Stride, struggle and recover. Stride, struggle and recover.

Through injury and illness, junior distance runner Dani Stack has overcome pain and ailment while fighting to keep running this season.

From day one of the indoor season, Stack said she had goals of what she wanted to accomplish. This was before her hindering injury and sickness.

“Going into it, I just wanted to be competitive and wanted to qualify for nationals in the 5,000-meters and the 3,000-meters,” Stack said.

Before the setbacks

Her goals were simple. Stack said she just wanted to get her feet wet, hit personal records, become an All-American in the 5K and 3K and qualify for nationals in those events.

And she was able to accomplish most of those goals.

Stack ran through the indoor season, despite being under the weather, and qualified for nationals in the 3K.

However, coach Corey Ihmels saw something was askew with Stack as she approached the indoor season.

“We kind of got a slow start to get going in December and January,” Ihmels said. “So we were a little behind the eight ball when school started, but things started to click a little bit.”

Ihmels thought things might have clicked a little too fast.

One of Stack’s goals was to run a personal record. And in just the second meet into the indoor season, Stack did just that by running a 9:08.00 in the 3K.

“It was a tremendous start to show her fitness level was really high,” Ihmels said. “But in hindsight, we may have been better off maybe not having such a performance right away because things kind of went bad from there.”

As the saying goes, “Hindsight is always 20/20,” and soon after Stack’s personal best, illness struck home.

From illness to injury

“It started with a cold, which I probably should’ve just taken a day off and been smart about it,” Stack said. “But I ran all week, ran maximum mileage, and felt terrible every single day.”

That was just the sickness.

“So then I started compensating a lot,” Stack said. “And I’ve been having plantar fasciitis issues on my right plantar, so that flared up.”

Due to the plantar fasciitis in her right foot, Stack was unable to keep a natural form, causing her to run unevenly. This, in turn, caused knee pain.

One day, it got to the point where she had finally had enough.

“Things got worse and worse on every run,” Stack said. “I lost my sense of urgency.”

Not only did the obstacle of injury affect Stack on the track, but it played a key role with her life off the asphalt as well.

“Pretty much everything got affected,” Stack said. “This semester has not been [reflective of] who I am as a student. I really identify as a runner.”

Identifying as a runner turned out to be a blessing and a curse. Because of her commitment, Stack said, when she noticed her running was headed downhill, so did school, training and relationships.

Stack talked about the importance of relationships with her teammates and how the injury and illness took those away from the people around her.

“My relationships obviously were affected, just because everyone else was running really well,” Stack said.

Teammate Meaghan Nelson has been with Stack throughout college. As her roommate and teammate, she was able to provide comfort when it was needed.

“[I just] reassured her that it’s going to get better and just focus on the outdoors,” Nelson said. “That’s what we work for as a team anyways — the outdoor season. So I told her to just focus on that and get things together.”

But it hasn’t been all doom and gloom for Stack. At the end of the indoor season, things seemed to be turning around, health- and competition-wise.

“It was kind of a refocus plan,” Stack said. “I just took it day-to-day and tried to focus one day at a time.”

Through diligent training, a recovery process set by Ihmels and the will to continue striving, Stack has made progress with her injury to become healthy for the outdoor season.

“We had to recharge the batteries and take some time off,” Ihmels said. “And the way we do it from the beginning, you’re not that far away from where you [started].”

Although she will not compete until mid-season, the preparation for Stack’s outdoor season has already started.

“I think we’re on track, and she’s going to have a good year,” Ihmels said. “It’s just not how we wanted it to go. But sometimes you’ve got to change midstream.”

Stack’s indoor season was not ideal, but she said what happened will only better her for the future.

“It’s going to affect [me] for the better,” Stack said. “We still have very high expectations for the year, including trying to qualify for the [Olympic] trials.”

Stack said she’s taking a whole new perspective on her running and the outdoor season.

“I’m approaching this season a lot more realistically now,” Stack said. “And honestly, I re-framed the way I think about running and taking it as it comes.”

As far as the outdoor season is concerned, Stack, Ihmels and the rest of the Cyclones are ready for whatever comes their way. Preparation for the first few outdoor events has begun and confidence is high.

“I think she’ll be able to accomplish the goals that she set,” Nelson said. “She’s going to run a 10K in a couple of weeks, and I think she’ll do just as well in that, especially after having that recovery time.”

At the end of the day, Stack said she’s just worried about having fun and getting familiar with the track again and getting familiar with how it used to be.

“I don’t want to get so set on hitting these qualifying marks, because I think that’s just going to make it worse,” Stack said. “It’s more about having fun and getting back to that point where I feel comfortable again and getting my confidence back.”