In 2015, I was a Senior in high school and it was my first year ever running on the Cross-Country team. I was beyond excited to try a new sport, considering I just started running the previous year. I was having a phenomenal season, until a few weeks from the end. I started to feel a pain in my foot. I overlooked it, thinking that I just overworked myself a little bit, and that the pain will subside. Not surprisingly, the exact opposite happened, and it got to the point where I was having a hard time walking because of the pain. I went to a few different doctors to try and solve the problem. After a few X-rays, no success. Until, I went to the doctor that helped me when I broke my arm when I was younger. I got an MRI and the results showed it was a stress fracture.
I had to take a few months off from running, which was much harder than I expected. It felt like a few years! I kept strength training my upper body, because my doctor cleared me to do so. I was so relieved! Even though I only did a little bit, it truly made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to train as intensely as I do!
This entire situation could have been prevented if my nutrition had been improved. One day when I was reflecting upon my nutrition, I realized that my calcium intake had been much lower than I needed, especially being an athlete. My vitamin C intake was extremely low as well, which only contributed to the situation. Vitamin C relates to bone health because it aids in the absorption of calcium, which is used to build strong bones. If there is low calcium, it is not present to help build strong bones, especially if I just had a tough day of training. In contrast, if there is no vitamin C, the insufficient amount of calcium I was eating was not being absorbed properly. The result: a stress fracture. I had to spend 3 months wearing a very large cast hobbling around wishing I made changes sooner.
Now, I am a Sophomore in college and still running Cross Country. A couple weeks ago I started having foot pain once again and I started having flashbacks to 2015. Before our meet on Saturday October 28, which was the championship meet of the season, I was having pain in my foot before the race. Here I am about to run this race knowing I have foot pain, and I still ran the race. Afterwards, of course the pain did not subside. The next day I iced it, and it didn’t help. On Monday, the pain was still prevalent and now I am beginning to become more concerned. I texted my coach, and I went to the athletic trainer the next day. The trainer is starting to suspect that it might be a stress fracture, but if it is not a stress fracture, if I keep running on it, it will most likely become one.
This was very hard to take in, because this year has been my strongest obstacle course racing season yet, and ending on an injury is a terrible way to conclude. Right now, I am unsure as to what this is. At first, I was suspecting tendinitis, but now I have no clue. This injury has me reflecting upon my pre-and post-race nutrition. I still believe that I need to consume more calcium and vitamin C, however, my vitamin C intake has increased from the last fracture. As heartbreaking as injuries are, I have learned many lessons in the process of having them. One being, that I need to listen to my body. This season has been my strongest yet, and I owe it to listening to my body. Many athletes believe that the harder the training the better. While that is partially true, it is equally as important to listen to your body and take necessary time off. Another valuable lesson I learned, is to be patient and not beat myself up when my body is injured. I try to look at the positive side of every situation in my life. For example, now that I am not training, I have more time to study or blog. As hard as this might be to accept at first, I always know that I will come back stronger and that I will always make my way out on the course. I’m hoping that all I need to do is take a couple weeks off and then I’ll be ready to go. If that happens I will ease back into training, but if that doesn’t happen, I plan on training my upper body like never before, so I can come back much stronger.
Finally, athletes require much different nutrition, such as more calories, more protein, more carbohydrates, and more lipids. As well as more water, because the sweat that is lost during exercise needs to be replenished. Approximately 2-3 liters should be sufficient, however everyone is different, and it is important to do what is right for your body.
