Injuries: Downfalls or Lessons?
I was coming off an amazing college freshman cross country season and indoor season when my hip begins to hurt. I'm not sure what it was exactly at this point, but there was enough pain in my hip that I could not run more than two miles at a time. I headed to the trainer and we try to fix it a little bit, but to no avail. My trainer sends me to our team physician and he diagnoses me with ITBS (Iliotibial Band Syndrome). An injury that you could possibly run on, but for me was far too painful to do.
Even after this diagnosis and knew that I couldn't run on it, I tried it anyway. I tried to take a ton of ice baths and do all the stretching I possibly could to maybe be able to run on it for a little bit without pain, but nothing ever worked. I had to redshirt my first outdoor college track season ever. I was devastated, broken, and lost. I didn't know what sitting out a season was like or what to even do. I've never been injured to this point in my running career. This was all new territory for me and I started to get angry at myself, because I wasn't out there training with my teammates and I blamed myself for everything that happened.
After about a month or so, I just started physical therapy and I still was very angry at myself still and I couldn't blame myself. Things like this happen, but it's how you get back that is the real battle and test of fortitude. How bad do you want to get yourself back to running with your teammates and competing with them to the best of your ability? All these things stuck in my head during physical therapy and doing anything I could to get back on the track and course. No more feeling sorry for myself and being sad that I am out and not being happy at all.
I ended up doing three full months of physical therapy and was still out half of the summer from summer training, but I was still doing everything I could to get back to doing the sport I loved. The first time running in July felt amazing. No pain in my hip and I could actually run again. I was happy, cheerful, delighted to be back. I was back with my teammates again in August and I was able to race, do workouts and do the things I could do again before the injury. I ended up having a great cross country season along with a great indoor and outdoor track season.
The moral of the story is don't give up when you are down. Don't feel sorry for yourself, instead find a way to get better and back to the place you were and beyond. Do the things to get you back and find a support system to help you along the way. Coaches, friends, teammates, family. They will help pick you up when you are down. Lean on and rely on those people. You can only get so far on your own, but with others you can go anywhere you have ever dreamed of.
- Mike Jankowski (@jankowskim24)
