Four Events Is Not Enough (Part 9 of 10)

After the Marathon, I took a week off running because I was so stiff and sore. I had difficulty moving anyplace. I felt like an old man. But I started running again a week later and really ran a lot in preparation for my junior year of cross country. Running ten miles a day was not at all uncommon. Getting up early to run was very hard, but I did it. I had wired a light switch right next to my bed. When the alarm went off at 4:00 in the morning, I’d flip the switch and it would light up an area of my wall that I could see as I laid there in bed. On the wall were some motivational sayings: “BE GLAD YOU CAN RUN, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO CAN’T!” And “GET UP AND RUN, OR YOU’LL REGRET IT IN NOVEMBER.” (November was when the State Cross Country Meet was.) And also, “WRUNNING MAKES YOU WEIRD.”
When school started, Coach Tripp had his sign up again which the whole school could see. I was on the list finally. Coach also had another list, displayed just as prominently. This was our mileage for the week. I led the list with 75 miles that week. And it was my goal to be on the top of that list the whole season. I designed, collected money for, and ordered the team uniform that year and the next. But a few weeks into the school year, my shin splints had returned. In fact I could hardly run at all. I felt like I was crippled. I could barely walk when I would start a workout. Then gradually I burst through the pain in my legs and started a very slow jog. After a few moments of this I became numb to the pain and started to run faster. But this couldn’t go on! Coach Tripp recommended that I go see a podiatrist, Doctor Michael Lowe. Doctor Lowe was a runner himself, so I felt confident that he’d understand me. He watched me walk down the hallway and immediately saw my problem. He recommended that I buy a running shoe called New Balance, and then he took X-rays of my feet, took plaster molds of my feet, and then made some orthodics to insert into my shoes which corrected the wrong way I was walking and running. After I got the orthodics it took a few weeks for everything to get better, but after that I had no more major problems with shin splints for the rest of my running life. (In 2011, Dr. Lowe is still my podiatrist. I walk today because of him. And I still wear New Balance Shoes! Even my dress shoes are made by a company owned by New Balance.)
What more was there to do but go for quantity? I did well in cross country that year. I was always on the top seven of the cross country team after that.