3 Tips for Coming Back from Injury

Battling an injury can be tough. We had Adam Malek on our podcast last week, and he talked about his near career ending injury and how he focused and persevered and is back running just as fast as before. With a club of over 600 people, you’ve got teammates who have been and currently are injured. As a runner, you will no doubt experience some sort of injury throughout your career. I’ve been through it before, and I thought I’d share some tips for how to get through that tough time.

Remember It is Temporary

Injuries come, and injuries go. For the most part many of the injuries you’ll encounter while you’re training will be temporary. This is sometimes tough to remember, you’ve been training for months, and maybe you’re in great shape, and you think it’s all going to go away in a flash. Heres the bad news…it will. The good news is that as soon as you’re recovered, it will come back, it may take a little more time, but if you’re smart about your recovery, you’ll be back at it in due time. When you feel that twinge or ache, and you’re not sure if it’s an injury get it looked at right away to speed up your recovery time. Once you get that diagnosis, remember this too shall pass.

Stay Connected

For some of us, running becomes an identity. People always ask me, are you a runner? Being a runner is a lifestyle, and that is different than most other hobbies. As we get older people, don’t say “I’m a soccer player very often, but they’ll say I play soccer.” But for us, we’re runners. So when it gets taken away from us, it can be devastating. Adam talked about this in the podcast, he felt like an outsider and that because he wasn’t running his running friends stopped reaching out. This drives a vital point home when you’re injured, you need to make an effort to stay connected. Keep your eyes on results, and talk to your running friends, ask how they’re doing and try your best to keep the conversation going throughout your recovery. I’ve seen many folks on the running club who are injured still come to our Wednesday night run to do this, it’s incredible and shows how smart and strong they really are. It’s not easy to watch your friends run when you’re injured, but their guidance and friendship can help you through tough times.

Attack it

You may be the type who trains like a monster for a marathon and then bam two weeks before you’re slammed with an injury. My advice is to look at your recovery as another marathon. Attack it just like you would your next race. That means following your Physical Therapists advice to a T. No slacking, no skipping an exercise, no excuses. Get after it. If your PT says to rest, rest like it’s your gosh darn job. If they say to stretch, do it. If they say to strengthen, crush it. Do not relent. You will get back to running, and you will be better for it.

Cheers,

Coach E