I ran track, cross country, and played soccer all my life. During my junior year of high school, I started having horrible knee pain. My coaches kept telling me to just ice it and take Motrin. I knew the pain was more than that - my senior year the doctors diagnosed me with Rheumatoid Arthritis ( I had back pain when I was 12..). By the time I graduated high school, I was in a huge knee brace and that was it. I took it upon myself to find a physical therapist and he saved my life. Seriously. I had almost ZERO range in motion in my left knee - it was really tough to walk. He gave me my life back. By the end of the summer, I moved to Greensboro for my first year of college and joined the club soccer team. I still wore my brace during practices and games, but I could run! When the pain came back, I listened to my body and knew when to take a break. I joined the swim team second year and that REALLY helped.
I started with a new doctor, and on new medications for the Fibromyalgia, and I finally am starting to have SOME relief from the pain in my knees!
In April 2012, I ran my first 5k since highschool...during my third year of college. It felt INCREDIBLE! After that, all I wanted to do was starting doing races again...so I did! And now, I'm training for my first FULL MARATHON! (and hopefully many more to come ! )
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