September 21, 1979 (Friday)

From running log:
Cross country practice. 1 mile warmup, 3 workout, 0.2 cooldown (4.2 miles). Easy 8:30 pace. I did something to my upper back yesterday, some kind of muscle thing. It's doubtful that I can run tomorrow morning. I'm actually in lots of pain, it's really hard to run. Dad says it will take a long time to heal. If it isn't one thing, it's another. Must I always run injured? I still want to run tomorrow, but if it means losing the season already, no way. I'll see how I feel tomorrow. I hope better. Whirlpooled my back, didn't help much. I'm going to keep heat on it all night. Hope it feels a little better. Hell, this isn't the end of the world. I don't want to lose to Connors or Bennett because of this. Hope rest of the guys feel good, would be bad to finish last ... demoralizing.

30 years later:
So, my upper back was in spasm, and I made absolutely no connection to the race on the previous day? Pretty funny. I'm sure it was from jostling, elbowing, and just general tension of working my way through that very aggressive armada of blocking runners. I know I was grabbed and also pushed in the back a couple of times, it just locked up on me overnight. That meant I wouldn't be running the race the next day, which was really disappointing. The course at Holy Name Seminary on the outskirts of Madison, Wisconsin was a terrific one, with some long hills and a couple of sharp, downhill turns. No one ran fast on that course, it was for the strong, and that was my preferred terrain.

I wrote in my log that my father told me it would take a long time for my back to heal. Luckily, my father isn't a doctor. I'm not sure why he'd say that, and in fact I don't remember him saying it ... maybe he was just trying to keep me from running the race on Saturday and making it worse.

I was afraid of getting injured. I knew I was having the best season of my young running career, and that was so precious to me that I was paranoid about having it crumble. While I wanted terribly to run the next morning, I took the advice I was given and decided to rest. It was the right thing to do, even if it was upsetting.

Footnote: from what I understand, the high school at Holy Name was shut down in the mid-90s due to budget shortfalls and staffing problems. I assume they no longer host cross country races either, on that beautiful course. What a shame.