For the last thirteen years, every time I’m struggling with something I always think, I have to keep going, you can’t quit now. Not stopping and pushing forward is what helped me during the most difficult moment in my life. If I could get through that without quitting, I can get through anything, or so I thought. 

So when my ankle started hurting this summer, I thought it would last a few days and I would be better. I still signed up for races, though maybe I would just walk during the races but always ended up running anyway. I would run with the group during the week, ignore the pain while I could and then walk or just call it a day, maybe rest for a few days hoping that would make it better.

It kept bothering me for months soI finally got a doctor’s appointment in August, I got images of my ankle and it turns out nothing is broken or fractured. If nothing is really wrong with it, I thought I could definitely keep running. 

Once I started therapy last week, my ankle felt a million times better, so I thought that was it, finish my therapy sessions but keep going about my days like I usually do. 

That was until Tuesday night, when I tried to jog 3.5 miles on the track. Nothing hurt while I was walking but almost immediately after I started running, my ankle started bothering me. I couldn’t even finish one lap jogging, so I decided to walk. Maybe I just needed to warm up a little more because I didn’t walk my usual half a mile to warm up before running. 

After walking for almost a mile, I decided to try to jog again, but I couldn’t finish that lap running either. It hurt too much. I was only able to walk a little over a mile and a half so didn’t push any farther because I didn’t want to make it any worse. 

The damage was already done, the ankle still bothered me in the morning but I felt allright because I had therapy later that day. My therapist, however, wasn’t very happy I was running while I’m in therapy. I thought I shouldn’t but nobody told me so I thought it was more of a suggestion. Now I have no excuse because she told me I cannot run while I’m in therapy. 

I didn’t want to stop running because I have a race in two weeks and I want to be ready, but if I don’t take a break and get better, I’m going to be miserable in that race. There’s no question about it, my ankle hasn’t been getting better because I haven’t been letting it. I just rested for a day or two, but that’s not enough. Even if I don’t want to stop running, I’m also a firm believer in following orders, so if the therapist says no running this week, I won’t run anymore this week, just repeat the exercises we do in therapy. 

She also said nothing that puts too much pressure on my ankle, so I have to take the elevator, no walking up and down the stairs to work.

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Published by mariacristinasanfeliu

I’m an aspiring writer still looking for exactly what I want to write about, with a lot of creativity, imagination and desire to write. I studied Writing and Rhetoric at Syracuse University where I explored many different sides of writing through my classes and extracurricular activities in order to narrow my search for an identity as a writer. I have written for Citrus TV Noticias and La Voz magazine, both of which gave me the chance to explore different mediums in which to write in. Through Citrus TV Noticias I also gained experience in translating from English to Spanish and vice versa, which is also something that I would be interested in working on since I am fluent in both of these languages. I was also an intern at Syracuse University Press where I got hands on experience in what goes into actually editing and publishing a book. Through out the last four years I have faced a lot of challenges, which helped chape the person I am today. After being in a tragic car accident, being in comma, having a Traumatic Brain Injury, and being in therapy for over a year, I am a new me, willing to face challenges and knowing how to deal with them. I want to write about my accident and life after it to help others, show them it can be done and help in any way I can.

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