Stories Plus

Back in middle school, I started running track. I just sort of decided to try it out in the sixth grade and ended up sticking with it. My coach (who was also my gym teacher all three years) ended up putting me in distance running. I ran the mile every meet. By the way, I hated going to the meets. I didn’t want to compete, I just wanted to go to the practices and run. I hate competition. It just stresses me out!

Anyway, once I got to high school, track was a whole different sport. By then, my bad habits of hardly eating and overworking myself was really catching up to me. Not to mention, the distance runners were pushed to a different kind of level, since most of them were in cross-country anyway and used to going the distance. I was not. I ended up running indoor track during the winter my freshman year of highschool, but I didn’t finish the outdoor season.

Between seasons, while the top athletes were competing in finals and such, I continued practicing at home. I ran on the treadmill six days a week. Turns out, the treadmill is really bad for you if you aren’t careful. It’s hard terrain and it puts a lot of strain on your joints, muscles, and bones. Well, once the outdoor season started, I was excited since two of my friends planned to join me!

We practiced together and I noticed my shin was hurting, but I just ignored it and pushed forward. On day three, we ended up doing a difficult exercise. We had to run 6 400’s (which is a whole lap around the track), but since we were distance runners, we don’t stop. We would sprint a lap, and then jog another as a break, totalling 12 laps! This was after the 10 minute warm-up run.

I don’t remember when exactly it happened, I just know by the end of the laps, I could hardly walk. My leg was on fire. For my cool-down job, I just slowly hobbled around the building. I ended up sitting down for a bit to check my shoes since I also felt something wet and sticky in my shoe. Turns out one of my toenails had dug into the other a bit.

At the end of it all, I just went to the activity bus and walked home from my stop. Yes, I walked home. The next day, I could barely walk. I was stuck downstairs in my sister’s room since my cousin and aunt were staying over, so I had to crawl my way upstairs to use the bathroom. As soon as other people started to stir, I decided to try my best to stand up and move around. I was embarrassed to be crawling around on the floor.

I told my mom is hurt and she told me to stretch it out since that helps with shin splints. That’s what I thought it was! I thought I had a shin splint! It hurt all weekend and it wasn’t any better by practice on Monday. I ended up trying to run anyway but my friends said it was a bad idea. I didn’t listen to them so they decided to tell the coach. He ended up sending me to the athletic trainer to ice and wrap my leg and I sat out during that practice. I still went each practice and the coach quickly learned to ask my friends how I was doing rather than me. I was too stubborn and ashamed to admit I was hurt. I felt like I was letting down the whole team.

All of this went on for an entire month! I know! That’s a long time! Okay! But everyone including the coach was saying it was a shin splint and I believed them! There was even one day where it hurt so bad I could barely walk. Some of my friends told the teacher I should go to the nurse but that very teacher pulled me into the hall (where I leaned on every desk to get out there, clearly struggling). She asked me what I thought the nurse would do for me and I told her I wasn’t sure, so she just told me to go sit back down. My friends were fuming.

After a good month of trying everything and it still hurting, I finally decided to talk to my parents. I told my mom I should probably go to the doctor and she agreed, stating it should have healed by now if it was just a shin splint. She sent a note to the coaches and told them I was going to a doctor. (I can feel hate on my parents for this: no, they aren’t perfect. But I was the oldest of 6 at the time so they were a little busy with a newborn and a barely toddler as well as all the others.) The pediatrician ended up referring me to orthopedics and I got an x-ray.

It turns out my shin splint turned into a stress fracture and it had actually shown signs of healing. He said he didn’t want to risk it getting any worse and told me not to put any weight on it for a month. They put me in a wheel chair out of the place and gave me a pair of crutches. I almost fell my first day and I was very upset. When I got back into class, one of the friends screaming at me to go to the doctor for the last month saw me and yelled “FINALLY!” Looking back on it, it’s really funny, but not at the moment. I hated that my friends were right and that I was out for the season. It sucked, but it could have been a lot worse. The doctor said there was a chance it could have broken completely and I would have needed surgery and a cast.

My friends still sometimes throw this in my face as a reminder that I’m not the best at taking care of myself and I should listen to them. For months all of them told me to go to the doctor and I didn’t listen. I’ve gotten a lot better about it now. I even went to physical therapy for my carpel tunnel. All in all, it’s more of a reminder of how much I’ve grown.