Throughout my life, countless problems have plagued me, some more serious than others. Many of these issues were conquered with the help of my friends, leading to a closer bond with them. Other times, the issues have resolved themselves, providing me with more of a learning experience. There are those obnoxious problems I have not been able to solve, the issues that pester me months after they first occur. These are the problems that have truly tested my abilities and beliefs and made me think carefully. Recently, a new challenge literally grabbed my legs and slowed my life down.
For the past three years, I had endured countless hours of taxing running. I ran during all three sports seasons. I trained during the offseason, running over 400 miles the summer between my freshman and sophomore year. I planned on repeating that next summer, and was well on my way before excruciating pain shot up my leg one day. I limped home, where I iced my leg and got some rest, expecting to be able to run again in a day or two. The next day, the same excruciating pain shot up my leg when I went down my stairs in the morning.
The same thing happened the next day, and soon a week had gone by. At that point, I knew something was not right, and that I had encountered yet another problem that would irritate me until I solved it. I took the precaution of running with a brace the first day of cross country practice, but my competitiveness, or more likely my stubbornness, would not let me stop running entirely. It took both of my coaches telling me to before I saw a doctor, who concluded that I had a tight IT band in my left leg.
I had developed remarkably strong leg muscles from all the running I had done, but they were stiff from a sever lack of stretching. I was given stretches to loosen my leg, and I took a long week off from running. I ended up running in our first meet of the long, painful season, mostly because my competitiveness was stronger than my common sense. I was able to run relatively pain free, or at least lie to myself enough so that I felt much less pain than what was actually going on inside my leg.
It was devastatingly painful after finishing the race though, and at that moment, my competitiveness decide it must only hurt when I am walking, whereas common sense would indicate that perhaps I should rest longer. The next race I ran was a full 5K, which I barely finished as a result of grueling leg pain, and even then I had finished a full three minutes slower than the year before. I went back to therapy, and was given core strengthening exercises to do. I made it through a few more meets before I collapsed from unbearable right leg pain and excruciating knee popping after another.
I was worried, or possibly relieved, that my season might be over. Common sense would suggest that, but my competitiveness got the better of me, and I ran a very hilly course the next week. I barely finished that race, and my body has immense regrets over that, but my competitiveness would not let me stop. I hobbled to the finish line, six minutes slower than the previous year. I stopped running on any elevation the rest of the season, and my leg seemed to grow back to the strength it once was.
I went to a running clinic, where professionals examined by running form. They determined that an over-rotation in my hips could be causing me to experience the excruciating pain, as well as too much leg torque as I zipped along. I did not run at states, and I still sometimes experience minor pain on stairs. I do not know when or if I will be able to run as fast again, but I learned a lot about myself as a result of this experience. I had never realized how competitive I was, or how stubborn I could be.
I learned that listening to your gut, or leg, is often better for you than listening to your heart. The lessons I learned were as significant to my life as the injury itself. I am currently planning to take a winter off from running to stretch and improve my flexibility. By doing this, I’m hoping to improve my core and IT strength to match that of the rest of my leg. After that, I am hoping my track season will be as productive as it was last year. Running is one of my passions, and I don’t want to have to give it up.