Last week an athlete reached out and asked me to write a piece on dealing with injuries as they were struggling to cope with a body that wasn’t letting them do what they wanted it to do.
Now this is an area I am very well versed in, however recently watching Oscar manoeuvre his way through his foot stress fracture, I have again had my eyes opened even more.
When injuries occur, we typically work through the stages of grief. These stages are a natural way the mind tries to navigate its way through the loss created by injury-
- shock and denial, here we try to keep training through the injury, or we just shut down and retreat, we give up, especially if it is a repeated injury.
- pain and guilt occur when we know the severity of what we are dealing with and not being able to train as we want to. Or it could be the guilt of dealing with the fact we could have prevented it if only we listened to our body!
- Anger and bargaining– Is where we try to negotiate a pathway out on our terms “surely, I can do this amount of training” and then the anger that comes from being told “NO” you can’t by someone else or your body.
- Depression, reflection, loneliness– is when the reality hits, it is where you feel as if you are the only one this is happening to and no one else can help or understand.
- The upturn, where you start to see some hope. You see some little gains, you work with a health professional, or you talk to others who have experienced the same injury and you start to see there is pathway out.
- Reconstruction and working through, where you can start planning strategies for moving forward. This can be on your own, but usually you work with health professionals, coaches, family etc.
- Acceptance and hope – where you accept your reality and move forward on the new pathway. You may not be exactly the same as you were before, but every experience we have will change us, so you make the most of the new opportunity’s life presents.
Now I used to think I was very quick at getting through these stages, but Oscar has put me to shame. We have worked tirelessly through summer on his kicking, fitness and other football skills, he was seeing big gains and was so excited about the season ahead. Yet on the first game he was struck down with an injury that could take 12 or even as many as 18 weeks to heal.
Oscar certainly didn’t dwell on the injury or fall into the woe is me trap, he simply accepted his reality, and worked on the things he could control. Straight away he was catching the bus to school instead of us giving him a lift and he was getting into some strength work. I guess we will have to see how he goes as he learns more about how his injury is healing, but for me he couldn’t have handle it any better. In fact, I think we as parents have experienced more grief on this one than he has as we deal with the loss of not seeing him play.
Over the years I have seen many different responses to injuries and while everyone is different, the key things to make sure you are thriving in a difficult time are-
- Expect injuries and accept they are just a part of all sports. This is all about bracing yourself for something that is almost inevitable. Then make sure you have contingencies ready to go.
- Seek help from experts. As a part of bracing, you should have people who you can rely on to guide you.
- Maintain perspective, it will eventually heal, this is not the end.
- Do what you are told- nothing more or less.
- Be patient, especially as you return to training. Listen to your body and always quit while you are ahead.
- Stay in the game, do what you can do, even if it just watching YouTube videos!
- Try to focus on the positives, crisis always brings opportunity. Yes, it is okay to be depressed and sad, but try to find joy and happiness in other areas of life.
- Stay grounded, you are not the only one this is happening to.
- When you start up again, forget how fit you used to be, turn a new page and start again. The little gains will come, focus on these.
- Dream and map out a pathway moving forward. Always start with Why you chose to go down the triathlon pathway in the first place.
Good luck