Am I really injured?

   Right at the moment, if you asked me as a runner, I would tell you I was injured. For the last few months, I've been harassed by a nagging case of plantar fasciitis.
   If, however, you were to ask me as a hockey player, I would say that I was not injured but simply had a heel that was bugging me.
   I've been trying to figure out exactly what the difference in mindset is.

One on the R will stop you from running. One on the L, not so much.

   A couple of summers ago, I suffered from the same condition. It cropped up toward the tail end of ball hockey season and, at the time, was un-diagnosed. Fortunately, it occurred right at the end of the season and by the time the next season rolled around it had cleared up and did not return. At no time while I had it, though, did I consider it something that would stop me from playing. I went out and bought some over-the-counter orthotics, threw them in my athletic shoes, and continued to play. I limped a little but didn't consider myself "injured".
   Fast forward to four months ago and the PF shows up again, likely as a result of over-training, worn-out shoes and winter-running (I love hyphenated words!)
   Now, however, I feel injured.
   So what's the difference?
   After giving this much thought, here's what I've come up with.
   When you're playing a sport, there are many ways of being injured in many different parts of your body--sprains, concussions, broken bones, torn ligaments, pulled muscles, etc. At the same time, you can hit a home run with a sprained ankle and you can score a goal with a separated shoulder. Other well-trained parts of your body can still perform.
  

Anyone out there tired of hearing about my PF...?

With running, however, it all boils down to the relationship your foot has with the running surface. If your foot hurts, you're injured. No pun intended, a searing pain in your foot (substitute knee, hip, etc., as required) will stop you dead in your tracks. When this happens to me, as a runner, I feel injured, as opposed to just suffering from a nagging ailment.
   One of the cool things about having access to so many running blogs these days is that you get to hear and find out about the injuries other runners are having, or have had, to deal with. As an example, many other runners also have had issues with PF and it's informative to get their perspective on what worked, or didn't work, as far as their treatment of it. What I find even more fascinating, though, is how runners deal with their injuries from a psychological aspect. I found it encouraging to find out I wasn't the only person who was going bonkers because they couldn't get out and simply just run. There seems to be a constant struggle with wanting to run but wanting to heal at the same time and needing to balance the two. Some runners show great patience, others not so much, and it is very easy to identify with all of them!
   On top of everything else, when you play a team sport you have some responsibility to your team members. There is a desperate need and desire to pull your own weight and, occasionally, this will lead to players continuing to play even though they might be injured. There is also the possibility you might actually be hurting the team by playing injured. In running, your only responsibility is to yourself and what you do with that responsibility is entirely up to you. In most

Better be TRUE, damnit!

cases, there is no coach or trainer saying you can't run and nor is there any pressure to run. You are neither helping the team nor hurting the team one way or the other.
   So here I am, trying to decide whether I am, or was,  actually injured or not. Most days, I can now get out and run and only suffer minimally afterwards. Because of this, right at the moment it is hard to describe myself as injured and so I don't. There was a time however when running seemed like an impossibility and I have no qualms about describing myself as injured back then. However, if a coach had said "get out there and run, Baker".....