An Unfortunate End To The Season

It has taken me a little while to get back on my site to post something more detailed about what happened to end my season this year. I have been doing my best to stay positive about the future and I believe I have done well. This is not my first major injury, and I learned from the last one.

Unfortunately, on Jan. 22nd during my race, a freak accident happened when I crashed. In hurdles, seeing someone fall is not unexpected and I was sure a fall would happen soon as a result of increasing my speed to get to the next level. What I was hoping for was a clean crash with no injury, what I actually got was a fairly major injury which needed surgery.

When I hit the hurdle, it seems my ankle twisted in an eversion motion dislocating it and then I took 2 steps on my ankle before it popped back into place. This was one of my most intense instant discomforts I have experienced. When I had my back fracture, it was a gradual buildup of pain so this was a bit different.

The timing of this freak accident could not have been worse. Two days prior to this race I had purchased my ticket to fly to Germany for the South German Championship at my clubs home track. As it turns out, I was considered one of the favorites being that the national champion from the year before was injured and resting to make his run for the Olympics. I was still able to fly out to Sindelfingen and watch my teammate’s race, while heavily drugged to reduce as much pain as I could.

After returning from Germany, and after dealing with a number of doctors, scans, and insurance issues, I was finally able to get my surgery scheduled. Feb. 12th was the day of the surgery. The doctors plan was to remove the bone chips which broke when my ankle dislocated along with cleaning up the sheared off cartilage inside my ankle and micro fracturing the area to stimulate repair. After surgery, I was told to be non-weight bearing for 6 weeks, and so far the doctor has agreed as the healing has begun. I have 3 more weeks without walking and then if the doctor allows, I will be able to begin physical therapy at Health Quest in Lake Orion.

I know it will be a very long road to recover from this, but a teammate of mine in Sindelfingen just made her return to the hurdles after about 13 month recovering from her knee surgery. There are a lot of motivational recovery stories, but having one so close to me is even better.

I plan to make a full recovery, and when I decide it is time to race again, I will be in better shape and faster than ever.

With the magnitude of this year, Indoor World Championship in Portland and Olympics in Rio, everyone is training as hard as they can. Having the ability to say I competed at a German Championship where selection for these national teams took place would have been an amazing experience. I can’t say I would have been even on Germany's radar for a national team or Olympic team, but to just be in the environment to try is where it makes it special. This injury took these opportunities away from me this time around, but there is no use in dwelling. My aim is to get back on the track and put myself in position to be competitive again.

I have been a huge fan of this image since the first time I saw it. Biggest aim in life is to be able to look back on my life and not have to ability to say "what if". Never once have I regretted making the sacrifices I have, to continue doing what I love. If anything, my current situation has proven to me that hurdles are my passion. I can't wait to get back on the track and be with the hurdles again!