Dealing with injuries and the aftermath -please read!

so far in my 2 years of college I am 2 for 6 when it comes to completing seasons, and it is frustrating because you only get to redshirt one year but you have to mostly trust in your training and know that at one point it will all come together. I would suggest first of all not running again until you are completely healed, i dont know the extent of injuries but maybe you just keep coming back too early. secondly i would suggest lifting if you don't do that already, I have gotten through the season both times I was lifting prior to the year, the other seasons i was injured was when i did not lift. Be confident in your abilities, just because you have not competed in a long time does not mean you cant beat all the others racing. If you think about getting beat by people who are worse than you then you will only focus on that when racing and be satisfied with just beating them, focus on beating guys/girls that are better than you, that way you will always be hungry to be better. When guys/girls from other schools look at results and know you should be on there because you are better than them, it gets them thinking about what the result would be if you were in the race, probably different, so just stay confident in what you can do. I have had 2 major stress fractures in less than 2 years that put me out for numerous months, GET HEALTHY, and DO NOT RUN UNTIL THEN...hope this helps, keep your head up, this is the best sport you can do, and i highly doubt that you would be able to quit even if you tried...good luck

I've been in your shoes before. Often, the old me would hammer myself into the ground by forcing myself to get better. Often, this consisted of me running fantastic track workouts and tearing up other guys in practice, as well as tearing up my body with injuries. Once meet day rolled around (if I was actually healthy), those same guys I rolled up and smoked in practice would come back to bite me (often to the tune of even lapping me in longer races). This was in high school. I basically quit running for a while, then I got to college, decided to try and get into shape...but never planned to race again. I became a runner who ran by feel and took it easy, listening to the body EVERYDAY. I began to watch the surfaces that I ran on and upped my mileage when there were no aches, pains, or injuries. Gradually, I became fitter than ever before and the itch to race returned. I found myself racing faster than I had ever raced before, and without all the injuries...although I'm suffering from one right now (my first in over a year and a half...but I was due for a short break i guess) I'll be back in just a couple of weeks in hopes on continuing a bright running career that bloomed early.

I mean late, not early.

college runner wrote:

have orhotics... wear good shoes

Likely, orthotics are making your feet weaker and are, in the long-term, contributing to your injuries. Also, by "good shoes," I assume you mean heavily cushioned and supportive shoes. These are likely doing the same.