Overcoming Injuries and The Road to Recovery

It happened in the beginning of December. We had just started training for indoor track and I was determined to have a good season. It was like the puzzle pieces were finally coming together, and I was excited for the season to start. Then one day, as I was dancing with my friends, I landed on my ankle wrong. I am uncoordinated so it was kind of funny, until I was told that I fractured it. I thought it was just a sprain and I would be back to running in about a week. When I found out it was practically broken, it felt like my heart was broken too, along with my happiness. 

With a heavy heart, I started cross training. In the beginning, it was awful. It was awful the whole time, not being able to run, but in the beginning is when it took some getting used to. There were days that it was okay, and days that it was the worst. There were days that I looked forward to bike, and days that I held back tears, while at the gym, all because I wanted to run so bad. Being injured is not fun, but I definitely learned a lot from it. I learned to love swimming. I learned how to be a better teammate. You have to be there for your team, even when you can't run with them. As much as it hurts to talk about running, you have to listen to how their workouts or races went. I learned to be mentally stronger. I learned to never, ever give up. Good things take time, so sometimes you just have to give it the time it needs. There are going to be days that you want to give up. There are going to be days that you wonder if it's even worth it anymore. But there will be days in the future, that will make you glad you kept going. There are going to be days that you run again. Being injured made me appreciate things other than running in my life. Being injured made me tougher, not only as a runner, but also as a person.

- Abby Sweeney (@abbslikesteel)