Will i ever develop the strength to play the pathetique?!

Will i ever develop the strength to play the pathetique?

my right hand starts to get this sharp pain about 100 measures into the 3rd movement, and during the 1st movement like the real fast part where you play 1/8 notes and hold the petal (hey its hard to explain!). its the pad of the pointer finger and the muscles leading up the sides of fingers that really sting. the left hand is fine because that doesn't get worked so hard, but the right hand hurts so bad i basically have to stop and just cool off for a couple hours.

am i ever going to get a strong enough hand for this (im 26 years old, so its not a growing thing), or are my joints and muscles just going to get weaker?

I don't like to hear about pain when practicing. It's often not a matter of strenght, but a matter of relaxation and technique. Do you have a teacher or are you doing this on your own?

My impression is that you are over-doing your practice, you are tense, and I'm concerned that you might cause yourself an injury.

Try very slow practice on these painful sections, concentrating on relaxing every finger after its attack. Sometimes we forget to release those fingers which are no longer performing a job -- excess tension. Do not try to get these sections up to speed until you can achieve a relatively easy motion. Pay attention to your shoulder and neck muscles -- they will often be indications of tension elswhere that is causing you to waste energy and motion.

It's really difficult to help without seeing how you approach the piano. I hope this gives you some clues.