My daughter had a breakthrough Friday night.
She is a runner, and she’s had two overuse injuries in 2022. The first one forced her to stop running entirely during the month of March. The second one came in September when she was running seven days a week. For both she went to PT, for the second she ran through the healing process. She was slower, less explosive in races, in pain. Her confidence was shaken.
And yet, she kept training. She ran with the slower group in practice, she rode the bike when she couldn’t run, she devoted more time to stretching, icing, recovery. She created her own daily PT regimen when she finally understood that the problem wasn’t her hamstring. It was her hip flexor and her core.
Still no results. By the end of the cross country season, she was regularly finishing last in the fast group of girls on her team. There were tears. Frustration. Worry.
But she kept running, kept stretching, kept doing her PT, sleeping, eating well. Keeping the faith.
And then Friday night. She ran the 600m. That’s not her race. It’s fast, and during the first heat, I kept glancing nervously at my husband. These girls were sprinting the whole time. My daughter was in the second heat. She lined up, the gun went off, and they started.
The 600m is three laps. She fell into fourth after the first lap and then she slowly made her way to second place during the second lap and the first part of the third. As the girls rounded the final turn, we could see our daughter make a decision, and she sped up, passed the girl in front of her, and won her heat.
Afterward, she was so happy, relaxed, confident. I wish she could always feel that way. I wish I could.
It’s hard to train for months with no sign of improvement, with backsliding even. It’s hard to work like that, too. We want to break through so much, but it’s simply not possible without putting our heads down day after day, month after month and keeping the faith that if we do the work, results will come. Maybe not on the schedule we have in mind, but eventually, if we don’t give up, it will happen.