Featured Image by Jodi Hanagan

Every athlete deals with injury. But it’s how we deal with it that matters. They test how well your body can hold up to recovery and how you can rehab. But moreover, it tests mental strength as well. Here’s how I have dealt with this latest big injury.

Hip gives:

I had been injured plenty of times before. But this was the worst since shattering my collarbone. In August of 2019 I ran a cross country race in San Francisco. It was part of my last attempt to walk on to the Oregon team. From the get-go I felt something in my hip, but I kept going. By the end of it I was limping over the line and needed crutches to get back to my car. It’s been over a year since this happened and it still hasn’t properly healed.

What’s been done:

Turns out Bursitis isn’t a short comeback. At first I thought I had given myself time to try and recover. A month off from running wasn’t easy. But I was able to start doing light runs again, workouts though, that was another story. While trying to do workouts I couldn’t get turnover and speed. The pain didn’t help much either. After then repeating that whole cycle again I was forced to take the rest of my last quarter at Oregon off. Since then my running has been on/off and I haven’t been able to run consistently. I have since seen a physical therapist and am working to hopefully get back on the starting line in March.

What I’ve learned:

Injury rehab isn’t easy, and mindset is everything. It has taken everything not to quit and to give up on the dream. Always listen to your body. When you get hurt, take some time off. I don’t care how tough you think you are. That injury will only get worse if you keep putting it under duress. The only time that would be somewhat understandable to run through pain is if you’re trying to make an international team, or you’re in an Olympic/world champs final. Take the time you need to recover physically and mentally so you can come back even better.

Written by Mark Wang.