Runner's Knee: A Short Story

Nearly a year later, I still vividly remember sitting slumped in a green chair of the hospital lobby still in disbelief as I traced the curve of my spine with my fingertips. That was my breaking point. I had no will to contain my emotions as I had so well for the last miserable eight months. I am not too proud to admit that sitting there alone, engulfed in that green chair with my feet dangling above the floor, I burst into tears. I went in with high expectations, maybe unrealistically high. But after eight months of bursitis, IT Band Syndrome and what I had been assured was classic Runner’s Knee my conviction that things were bound to improve seemed justified. I did not leave Dr. Ross’ office with the solution I came seeking but rather another …show more content…
I wanted the sob stories of people in more extreme versions of my own predicament. In such narratives the word scoliosis made its appearance in every possible location. I, having not yet even said the word, yet alone identify with it, shuddered with each usage. I wanted to behold the souls of these writers, not their skeletons. I also, did not want to be a “good runner with scoliosis.” What does that even mean? I just wanted to be a good runner. I was uplifted by a story I uncovered about a five-year-old exercising his core to medicate a spinal condition who would grow up to be defined by his ailments but as a Olympic Track and Field phenomenon. No one would refer to Usain Bolt is a “good runner with scoliosis” but instead as the fastest man who has ever …show more content…
When I started running, I fell in love with the exhilerating feeling of challenging myself to achieve something that even I thought inconceivable, and the joy of feeling sore in the following morning, ratification of my hard work. It was apparent then that everyday I was stronger than I had ever been in my entire life. With Track and Cross Country seasons filled with derailments, disappointments, and defeats, progress is less appreciable . The true reason I continue to run is not bullheadedness, but because ultimately I am not ready, nor with I every be, to give up on the person who I want to be and who I am working to become. My Cross Country coach’s mantra for approaching any race is “One girl at a time.” It means to never be satisfied with my current position in the pack, to keep pushing myself, even while at my worst, to move-up one step at a time and once I get there, to set my sights even further. Having endurance for me as a long distance runner is not limited to race days or workouts it is a part of who I am day in and day