I have been injured for months now. It started in August when I first decided I was going to run cross country on top of the winter and spring track. It would be enjoyable to do it with my friends. I am a sprinter and I don't do long-distance races so this would be a challenge. In freshman year I did both winter and spring track with no issues so I thought I would be able to add cross country on top of it. I was on vacation in Costa Rica when the first practice started, but we decided I could join them when I got back. While on vacation I went to the gym every night to try to keep up so I would not fall behind with the workouts. 

After I got back it was the first day of practice for me. Fast forward to my first cross-country race. We had been practicing every day after school so running got easier, but still not as enjoyable as short distances. Our first race was rained out before it started. This course was well-known and was the easiest. I did not understand at the time how amazing it was that we were rained out. Now the first real cross-country race, it was warm and sunny out. My friends and I were nervous about the fact that the whole race was around 3.1 miles long, meaning we would have to go around the course twice. After my first cross-country race, I was exhausted; I could barely move. After the cross-country season, it was now time for winter track. For some background information, I hate the cold, especially running in it. After a couple of practices, I started to feel pain in my left leg. At first, I thought it was just a weird place for a shin splint. But, after about three weeks of running on it, it got to the point where it was unbearable and I was limping off the track. I finally decided to tell my parents because I didn’t want to worry them. They were upset that I hid it from them, but they made an appointment to go to the orthopedist to get an X-ray. 

Before the appointment, I had my first winter track meet of the season. My relay team did very well. As I was walking off the track, I knew that something serious happened to my leg. Three days later I went to the doctor and they had me get an x-ray which showed I had a stress fracture in my left tibia, the biggest bone in your leg. I had also been frequently running on it, which made it worse. The doctor gave me special insoles to put in my shoes which will make the impact less and hopefully make my leg better. They also instructed me to go to physical therapy for a couple of weeks, stop working out, and have no gym, and no track for about a month. My mom set up a follow-up appointment. I went to physical therapy which helped for a while. At around the two-month mark, we thought I had gotten better and I could slowly incorporate workouts again and slowly start to go to the gym and run again. 

Fast forward to the first practice of spring track. It went well. My leg did not hurt at all at first, which was my and my parents' biggest concern. Then about two weeks into practice my left leg hurt again, even worse than before. I tried everything: icing, taping, Biofreeze, but nothing worked. I still went to practice for about a week until I told my parents and they got me another appointment with the orthopedist right away. They told me I had fractured my leg again in different places. I had to stop track immediately, costing me my second season. Also, I had to stop going to the gym again, wear a boot to school and work for a month, ice my leg, and stop participating in gym class for the rest of the year. After I wore the boot for a month, I had to start to transition out of it. Additionally, I had to go back for another follow-up in another two weeks. They got me another x-ray which showed my leg was still not healing. They instructed me to go to physical therapy again and keep icing my leg. After a few more appointments, over the course of three months, my leg was still not fully healed. I can still feel where I first fractured my leg. In the next two weeks if I do not show signs of recovering I have to go back into the boot and get an MRI.