bed just a few hours after the workout. You find yourself laying there in the dark saying, "dude, this sucks". You turn to the left, right and roll over to no avail. It's just letting you know it's going to be around for a while, whether you like it or not.

The bottom line is a common theme in training- the "get over it!" theme. Training is going to have a number of physical discomforts among other hurdles. I see it as character building. Disclaimer- This may be the biggest reason why people think competitive runners and other competitive endurance athletes are insane! Seriously, to run for hours straight, push so hard you feel awful for about 85% of that time and then say, "It's character building"- I even think I have a problem.

The positive side to it all is that there are and will be many many more feelings of happiness and accomplishment throughout the training and performance experiences. They will be etched in your memory and the push you made through the tough times is going to to make those positive experiences that much more appreciable and memorable.

We may allow the subtle residual stomach pains from long runs fade to the back of our memory, but those wins, PRs and short-/long-term goal accomplishments are sweet baby! They won't be easily forgotten.