Lillian Knott loved to run, and she put in all the training she could muster to try and turn herself into a top competitor for the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake girls' cross country and track teams.
But, her times kept getting slower, her seasons kept getting cut short by injury, and Knott couldn't figure out the reason why.
"I didn't have a reason for why I kept getting injured," Knott said, "and I thought that the reason my times were getting slower was because I wasn't working hard enough."
Knott's seventh-grade running season was cut short by tibial stress fractures in both legs. She came back from that, but during her ninth-grade track season, the same injuries popped up and put her back at square one, shelving her for months of recovery and essentially having to re-learn how to run.
It was after that second bout with stress fractures that she got the answer and was diagnosed with Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, or REDs, a condition that leaves athletes low on energy and susceptible to injury - especially stress fractures - if they don't refuel their bodies properly after strenuous activity.
"My body wasn't getting enough energy and nutrients and the support my body needed to keep running at the high level I was training at," Knott said. "I've realized that the way I can truly make a difference for myself is by doing all the extra things outside of practice and refueling after a hard day, making sure that my body's getting all the right stuff it needs and doing the extra little things."
Knott, now a junior and one of Burnt Hills' top runners, received care and education on dealing with REDs through the Female Athlete Program at Boston Children's Hospital. At Saturday's Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Invitational at Saratoga Spa State Park, she'll be passing on what she learned.
Knott created "Refuel to Recover," an educational campaign designed to teach fellow athletes and coaches the signs of REDs and how proper nutrition and refueling can prevent them.
Through donations from Market 32 and Stewart's Shops, Knott will provide post-race nutritious snacks and water for runners at Saturday's meet.
"It's really important that we have all this food for immediately when all our runners finish the race, so they have something to immediately refuel with," she said.
Signs will also be posted around the event reminding runners, coaches, and families about the importance of proper post-race nutrition, hydration, and recovery, and every team will receive a packet of educational pamphlets.
She's excited to share what she learned at Boston Children's Hospital.
"They gave me so much information about calcium and vitamin D and how important all that stuff is, and how when you're not fueling your body and giving your body enough of what it needs, it's going to take from what you already have there," she said. "It's going to take away from your muscles, and your bones, and they start to break down because they're not supporting the work that you're putting in."
Knott spent her sophomore year "just kind of rebuilding," mostly hoping to get through a year without another season-ending injury. She did, and this fall she's back to the competitive level she's always aspired to as a scoring runner for a Burnt Hills team with designs on a Section 2 Class A championship.
"I'm finally at a point where I've done all the work and built myself back up," she said. "I'm finally getting to see the progress."
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There’s more to Albany with the Times Union. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake's Lillian Knott using invitational to spread word about Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport.