Meridia Mondays | Issue 42
A Note From Colleen: A Turning Point in My Healing Journey
Hi Meridians!
This is Colleen, your (team) captain, speaking š©āāļø
I usually write this newsletter from a 3rd person perspective of our team, giving you all updates from our athletes and sharing things that might be useful in your own training and lives. Last week I loved sharing the good news about Annie going to Worlds, for example. Iām also so excited for Gracie and Courtney to start their racing seasons this month and I have a feeling itās going to be a very special year for our squad.
But this week, I wanted to talk to you directly.
I wanted to share where Iām at in my own running journey and why the last few weeks have felt so significant for me personally.
If youāve been following me for a while, you know that after a strong stretch from 2015ā2019, when I represented Team USA every single year, my health really started to unravel in 2021.
I couldnāt stay healthy long enough to train and race the way I wanted to or the way I know Iām capable of and Iāve struggled a lot both mentally and physically trying to āget backā to myself and a high level of racing.
What Was the Problem Exactly?
Well, it started with my left foot, and then it was my right hip, and then it spiraled into all kinds of stuff that didnāt make sense or was hard to explain.
Thanks to a two-year process with holistic medicine, Iāve been able to come back into my body and feel more like myself than I have in years.
Last summer I was finally able to put together a track season and in August and September of 2025 I raced five times in five different countries and three different continents. The times werenāt close to my best, but I did win a race, and more importantly I felt more connected to my pro running community than I have in years. I wrote all about that for my personal newsletter in an article called āChasing enoughā.
But by the end of that race circuit, I had so much pain in my left foot that I could barely walk. I still canāt kick this issue with my foot (pun intended).
I took significant time off and then got back into training this fall. After building a base phase I tried to progress my paces faster for some V02 workouts, but any time I touched anything at race pace, my foot would be so painful that I would have to take 1-3 days off of running afterwards.
Yāall, Iām so tired of this. Iām tired of writing about it, Iām tired of explaining myself, Iām tired of being afraid of hurting myself if I run, and most of all Iām tired of being in pain every single day.
The āAhaā Moment Iāve Been Waiting For
The reason I wanted to write this update is because I finally have an answer for what could be causing all these issues with my left foot. For countless years now, I have been complaining that:
I canāt roll through my foot in a normal stride walking or running.
I canāt do single leg heel raises on my left foot.
I canāt balance on my left leg.
My arch has flattened out on that side compared to my right.
I keep getting these stress reactions in my metatarsals and navicular bones.
Now, I even have arthritis in my mid foot.
All of these issues donāt line up because I have great bone density. Iām super strong. I eat well. My bloodwork looks good. Iāve worked with a great form coach. I have a solid strength routine and Iām super strong. Iāve done all the PT exercises. Iāve seen dozens of doctors who were confident they could help meā¦ and yet, my foot still hurts so bad.
And then I got a CT scan.
The CT scan showed a calcified Lisfranc ligament that is indicative of an old injury to that joint where the ligament got torn and my body put down calcium in an effort to create stability.
If you Google āchronic Lisfranc ligament injury symptomsā youāll see that my complaints with my foot line up exactly.
When I got the CT results I immediately did that Google search and I broke down into tears. āThatās me!ā
The first emotion I felt was relief. I was so relieved that we found something that could explain why Iām having these issues and confirm that itās not all in my head and Iām not crazy (at least not in that way!).
The next emotion was anger.
Iām angry because I canāt count how many times Iāve related these exact symptoms to dozens of healthcare professionals and none of them said, āThat sounds like Lisfranc.ā Iām angry about all the fruitless work that Iāve done to try and feel better, all the hours Iāve spent, and the hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical bills (no, Iām not exaggerating).
Iāve flown all over the world looking for answers from people who told me they knew what was wrong and could help me, only for their methods not to work and for me to be made to feel like it was my fault.
Iām angry that this has likely cost me the prime years of my athletic career.
Lastly, Iām angry at myself. I knew something was wrong. I knew we were missing something. Iām mad at myself for not advocating harder, for being too polite, too trusting, for putting up with the pain and pushing through it, and for not pushing back more against old white men who thought they knew better than me because they had āDoctorā in front of their name. At the end of the day, itās my body, and Iām the one responsible for taking care of it and giving it what it needs.
And for a long time, I let myself down.
Whatās the game plan?
After the relief and then all the anger settled (at least a little), my next thought was: āWell, what the f*** do I do about it?ā
I immediately texted my coach, Juli Benson, who did an amazing job of recognizing that this moment was such a big deal for me. She has always validated my experiences and encouraged me to trust my instincts.
From there, I started gathering opinions and exploring treatment options.
Usually in an acute injury to this ligament, you would rest for 6-8 weeks and then do rehab, and you might even have to do surgery in severe cases.
But my injury is definitely not acute. Iāve had this for years and my body has been compensating for it the whole time, which has led to multiple stress reactions, a fracture, and now arthritis in my foot.
After nearly a month of gathering information, I made a decision.
Everyone agreed I needed some kind of injection. Stem cells were on the table, and I may still go that route. But for now, I landed on an injection of 5ccs of exosomes in my foot and ankle.
Exosomes are a cell signaler that are supposed to help my body produce its own healing response. Ideally they will dissolve at least some of the calcium buildup and help repair the ligament.
I got the injection on Monday, March 30th in LA and now Iām wearing a walking boot for 3 weeks to allow the exosomes the best chance to do their work. I am committed to taking a good chunk of time off running in order to really heal. I donāt want to do anything that will slow down or inhibit my healing and at this point Iām not worried about losing fitness as my only goal is to get healthy.
What about the track season?
I know thatās the obvious question. And the truth is that I donāt know yet.
Itās hard not to get ahead of myself and itās hard to predict how this healing process is going to go, so Iām doing my best to relax and let go of what I canāt control and just focus on each phase of the healing process one by one.
Right now Iām in phase 1 which is the stay off your feet, wear the boot, sauna, pilates, good food, and rest phase. Iām writing this newsletter from my parentās house in St. Louis, MO. I went home for the weekend to celebrate Grandma Quigleyās 90th birthday and spending time with my family not worried about getting any workouts in has been really nice.
Phase 2 will be the walk with my tennis shoes with Superfeet insoles in them, cross train a little, rehab exercises, sauna, pilates, good food, and rest phase.
Phase 3 will be the reintroduce running very gradually, cross train a little more, rehab exercises, sauna, pilates, good food, and rest phase.
ā¦etc.
Iām not making any decisions about running or racing right now.
Right now Iām resting and healing.
If you want to keep up with my phases, Iāve decided Iām going to share on my social media this week about what Iām going through. I havenāt been feeling like talking about it and so I didnāt. But now Iām feeling so much better mentally and Iām ready to share. I know thereās so many people out there going through similar thing in sport and life and itās always felt meaningful for me to share what Iām going through in case it helps someone else.
This Friday Iām going to share my non-weightbearing recovery tips with my own newsletter subscribers, so make sure youāre subscribed to my Substack so you get those updates too. How I approach this time has changed a TON from what I used to do when I got injured and Iād like to think that the way I do it now is much healthier.
Where I Am Now Mentally
As you can imagine, thereās been a lot of ups and downs mentally over the last month since I got the CT scan results. It makes me want to cry (which Iāve done a lot) just thinking about how hard Iāve worked, how persistent Iāve been, how many times Iāve broken down and built myself back up again over the years. I truly am so incredibly proud of myself. For so many years I kept trying to figure it out. I never gave up on myself.
During this time when Iām not running, Iām spending more energy on things that feels very purposeful for me and gives me hope, which Iāve found to be one of the most powerful healing remedies.
That means more time building Meridia! This team has meant so much to me since itās birth on June 4th, 2025. As I said in the beginning, the athletes are truly incredible and they deserve all the support and uplift I can provide (and then some!). Helping them to tell their stories in their own words is one of my favorite ways to spend my time right now.
Iām also working on two side quests for my own channels- a podcast and a YouTube channel dedicated to documenting the renovations of a 1905 historic mansion in downtown boulder that my fiance, Kevin, and I bought at the end of last year.
The hardest part right now is not walking my dogs, Pie and Six, in the mornings. We always start our day with a walk on the trails by our house in Boulder. I get morning light and movement first thing and itās usually the best way to start my day. Instead, Iām trying to sit outside for morning light and do some non-weightbearing pilates while Kevin walks the dogs.
If you want to know more about how Iām dealing with this unexpected opportunity for growth and healing, be sure youāre subscribed to my Substack and youāll get an email on Friday with more. Thank you for following along with both me and the team. Always feel free to reach out by leaving a comment on this post, sending me a DM on social media, or an email at colleen@colleenquigley.org. Iām always happy to get messages from you all sharing what is going on in your lives too. In a time when it feels like there is so much division in our world, itās always cool to be able to use social media to connect with strangers and share love.
One thing I did to entertain myself last weekā¦ I pranked our team with photoshopped photos of them to see if they would notice! It had me CACKLING on the plane to St. Louis, and apparently a lot of other people got a kick out of it too because itās performing better than any other video we have posted on the Meridia page!
Thank you for reading! If you are enjoying following along with our team and know of anyone else who might also enjoy this type of storytelling, be sure to share this newsletter with them using the button below.
Weāll be back next week with regularly scheduled Meridia programming. Talk to you then! And if youāve missed any of our previous issues, you can catch up here.
See you next Monday!
Team Meridia
Annie, Colleen, Gracie, and Courtney
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