5 Stages Of an Injured Runner (Athlete)

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Before I get into the blog, please realize I'm not lessening the pain of actual loss & grief of a loved one.  I've lost close ones and this isn't to poke fun at that process.  But I also believe that to an athlete, an injury is a serious process as well. It's painful and the future is unknown. And these stages are real.
 
After running marathons & ultras (peppered with small races) each month, my body gave out in Oct.  I made it through the Chicago Marathon but it was too late for me recover "smartly".  My body had had enough. I didn't recover after my previous races; I wanted to prove that I can go-go-go!!
I took a full week off after Chicago and on my first run, I pushed myself (again) and tried to work on speed. That was it.  My knee gave out, ITB screamed and I was forced to limp back to my car.
I figured that was fine... I'll be back in a day or two. Like before.  But seriously, that was it.



The 5 stages of loss and grief*

1) Denial & Isolation
Runners are great at this, aren't we?  We joke about it & when we're not the injured one, it's hilarious! As I wrote above, I thought I was fine.  Didn't think that it could be really serious and I continued to try running every day. Then every 2 days... 3 days... took another week off. Still no progress. I took 2 weeks off... and so on.

2) Anger
Oh man, I was livid.  My mental strength was stronger than ever but my body refused to cooperate.  I had a hard time dealing with this.

3) Bargaining
"If I take an extra day off, could you please let me run a full mile?" was often my prayer.
Every day was a bargain... pain free mile, training.
"Please let me race again, I'll dedicate this run to you..."
I was desperate.

4) Depression
I don't make light of depression - I've dealt with it all my life.  But ironically, running has been my therapy.  I haven't had to go on anti-depressants ever since I started running.
I had a lot more dark days than I'd like to remember during my injury.

5) Acceptance
I got it.  It took several months to realize I was really injured and I needed to get serious on the recovery.
This didn't mean I was 100% fine with my situation.  I just understood it. I went through all the stages more than once.

I'd like to add WISDOM ...

How many of you have wised up when it comes to training and adequate recovery?  It's terrible that it can take an injury to wake us up but how many of you feel even blessed with each run post-recovery?
Because of my long-term injury, I now listen to my body.  I have to imagine my torn muscles repairing to remind myself why I need to take a rest day.  There are days or weeks when I look forward to rest days but when you're on a roll, it's hard to stop!
I found that I run better when I invest in each run.  It's not just a few miles thrown here and there -- though I know of many runners who rely on small mileages in-between their longer runs!  Though I never did it consciously, I now don't take any runs for granted. Each run is a true blessing.



Big part of this stage is letting go of your ego.
True to my Type-A personality,  I want to keep going at full-speed - even through pain.  Starting over was the base of this. I had to let go of where I was (back to Anger -- 4 marathons and 2 ultras and can't even run a stinkin mile?!). I'm having to build up my endurance and speed again... I'm not quite where I was before but it's getting there.
Slow and steady wins the race right? :)

Most important thing is to not throw in the towel.  Stick with it.  The recovery process is tough but what good will it do if you give up?  How will that get you to your goal?  Know that each day that you work on your recovery -- whether it's doing exercises or just resting -- it's a step towards your goal.  The process may be slow but you'll soon see the results of your hard work. And we know that not running is hard :)

If you have an injury or recovery story - tip - humor, comment below!

Have an amazing day, my friends!

~Dye


*http://psychcentral.com/lib/the-5-stages-of-loss-and-grief/000617

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