Using a combination of hard work and sheer determination, Orillia native Lisa Brooking overcame a gruesome injury to help Team Canada’s women capture gold and silver medals at the recent Pan American Cross-Country Running Championship in El Salvador.
Brooking finished 20th in the 10-kilometre race in what might appear to be a disappointing result considering she finished seventh last year and fifth the year before. But considering her journey, Brooking said the “race was a success.”
During the last leg of the Canadian Cross-Country Championship in November, Brooking was navigating her way up a muddy and slippery slope near the end of the race when she suffered a devastating injury. “I felt a pop and a rush of pain as I crested the hill,” Brooking told OrilliaMatters. “I ruptured over 50% of my plantar fascia on my right foot.”
Despite the injury, she was “determined to make it to the finish line” so she could qualify for the national team. “So, I ran as hard as I could for the remaining 150 metres.”
After crossing the finish line, Brooking quickly made her way to the medical tent and put her foot on ice. “It hurt so much,” she said. “I was soon in an air cast and on crutches.”
That meant she couldn’t drive, couldn’t walk her dog and was, in essence, immobile. She required a knee scooter to navigate around the hospital where she works. “I frequent the wards and attend multiple meetings across the hospital and medical campus, so the scooter enabled me to continue with my day. By Christmas, I was off the scooter and minimally weight bearing with crutches.”
Early in January, she was able to walk. With extensive physiotherapy and the assistance of Dr. Jim Bovard, the head doctor for the Vancouver Canucks who has experience with high performance athletes across a wide range of sports, Brooking’s healing process was accelerated.
“I attribute my speedy recovery to the interdisciplinary team who worked together to get me competition-ready,” said Brooking. “I was mostly cross training on the bike and a little in the pool. With such little running under my belt, I wasn’t sure how I would fare in the competition.”
But she was determined to race. “My coach and I had a race plan with the goal of not further damaging the foot. Thankfully, my foot felt good during the race.”
However, she had to wear running flats instead of spikes to avoid additional stress on the plantar fascia. “Overall, I am very pleased with the race and my finish,” she said. “Of course, It would’ve been nice to finish in seventh as I did last year (but) I knew my fitness wasn’t there, so I didn’t set unrealistic expectations.”
She is proud that she was able to come back – and help her team. “I positively contributed to the team score,” she said, noting she and her teammates garnered gold in the North American, Central American, Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) component and silver in the Pan-Ams. “It was a win-win. The team did well and my foot held up. I’m still on the road to full recovery. I am optimistic I can come back stronger than ever.”
Brooking, a Twin Lakes Secondary School graduate and winner of Orillia’s Athlete of the Year Award in 2015, said she never considered quitting despite the long odds she faced in her comeback bid.
“Wearing the Canada jersey was the main motivator to keep pressing on,” Brooking said. “While the jersey changes in appearance from year to year, the pride of wearing the maple leaf remains the same. I feel such pride to represent our country on the international stage. With every opportunity, I am grateful and always strive to put my best foot forward.”
That motivation also drove her on the course as the temperature soared into the high 30s and her fitness, due to a lack of training, waned. “Despite the exhaustion of racing in extreme elements combined with a lack of sharpness from being injured, I was able to stay mentally strong because I didn’t want to let my teammates or country down.”
Now that the injury is behind her, Brooking hopes to continue to build her fitness and strength so that she can get back on track. She has joined the B.C. Endurance Project, a group of elite athletes, and hopes to keep improving. “My goal is to uncover my potential and see where that takes me,” said Brooking, who dreams of competing in the Olympics someday.
However, she also has a busy career. She graduated last summer from Trinity Western University and after many years working as a trauma nurse has transitioned into management. “I oversee regional operations of clinical services at BC Cancer and I’m also head of nursing professional practice for the Vancouver Centre,” said Brooking, “It’s a massive change from bedside in intensive care. Now, I work Monday to Friday – no shift work, which is better for training and sleeping.”
She will begin the road race season in April and, depending on her foot, may compete in outdoor track competitions as well.
