I had the same testing problem. Just the stress of the test on the desk in front of me would cause my brain to freeze up. I was a big upset to classmates who routinely copied off my paper. I could just about recite the test after the test paper was collected. I dropped a half a grade point from freshman to sophomore year. I recovered for my junior year but still struggled in college when things were stressful.

I saw Pre win the Pac 10 cross country championship at Stanford in '73. He beat Kip Keino by about 20 seconds. I was at San Jose State with Coach Don Riggs. San Jose State was know as speed city and also had some weight men. Lots of Olympians trained at our track. We did not compete in NCAA meets due to Title 9. I ran in the San Jose Invitational but was having shoulder problems so I did not do well.

I was a 9:12 2 miler in high school. I had a concussion over-stimulation zone out at the State Cross Country Championship and never could get going. I should have been in the top 3 but finished 27th 3 second ahead of a runner I beat by 20 seconds a weak earlier. He ended up coaching at Dartmouth. I tore my medial meniscus first meet of my senior track season so I watched the State 2 mile champion finish in 9:30. Chronic shoulder bursitis ended my competitive running a year later.

I encourage you to work on learning a soft foot plant. When you can get back running, wear foam ear plugs so you can hear your foot plant. Then between shoes and running form, you can reduce that impact up your spine to your neck and head. You could use an elliptical exercise machine to try to maintain some conditioning without the pounding until you can return to running.