By: Katie Greppin

I know from personal experience that injuries are the worst. They force you to take a break from what you love doing. I injured my hamstring last year, and I had to to take almost a year off of running. My injury should not have taken as long as it did to heal, but what matters is that I am now running again. It was a rough year, and as soon as I could run again, I injured my hip flexor and was out of running yet another time. These setbacks however teach you so much about yourself and the sport you love. You have to look at the positive side of things. From this experience, I have accumulated advice that I can now share to others.

Avoid Google

The first piece of advice is to avoid google. It only stresses you out and makes you want to cry. It projects so many bad possibilities that you should not have to worry about. It is best just to not use google.

Professional Help

Many times with a severe injury, you need professional to get you back as fast as possible. You do not want to make things worse or suffer any longer than necessary. It is important to find who can help you best. At HB, you can see Jodi Duecker who is our athletic trainer. I went to four different physical therapists over the course of my hamstring injury. However, the last one I found was the reason I was able to do Cross Country this year.

Continue Past Injury

Even once you return back to your activities, it is important to continue to do what you need to do to prevent re-injury. It is terrible to make it back just to get injured again. You can prevent this scenario by continuing your exercises or stretches.

Learn from your Injury

Injuries are a time when you can learn a lot about yourself. While out of running, I realized how much I loved running. I missed the workouts and the team. I think back to only wanting to run on days when there is a tough workout, and I do not want to do it.

It Will Pass

The final thing I would like to say is that you will get past your injury. You will recover and return to what you love to do. It does take time, but that time will go by faster than you think. In the meantime, follow these steps on how to survive an injury.