A Letter To The Injured.

Lately, I've had plenty of time to think and reflect on the past year. Some days were bad, and some days were great. It's hard explaining to others that it is possible to have a great day without running or exercising, but I promise you, it is. I've witnessed many people in the same rut that I was in and sometimes still catch myself in, and if you're reading this, I promise it will come to an end. This is only temporary, although it seems like forever. It may even seem as though you're not yourself anymore. You might find yourself getting upset just watching others run. You'll feel jealous of other people who look like they're having the time of their lives. I find this true relating specifically to runners, all we want to do is get out there and be with the team. I am patiently waiting my turn in my recovery process. I've made it through the hardest year of my life and I know through trial and error I'll get back out there.

The thing is, with running, it's all we know, all we ever do is revolved around running. It's the thing we look to get our minds off of things. It's one of the biggest contributors to our happiness, and without it, we feel lost. The hard thing is finding something to take the place of running when you can't. Over the past few months, I've definitely discovered my love for music, and I've made some great friendships through this. I've traveled. I've gone to concerts. I've also read many runner's blogs about their injuries and reached out to them. Talking to others who relate to you is so important in injury recovery.

Like a lot of collegiate athletes, I was a multi-sport athlete in high school. I never ran year-round. I played soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and ran track in the spring. I didn't decide to join cross country until my junior year, in which soccer always came first, and cross country second. I enjoyed other sports so much, sometimes more than running, but I decided to continue cross country in college. At first, the mileage killed me, I was used to maybe 20-25 miles per week, and now I was running 45. I know that's not even considered high mileage but I still got hurt. IT Band Syndrome, an avulsion fracture, torn labrum, SI joint dysfunction and a sacral stress fracture, this past year has been rough. But hey one day I will race again, I'm honestly too stubborn to give up. 

Some bodies can run every day, some bodies cannot. Some bodies can run 3 days and bike or swim 3 days a week. Some bodies can swim 5 days a week and race on Saturday's. One size does not fit all when it comes to training plans, and after all the injuries I have had, I finally learned this. Yes, you can still run well without running every single day. Nick Symmonds for example, won an 800-meter race off of solely swimming. It's all about finding what works for you, and I'll be honest I haven't found what works for me yet.


Patience has always been a struggle for me, but I think I've learned that waiting is so important for recovery (still kinda learning, its okay guys). Obviously, I'm not fully recovered from my current injury, but I definitely have a more positive attitude about it now that I have a diagnosis. What I'm trying to say here is, this is not the end of the world. This is not your whole life. You will be happy again. You will be you again. Injuries do heal. (sometimes we have to speak things into existence, so that's what I'm doing here) If it is what you love, keep trying. Train smarter, not harder.

- Anonymous