My Injury Story

I was completely injury free all the way up until my senior year of college. I never even stretched, rolled out, iced, or anything. If I did, it was just to socialize with my teammates. My bone mineral density was extremely high, my muscles were strong, and I was healthy thanks to the education I had received early in my running career.

As a freshman in high school, I was extremely lucky to attend a running camp where collegiate athletes educated me on the very type of information found on this website. Because I knew fueling was important, I never had any major issues with eating. At one point, I did try to eat "healthy" by skipping ice cream or sweets, but quickly got myself back on track before any damage was done.

The habits I had built allowed me to run pain-free without a thought in the world-- that is, until I tried the steeplechase. While it will forever be my favorite event, it is undoubtedly a risky one. Running in a tight pack while jumping up onto immovable barriers and launching yourself 12 feet across a pool of water is just not your typical race. During our Big Ten Conference Championship hosted by the University of Oregon, I landed off of the water jump too far forward and pulled my calf. Because I had never been injured before, I was in denial that I ever could be: it just simply wasn't possible. Therefore, I spent the next seven months running through my calf injury, which then turned into horrible plantar fasciitis, and then the final boss: a bone bruise in my cuboid.

By compensating in funky ways, running on the outside edge of my foot, and ignoring the tightness and pain, I had turned a one month injury into a four month one. On top of that, I had given myself seven months of low quality training and sub-par races, all of which was entirely preventable. As I am writing this, I am sitting out on the final indoor season of my collegiate career... and it sucks. But what I want you to take away is this: please do not run through injury. If something hurts, if your are altering your gait for any reason, just stop and call it for the day. It is never worth it to run one day (especially if it's not even going to be a good run) and sacrifice what could be months or years competition, personal bests, and pain-free running!