Overcoming an Injury
Previously published
Have you ever been injured? If you participate in a regular training and racing program, it maybe just a matter of time time until you do. An injury affects your physical state, but it can really put a toll on you both mentally and emotionally.
Following an injury, most athletes experience some level of "mood disturbance". Even the most optimistic individual can wrestle with irritability and depression. Coping with the physical pain can drain and wear on you for various reasons.
A person can choose between being alert, but distracted by pain and sleep deprivation, or being pain tolerant and in a medicated drug state. Concentration and focus can suffer, thus affecting your daily life. As this sport is a lifestyle, many athletes can wrapped up with training and racing and it become the foundation person's identity and self esteem. An injury also shifts one's daily routine, having more time available then before, and not knowing what to do with the "excess" time. Additional, these new stressors often are added in attending medical appointments, usually requiring time off of work although let's not forget the financial stressor of paying for medical treatment and subsequent rehabilitation. As an injury is very frustrating and an "inconvenience" but it can also be a positive experience in the long haul. Here are some examples why:
-It can allow us to catch up on other things we neglect throughout the year or things we have wanted to do but limited time did not allow for it.
- It gives us the opportunity to work on another discipline. Maybe as a duathlete you have wanted to also participate in triathlons but swimming was your limitator.
- It makes us appreciate that training and racing really is a privilege.
- The sports of triathlon and duathlons can often lead us to spending a lot of time training and focusing on ourselves. Being injured offers us the time to become more "balanced" in life. By spending more time with family, volunteering time to a charity, the possibilities are endless, allows us to identify ourself to something else other than training and racing.
- Remember to keep things in perspective; for the most part things can always be worse.
As an endurance athlete, we do a majority of our training frontwards. When do we ever run or bike backwards or move laterally? Many of us feel we are cross training because of doing "3" sports instead of just "1". But for the majority, having an injury is telling us something is wrong in our training (obviously other than an accident). Strength imbalances, body mechanic issues, incorrect bike fitting, etc,. can contribute to injuries. On the other hand, having an injury from an accident, like a broken collar bone from a crash etc., is also frustrating and is not due to an incorrect way of training. In either case, it is important about how an athlete approaches and handles the frustration of a set back in his or her training and racing.
An injury is a serious situation, but not hopeless. With required rest, patience and the right attitude, a majority of athletes experiencing an injury are able to recover and many come back stronger than before
Yours in training,
Heather Haviland
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