Miranda Roelofs, a Willmar, MN native has been active with sports since she was a little girl. Throughout high school, she was involved in track, volleyball and hockey. However, she ended up needing surgery her freshman year after suffering a labral tear in her hip.
As far as recovery, Roelofs spent three months on crutches and wasn't able to start running again until the six month mark. The former sprinter now reflects on her experience saying, "I hated not competing. I hate not being able to do things for myself and being in sports was one of my things in high school. That's how I bonded with other kids and that's where I met my friends." Having to attend physical therapy weekly and the inability to drive, led to her occasionally miss practices and games (something she wasn't a fan of). Eventually, Roelofs recovered and was back to sprinting.
She was a state qualifier in the 4x400 relay for the Cardinals, an All-Conference performer and the team's MVP. Roelofs holds the school record for the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 46.47. She is also a five-time letter winner at Willmar.
Roelofs went on to pursue her track scholarship at Northern State University (NSU) in Aberdeen, SD. However, a year after wear and tear on her hips and constant training, Roelofs ended up having surgery for the second time on the same hip. That was a devastating time for her, as she was hours away from her family and unable to compete. Roelofs says, "...not having my parents there and not having family to just be there and help me when I needed it was really difficult."
Emotionally speaking, Roelofs felt alone after going to practices and watching her teammates bond without her. Being injured, you miss out on a lot, whether it's a team workout or the bonding experience outside of practice. She says that "seeing [her] other teammates running, competing and lifting without [her] was really hard." However, even with physical therapy, Roelofs was unable to recover fully and get back to her best ability. She decided it was best to withdraw from track and focus on healing.
Despite the physical setback, Roelofs is now running for herself and with much joy. She ran her first full-marathon this past winter at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Even though the past few years haven't gone the way that she wanted them to, Roelofs is happy with where she is now and what she is doing. She recently graduated from NSU with a bachelor's degree in sociology and just started a new job at Woodlands Center in Willmar, MN.
For any athlete out there suffering from injury, Roelofs says,"Keep on going. Don't give up. If you are feeling helpless because of your surgery (or injury) and not being able to do things on your own, you will get back to it eventually. Keep striving for what you want."
Listen here for the full podcast version https://jaedenmetcalf.wixsite.com/sportrecovery/podcast/episode/c0569284/miranda-roelofs-podcast