My biggest fear, more than underperforming, more than losing, more than letting my team down, was getting injured. Even when things were going well, I couldn’t let go of the fear of being sidelined. So when I started to get pain in my foot, I tried to ignore it and brush it off as a product of running more miles than I ever had before. I ran on a foot that hurt to walk or even stand on for over three weeks, hoping that it would go away. When the pain was too much and I found myself limping alone down a trail in Tilden that I had run up a million times, I knew that something was seriously wrong, and I let myself cry. Multiple X-rays and MRI scans showed that I had a high grade stress fracture and that my cross country season was over.
The best way to win from the sidelines is to never be there at all, but that is not a realistic outcome for most people. Nearly every athlete that I know has been injured at least once, and every female athlete that I know has struggled with an injury, or injuries, many times related to RED-S or overtraining. To prevent this, listening to your body is constantly emphasized — but it is much more difficult and complex than it seems. There is a fine line between soreness after workouts and pain indicating a deeper issue. The worst situation to be in is knowing that a long period of injury or mandatory rest could have been easily prevented by more caution earlier in the process.
My coach recommends the three day method, and the reasoning behind it is sound: if you are feeling a pain that is out of the ordinary and is preventing you from performing without discomfort, take three days off. If three days pass and you are no longer feeling pain, then you can resume training. If you are still feeling pain, this is indicative of a larger and more serious issue that likely requires medical attention — but taking those three days of rest has allowed your body to at least begin healing.
Despite our best efforts and all of the caution in the world, sometimes injuries do happen. Getting an injury does not mean that you are weak, or that you are a failure. Seeing your teammates practice and reach their goals can bring mixed feelings when you are injured. This is where the mental toughness that you have built through your sport becomes important: there is a limited amount of control you have over your injury, but you have infinite control over your response to the hard situation it puts you in. You can reflect on how to improve your training in the future while focusing on the physical therapy that you are given by your doctor.
Allowing myself to sometimes feel sad and angry instead of forcing a constantly positive outlook has been a necessary step to accepting my injury, but most importantly, I have learned how to become a better teammate, both offering encouragement and leaning on my friends for support when I need it.