Staying Mentally Motivated During Long-term Injury Recovery

by Teige West

“It was hard to stop the pity party. I had moments when I cried and wanted to give up. When people were celebrating the one year out to Rio, I was stressing, Oh my gosh, I can’t even run right now. I went through the typical stages of feeling sorry for yourself. Why me? Why did this happen? None of that made me feel better. What stopped that cycle was having a timeline and a goal.” Lolo Jones[1]

When I was a child, my favorite sport above all other sports was soccer. It was my refuge. My friends all played. Soccer was the one thing that I could disappear into no matter what was happening in the rest of my life. In the 7^th grade I played on my middle school’s coed team, and we were good. I mean, really good. We won all of our games, usually as a shut-out, and we made it to the semi-finals of our league’s tournament. The game was almost over and the other team’s best player who was fast, very tall and very strong came toward our goal for a shot. I stepped in front of him, side-kicked the ball as he shot and somehow my cleat stuck in the turf, leaving my foot to take the full brunt of his follow-through. Another player carried me off the field, and in those few minutes, my foot was turning into a swollen mess the color of an eggplant. Meanwhile, we won the game, which meant we were going to the championship. Or the rest of the team was; I was not. I had broken my ankle, torn my Achilles, and cracked the growth plate. I remember sitting in the stands and watching my team win the last game while I sat there, happy for my team, but frustrated by my limitations.

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Thankfully, (and knock on wood) that broken ankle was the worst injury I sustained during any competition or training. Sure, there were some sprains, pulled muscles, some minor periods of rest, but nothing that required more than 6- 8 weeks of off-time. I was a kid, and I was lucky. An injury as a child is frustrating, but often amounts to a vacation chaperoned by concerned adults. As an adult or an older teenager, keeping your mental focus, managing your responsibilities and staying motivated can be very difficult when you’ve sustained an injury or developed an illness that requires more than 3 months off of your training schedule. This article will give you a list of ways to get through those months and come through the tunnel as a mentally stronger athlete.

The Initial Reactions: Denial, Anger and Sadness

The first few hours or days of an injury are filled with pain management, doctors and maybe surgeons, concerned teammates, friends, and family. The days go by quickly and may be the easiest to endure, despite the pain you may have. The whole situation is new, fresh. You were just training this morning or last night. Your hurdler identity is still intact. You are surrounded by worried friends. You are too busy to have a deep emotional reaction about the future, and there are still unanswered questions. But when you’re finished with the initial appointments and you’re at home with a leg propped up, this is where the mental and emotional disappointments of an injury truly begin. Really it comes down to time — you now have a lot of it. Your training schedule rarely gives you the gift of extended downtime.

In these first few days, you will be sad, you will be angry, and you are 100% allowed to have those feelings. There is something called the Kubler-Ross Model, which psychologists use to describe the stages of grief; your emotional reaction to injury is grief, or is comparable to it. The stages are: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. You may not experience emotions in this exact order, which is normal. But those overwhelming feelings of anger, frustration, sadness, hopelessness, rage, anxiety — whatever negative coping emotion is present — are part of the process and they are experienced by almost everyone. The most important coping method at this point is to honor those feelings by expressing them in a health manner. If you have someone in your life who does not honor your anguish, either avoid that person until your feelings subside, or disengage by saying you’d rather not discuss it. What you DO need to do: find someone who will listen, whether it is a friend, someone who has been through an injury, a teammate, a family member, your coach, your trainer, or a sports therapist. Most college and professional often see sports psychologists. Seeing a third party neutral is not a declaration of weakness or inability to cope, a professional is actually a great resource. Do not discount that option, but it doesn’t matter who you choose — the best way to work through your emotional pain is to talk about it. That’s easier for some people, less so for others, but either way, talking is the healthiest way to direct your grief outward.

Coping For the Long-Haul: Engage Your Prefrontal Cortex

After the first few days of anger and sadness, you may need to make intentional effort to move yourself into a better emotional state. Those initial emotions are governed by the limbic system, which is the primal, reactionary fight or flight base brain. The prefrontal cortex (PFC), on the other hand, is the part of the brain where we reason, plan, and make logical decisions. Engaging the PFC will begin to disengage the limbic system reactions. Here’s an example: think of time when you had to take a test the next day and you experienced anxiety and apprehension the day before, or right before. You waited for the teacher to hand out the test, while your heart was beating rapidly, your palms poured sweat, you felt flushed all over. Then you turned over that sheet and began. A few minutes later, your heart was beating normally, you were breathing normally; all of that anxiety was over. Why? Because your primary focus moved from feelings of anxiety to critical thinking, which requires memory, logic and problem solving. (Doing something that requires reasoning and focus is great way to handle unpleasant emotions in any situation — nerves the day of a race, before a test or a presentation? Try a game app that requires interaction.)

Below are tangible ways to engage your PFC to facilitate long-term coping. These suggestions are broken down into four categories: identity & confidence building, anxiety management, social engagement and rehabilitation.

Identity and Confidence Building

Hurdling is a sport that takes all-encompassing dedication; hurdling probably impacts every part of your life — what you eat, when you train, when you socialize, when you relax. When something is so ingrained in your life, that thing becomes a part of who you are, your identity. You are a hurdler. You are an athlete. An injury temporarily prevents you from living that identity. Or so it may seem. At the beginning, looking at several months of downtime, you may feel like a piece of yourself is missing, which is normal. There are three ways to keep your perspective:

1. View your injury as only a part of your “whole.” Remind yourself of who you are outside of track. You are a <daughter, son, father, sister, friend, employer, employee, student, musician, neighbor, teacher, scientist, booklover, photographer, hiker, volunteer, etc.> Write this down and tape it where you can see it. Hurdling is important, but it’s not 100% of your life, or of anyone’s life. Even Olympic athletes have families, jobs, and hobbies. Sometimes, when you are laser-focused on one part of your life, you forget or even neglect the other areas. Use the training downtime of an injury to reconnect. Also, remind yourself that the injury is temporary. Take out a post-it or a piece of paper and write “This injury is temporary.” Stick it or tape it to your mirror. Read the note every day. Make that phrase your mantra.
2. In life there will always be set-backs, so turn downtime into study & motivation time. When your normal schedule is disrupted, watching TV all day is going to be a tantalizing prospect, but it is imperative that you intentionally use injury downtime as a way to be a better hurdler. Reading doesn’t sound as exciting as race day, but imagine the preparation you can do right now that will benefit your comeback in a few months. You do not have time in your regular training schedule for in-depth hurdling study. Well, now is your time, so study for two reasons: you will learn something new, and learning keeps you engaged. Read through the articles on this site that you haven’t read. Ask your coach — what are the three best books on hurdling, track & field, strength training, or nutrition? Check them out at the library or order them online. You know what aspects of your sport you haven’t mastered yet, so study them. Anyone who dedicates a part of their life to something great has to do the unglamorous preparation. Additionally, because you may be bivouacked on your sofa or bed for the first few weeks, you need a little sports entertainment. Motivational sports films are popular because watching someone else strive for a goal speaks to us. Track/running specific movies: The Jericho Mile, Chariots of Fire, Saint Ralph, 100 Metros. Documentaries: the Barkley Marathons, Run For Your Life, Fun Runners, Finding Traction, Fast Women. Other sports: the Rocky movies, Rudy, Field of Dreams, Miracle, A League of Their Own, Coach Carter, Cool Runnings, The Karate Kid, Bull Durham.
3. Finally, you need a side interest to shake up your routine. A side interest is something that you are passionate about, or something that you’ve always wanted to delve into, and now is your chance. Always wanted to learn French? There’s an app for that. Always wanted to watch classic horror films or Hitchcock films? Most are online. Read novels you haven’t gotten to yet, sit down and find new bands or musicians, buy some art supplies and learn to draw (there’s an app for that, too). Choose something you can physically do and do it. Because in 6 months you can then say, “I’m a hurdler. I’m also now a <fill in the blank: artist, musician, film critic>.”

With injury downtime, your daily habits will be different, and you will have open space where training time use to be. Make a coping plan with a rehab schedule, including time for study and a side interest. Doing these things every day will build your hurdling knowledge and get you focused on your comeback.

Anxiety Management

Exercise is one of the best ways to stave off anxiety. Because you are temporarily limited from your normal training schedule and you’re dealing with a difficult life situation, you may experience feelings of anxiousness and restlessness. Here are some suggestions on managing anxiety:

1. Exercise to the extent that you are able. Take a short walk in the evenings, even if it’s just to the mailbox.
2. Choose someone that is dependable that you can talk with. We went through the importance of talking through the initial stages of grief above, but there will still be moments when you need to vent. Ask someone to be that designated person, whether it’s a text, a phone call or getting together.
3. Relax in whatever way that works for you. Get outside. Sit on your porch, sit on campus, go to a park, whatever you have available and are able to do, do it. Take time each day to disconnect. Turn off your TV, laptop, tablet, phone. Whatever relaxation means to you — do that. Music, a hot bath, reading, staring at the wall, whatever. And this sounds New Agey, but many athletes do some form of meditation or visualization. There are plenty of guided video or audio meditations out there, just a search away. If that’s not your thing, no problem. Relax, close your eyes and visualize yourself in a few months, back in training, back in competition. Create an image of what you look like and watch yourself cross the finish line. Many sport psychologists recommend some form of visualization, especially prior to a competition. Your temporary downtime is a great time to perfect this skill.

Social Engagement

Hurdling seems like a solitary sport. Only you cross the finish line. But track sports require socialization. Whether it’s traveling with your teammates, working with a coach or trainer, lifting at the gym, or talking to longtime friends before a competition, when you’re sidelined by an injury, you may miss out on your usual social connections.

1. Stay in contact with your coach, your trainers, friends and family. It might be easy to fold up and stay home with your frustrations, but don’t. Be social with those you rarely see. Because you’ve had such limited free time due to training, you may not have been able to maintain a social schedule outside of track connections. And as we become adults, our friends are married, they have children, making it difficult to find time to spend together. Reconnect with an old friend. Have family visit. If you’ve started a side interest, there are sites that connect people in your area with the same interests, so try those. If you do have a group of friends, make plans with them. Get out of your house. If you don’t want to tag alone with hurdler friends, it’s ok. Teammates or fellow track friends may serve as a reminder of what you can’t do right now. Don’t force yourself if it pulls you down. Make or spend time with other friends.
2. If you do enjoy spending time at the track, see if there is something else you can do for your team. Write down times. Keep the coach’s always disheveled paperwork together. Cheer. Take video or photos. If applicable, start an online blog with photos and short articles. Whatever interests you and keeps you connected.
3. Volunteer at races where your team doesn’t compete. Children’s races, community organized runs, and Special Olympics all need someone to hand out water, towels or direct participants.

Rehabilitation

1. At one of your first check-up appointments, make a rehab plan with your doctor. Write down what kind of physical activity is permissible and when that activity can start. Depending on your injury, you may be able to resume certain exercise fairly early, which is great for your mental well-being.
2. Have a diet game-plan. Now that you are not burning the same level of calories, trim down the excess; especially, watch your carb intake. Carbs are stored by the body if they aren’t used, so moderate those. If you do not take one already, ask your doctor about adding a multi-vitamin to your diet so that your body gets the proper nutrients needed for repair.
3. Do only what your body allows. Always follow the doctor and physical therapist’s advice, and don’t overdo your recovery. Especially when the end of the restricted activity period ends, you will be itching to get back to the track and gym. Take it very slowly.

Conclusion

Getting through the tunnel of a long-term injury delay is not easy, which bears repeating; all athletes get frustrated. Patience is the most difficult mindset to cultivate. Creating a new daily routine for study, rehab, and relaxation will get you through your injury time. Stay positive, stay motivated and, before you know it, you’ll be back at the starting line.

[1] Goyanes, Christina, “Lolo Jones: I have already faced failure.” http://www.espn.com/espnw/athletes-life/article/14564828/already-faced-failure.

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