Our first posting from Dan, another Moodscope user. I hope you enjoy it. Best wishes. Caroline.

If you think of yourself as a marathon runner, you think of pushing through, of putting one foot in front of another, again and again, despite any pain you may be in.

That is not how the elite runners and their coaches approach things. According to many running authorities including running and triathlete author Matt FitzGerald: 'You must never ignore pain.'

When your pain is sharp, or stabbing or changes your gait, the best thing to do is to stop.

When you are in pain, it is because you are injured, not weak. If you keep on running you will injure yourself more, perhaps permanently. If you stop, rest, strengthen and stretch the injured parts over days or sometimes weeks, you will heal to run again. You will be frustrated but you will not be re-injured.

For a serious, dedicated runner, it is sometimes necessary to push through discomfort, but unless you are leaving a burning building, pain is never something to ignore.

Perhaps your life is a bit like training for a marathon and when you are in pain you should stop, rest, strengthen and stretch.