Athlete Interview: Lucas Xue
Introduction: Lucas Xue is currently a sophomore at Arcadia High School. He is a member of the Varsity Cross Country and Track teams. Following his first high school Cross Country season, he suffered an injury that impeded his ability to run for many months. Compounded by his commitment to tennis, he could not run with his teammates in the 2023 track season.
What was your injury and how did it occur?
“My injury was on the whole top part of my ankle (exterior tendinitis I think). Plus some shin splints on the right foot. Likely a combination of multiple injured tendons caused the pain in the area. I got injured from overtraining and not resting on rest days.”
The overtraining Lucas recounts is running too much and not allowing the body to recover. On “rest days” designed to prevent overexertion, he ignored his aches and ran at regular pace irregardless.
“At the same time, I was also playing tennis seven days a week, sometimes 20 hours a week, in addition to running.”
What was the worst part about being injured?
“I cut my cross country season short. And at that time, I still wasn't committed to running and was going to try out for tennis. I would've likely made varsity but I got stuck in JV since I still couldn't move as well and play tennis at my previous level. I also felt bad for my Cross Country coach and the rest of my teammates, as I would've been fast enough to be top 5 of the Arcadia frosh soph team and help our score. Much later I found out that our coach really wanted us to peak at the last race and to have me drop another huge personal best, which made me feel bad for him as well since I was unable to.”
How did you treat your injury?
“I took approximately two weeks off sports and got treated by a PT who I visited once every week. At the PT they used an ultrasound machine and some analgesic gel that was supposed to relieve inflammation and pain. They also taught me some strength exercises like calf raises and balancing on the injured foot. I started playing tennis again but it would be two months until I finally had a pain-free run.”
What are you doing now to prevent future injuries?
“Since I never stretched before, this had a factor in my injury according to the PT. I also found out there that I was flat-footed so I needed to buy shoes that could support my feet and orthotics instead of buying random shoes that weren't right for me. I also started a stretch routine in the beginning of 2023 and now I still stretch and foam roll every day to prevent injury.”
Conclusion
Despite a major setback from injury, Lucas persisted and was able to not only get back to running, but he is now thriving. He has made huge personal records in his sophomore year. His three mile Cross Country time was cut down by almost a minute from 17:35 in freshman year to 16:39 as a sophomore. That’s not all, as he also improved his mile time by about 25 seconds (currently running 4:46). He is one of the most hard working and inspiring athletes I’ve met. Nothing can stop his “grindset” mentality. The 2024 track season is still in progress and Lucas is bound to shatter further personal records and surpass his previous limits.