By Kaley Bell

It’s really difficult for me to admit that I am hurt. Physically, I never like to show pain. I want to show people that I can be as strong as the rest of them. I pride myself on the fact that I have a strong threshold for pain. Since birth, my doctor has been saying that I am strong.

My mother notices this trait in me all the time, and because of her, I always do my best to maintain the same strength that she had. As the oldest of four, I am expected to be the strongest in everything I do.

Weakness must be hidden.

You can imagine how difficult it was for me to tell my coach that I had to take a couple of days off because of a hamstring and quad problem. One day at practice I had pushed myself to my limit. We were doing short sprint practices, and I had forced myself to push through the pain.

Unfortunately, my strength did not last. On my fourth rep, I got down on the line and assumed the down position. When coach yelled, “set,” I raised my hips and felt a tug. I ignored it, and when coach began the rep, I came out of the blocks as fast as I could, trying my hardest to keep up with our top sprinter, Mary Kate Kenny.

I came out of the blocks fast, but as I sprinted, I felt my hamstring tug at the back of my leg. I did my best to ignore the pain, but halfway through the 30 meter sprint it slowed me down, and I was forced to stop. At this point, my coach noticed my struggles and told me to stop.

This frustrated me, and at first, I didn’t understand why. I am trying so hard to better myself so that I can be the best I can be for this team, and it is frustrating to hear that I had to stop training.

It was even more so frustrating when I went to visit the trainer, and I was told that I would have to cross train, meaning I would bike, swim and ride the elliptical until I got better. While I did not know what the problem was exactly, I knew I would have to stop the training I had grown so used to.
My break was not very long, and since I was not given any specifics about the length of my rest period, I set my own breaks. I told myself that I would stop practicing for the rest of the week, and that’s exactly what I did.

It was difficult for me to do so. I felt very unproductive. I remember sitting down in practice, watching everyone die during each rep, and I became angry. My coach told me to help him set up cones and video the hurdlers. I felt like a manager, and I did not like it. I felt useless.

Now that I am back to training, I can see how the break was beneficial. After going hard for so many days, my legs were telling me that they needed a rest, and I’m glad I gave them one.

With the start of the season only two weeks away, my legs needed a break before I go hard into competing on the track.