‭Never give up‬

‭Quentin koch‬

‭Oct. 26th‬

‭P. 1/3‬
 ‭It was a hot summer morning in the middle of June, around 83 degrees. It had been‬

‭almost a week since the end of school. I was just taking days slow and easy, not thinking of‬

‭much, just enjoying my days off of school. There is one thing I had been doing throughout my‬

‭summer: completing my running training, which is about 30-75 minutes six days a week, every‬

‭week.‬

‭I had been working very hard and had been doing this for a while. So long, it feels like‬

‭I've been running for years. Running has always been something I look forward to. It had been‬

‭one of my favorite parts of my day, but when I woke up this summer morning, something was‬

‭off. As I took my first step in the bright and beautiful morning, something felt off. I took another‬

‭step and another, trying to shake off the stiff pain in my foot, but nothing worked. It wasn't pain‬

‭from not moving all night; it was an injury—a plain-out injury on the palm of my right foot. As I‬

‭did my morning routine, I was still in disbelief of the injury. Then it came to the part where I‬

‭took my dog out, so I put on my clothes as usual and went outside, and this is when the truth hit‬

‭me. I was outside and my dog spotted a squirrel, so he took off, but he was on a leash, so he took‬
‭off with me, and this usually is a pretty easy fix. I run a little and then slow down, but this time‬

‭as soon as I took the first step trying to slow down, a sharp pain rang throughout my body, and I‬

‭froze and stood still, and my dog got yanked back by the sudden jerk and stop of the leash.‬

‭Thoughts circled in my head as I knew I had the state championship on July 7th and a‬

‭running camp on July 12th, so I had two very big running events coming up, and at the current‬

‭day it was the 21st of June, so I had 2 1/2 weeks till one of the biggest races of my life, which‬

‭was the regional championship, which if I did well, I would get to go to nationals, and what hurt‬

‭even more was that I was seeded number 1 in the regional race, so I knew I had to get healthy for‬

‭this. So after taking a few minutes to think about this, I decided I would get it checked out‬

‭because it could be something major, and if it was, I wanted to get healed up as quickly as I‬

‭could so I would be ready for my camp.‬

‭So, I decided that I would call my mom. After the 2-minute call, I could tell that she was‬

‭nervous and panicked, but I stayed resilient and knew that it would be gone within the next few‬

‭days.‬

‭Nevertheless, we still had an appointment for Friday with a physical therapist to get it‬

‭checked out, and it was Wednesday, so I wasn't running for at least 2 days. The next day or two‬

‭led me to a lot of thoughts because I couldn't do the sport I loved. The number one thing that‬

‭came to mind was, How did the injury happen? So I thought about the day before, and nothing‬

‭happened outside of my workout, but the workout went really well, so I was left confused.‬

‭I continued resting throughout Wednesday, and when I woke up on Thursday, I was‬

‭hoping that the pain would go away, but it didn't go away or even get better; it felt like it actually‬

‭got worse. Then I looked down, and my right foot was swollen and purple compared to my left‬

‭one. It looked like a giant grape, and as I pressed my hand down on it, it kept going deeper and‬
‭deeper until I could find my bone. This was not good at all because the day before I saw nothing‬

‭wrong, and now it was bruised, swollen, and painful. It had gotten so bad that I couldn't even‬

‭walk normally without wincing in pain.‬

‭So Thursday was more or less like Wednesday, just sitting around and icing my foot.‬

‭When I woke up on Friday, my foot was finally starting to get better, and I would also get to see‬

‭somebody today. I got ready and then was off to physical therapy, which was actually very‬

‭underwhelming because they couldn't diagnose anything, and now I would have to go get an‬

‭x-ray. I walked into the hospital with positivity because my foot was starting to feel better, but I‬

‭knew the results would speak for themselves. I got the x-ray, which is pretty easy. You just sit‬

‭there and they shoot radiation at you, the results were in, and this would dictate my life for the‬

‭next few weeks. The doctor explained that in my foot there was an inflamed bone, and the injury‬

‭was called sesamoiditis, which meant that these two small bones beneath my big toe were‬

‭inflamed from overuse, which in my case was running. Recovery time, he said, could be‬

‭anywhere from 1 week up to 6 weeks. I was not going to let that happen. I would try my hardest‬

‭to recover quickly and make a quick comeback and be ready for my race, but it was the 23rd and‬

‭my race was the 7th, so it wasn't looking great. He gave me a boot, which was the part I hated‬

‭the most, because I hate being immobile. I hated it so much that I only wore it once and that was‬

‭walking out of the clinic, So for the next few days, I just did nothing. I sat there, icing my foot,‬

‭not trying to put too much pressure on it. However, this injury really made me somber because‬

‭we were going to Montana, and the mountain we were staying on was at 5500 feet of elevation,‬

‭and that would be a great spot to train and benefit my running.‬

‭Even though I thought there was no chance of me being able to run there, I did get to‬

‭sneak in my first run back, which was very tough, and it made me question my ability to run. But‬
‭once I got home, I kept training hard and recovering, and thankfully, I was fully ready for my‬

‭running camp.‬

‭This experience in my life taught me a lot. One thing I learned was to never take your‬

‭eyes off the bigger picture and also to stay hungry for what you want. Another thing I learned is‬

‭that if you work hard and have perseverance, you can make any goals happen. Below is my‬

‭training log during the time of my injury.‬

‭JUNE 21ST DAY I WAS INJURED‬ ‭JULY 5TH REST‬

‭JUNE 22ND REST‬ ‭JULY 6TH 5.1 MILE RUN‬

‭JUNE 23RD REST/DIAGNOSED WITH‬ ‭JULY 7TH 4.1 MILE RUN SKIPPED‬

‭SESAMOIDITIS‬ ‭THE RACE‬

‭JUNE 24TH REST‬ ‭JULY 8TH 4.3 MILE RUN‬

‭JUNE 25TH REST‬ ‭JULY 9TH 4.1 MILE RUN‬

‭JUNE 26TH REST/BIRTHDAY‬ ‭JULY 10TH 3.5 MILE RUN‬

‭JUNE 27TH REST‬ ‭JULY 11TH REST‬

‭JUNE 28TH REST‬ ‭JULY 12TH 3 MILE RUN‬

‭JUNE 29TH 6 MILE HIKE‬ ‭JULY 13TH AT CAMP AND‬

‭HEALTHY!‬

‭JUNE 30TH FIRST RUN BACK 2‬

‭MILES‬
‭JULY 1ST REST‬

‭JULY 2ND REST‬

‭JULY 3RD 3.5 MILE RUN‬

‭JULY 4TH 4.7 MILE RUN‬