Erin Moening

Last October, I was faced with a hard decision. I just had a traumatic shoulder dislocation, which tore my labrum, a tissue that keeps the shoulder ball in the socket. Because it was my 10th dislocation/subluxation in less than a year, my doctor told me I needed surgery to repair the labrum. Although it was a risky move, I decided to push the surgery to after the ski season. The rules were pretty simple: I was going to physical therapy 2-3 days a week, and if I had any type of dislocation or subluxation, I would need to have surgery right away. I was so excited that I was allowed to ski and race. Getting to a high level of competition though was another story. I have been dealing with shoulder instability since November 2015, but my latest incident was the worst I wasn't really allowed to rollerski for the majority of October, and when I did no-pole, it was pretty uncomfortable. I could run a little (with discomfort), and the majority of my training was either leg work in t