Stepping up to the start line unprepared and uncomfortable, Colin Courage already sensed a lack of trust in himself. After arriving on a late bus with no warm-up and over a month of improper training, his pre-race routine on this day differed from the standard. It was the first event of the 2024 Pioneer cross-country season, the Early Bird Invitational at Huron Meadows Metropark, and although he’d done nothing more than light training for the entirety of August, Courage raced anyway. Pain wasn’t immediate as he crossed the finish line, but he knew something wasn’t right.
“You get a lot of adrenaline when you’re running, so during the race, I felt okay,” Courage said. “Not my best, but that’s to be expected for the first race of the season. Afterwards, it was pretty tough.”
Due in part to hip inflammation, Courage had trained sporadically with the rest of his team over the summer. The Early Bird Invitational was the first time he had attempted to push his body to its limit since taking a break in August. Coincidentally, it was also the last time he decided to fully exert himself before a complete recovery.
The primary issue for Courage was linked to growth. The summer before his sophomore year, he hit a growth spurt. His bones grew faster than his tendons, causing a strain in the tendon below the glute muscle. He would come to practice daily, eager to test his abilities during warm-ups, but wake up the next morning in extreme pain.
“I did try and run that first race because I wanted to be good for the season,” Courage said. “I didn’t want Coach to think that I was going to be irrelevant for the whole season. I wasn’t irrelevant for the whole season. But it [running] just worsened the issue.”
Courage has seen his teammates face similar issues — physically needing a break but not wanting to disappoint their coach or team. Despite being in an environment where injury is often met with disappointment rather than direction, Courage didn’t stray from his path to recovery.
“I had a belief in myself that once I got back and I was actually at full strength — able to do what I wanted to do in terms of working out — that I would be fine,” Courage said. “I had to trust my natural ability.”
Despite feeling hopeful about his potential to bounce back, attending the practices of a sport he could barely participate in was often discouraging. Courage would arrive at Pioneer High School every day of the season, but rather than running alongside his team, he biked every practice.
Constantly stationed on the bike, Courage unobservably improved his endurance, but had no race times to prove it. The light, consistent training was ideal for recovery, but his inability to run left Courage with copious amounts of energy and no way to release it. He grew restless watching his teammates head off for run after run while he pedaled with no end in sight.
“A few times I felt like I didn’t want to keep running because I just didn’t know if I was ever going to be back,” Courage said. “There was no light at the end of the tunnel, and I felt a little bit hopeless in recovery at times.”
Even now, Courage often hesitates to push himself to his full training capacity and struggles to trust that his body won’t give out again. He continues to manage hurdles like Osgood-Schlatter disease, which causes knee pain after extensive exercise. Nonetheless, a key strategy for Courage in maintaining a healthy body is maintaining a healthy mindset.
“If I wasn’t confident that I would get better, I probably wouldn’t be running right now,” Courage said. “In general, having a good mentality is really important throughout injury.”
With long bike rides and hours of physical therapy, the bond Courage has with his cross-country team motivated him to keep up with his training. Courage can no longer imagine leaving his team, regardless of the many challenges that come with running. Making his way back was a long and tedious process, but ultimately, Courage found that his sport was worth it .
“There’s no reason for me to keep doing it if I have no one to do it for,” Courage said. “Quitting isn’t in the cards.”
