Coping with injury?

cheshirecatastrophe

I'm an injured runner. It's not a happy fun times "foam roll and take two days off" kind of injury. I am handling this injury, emotionally/mentally, worse than usual. I am very competitive, mainly with myself, and I'm frustrated about scratching my goal A race (marathon) and, 99%, my goal time even in my backup.

How you do handle the emotional side of sports injuries? How do you talk yourself down from trying too hard in alternate activities? How do you not obsess over what you can't do and get on with the rest of your life in the meantime? How do you not push too hard trying to recoup what you've lost too quickly once you get back to your main activity (assuming I get there...)?

Normally I'm a tough love, fallopian up kind of gal with myself, but I'm just in pieces over this.

Thanks!

I am not looking for shoe advice, suggestions of alternate ways to maintain fitness, or "permission from the Internet" to run before I can/should.

mamaomefo

I have an injury that's kept me sidelined for a couple of months so far. I think we thank our lucky stars that we can heal, it takes time. Look for the positive...we can and will heal with time and efforts. Some people never heal. You do exactly as told with your injury so you know you are still "doing your best" to heal.

veloman21

I'm not sure, so if you find out please post the answer!!

I've been struggling with a hamstring injury for 6 weeks now and though I'm still able to cycle, running is just not in the cards. If it was just the injury, I could handle it fine but thought of not being able to attain my goal on my marathon in April, is hard to deal with.

cheshirecatastrophe

Heh, I was right the first time.

The Internet suggested we need to "stay positive." Um...

cheshirecatastrophe

Anyone? I've been hurt before (and will be again), but I'm really struggling this time.

Noelv1976

I rolled my ankle once, was out for a month. I just kept doing some upper body stuff and playing video games.

lishie_rebooted

I was out of running & lifting off and on in 2013 and 2014.
And it was hard.
I felt because I couldn't run, squat, or deadlift, it was pointless.
I struggled to stay consistent and do anything because I couldn't do my favorite activities.
I definitely was in a mental funk.

And as cheesy as this is, I got a fortune in a fortune cookie that read "do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do"

And as for not jumping all in once I was allowed to run/squat/deadlift, I reminded myself that if I tried starting at step 50 instead of step 1, i'd undo everything. So I start over with lifting and took running slow. I've gotten my pace back now, I'm still not at the same numbers for lifting but that's largely due to how much I'm running

cheshirecatastrophe

Thanks. I'm shredding myself bloody on the spin bike (which is especially fun because I also bike commute...ouch), so I'm doing okay staying active. Biking is pretty much the one thing that doesn't hurt.

It helps to know you are back running where you were before.

sofaking6

So pretty much I just curl up in a ball and cry to my mommy, then get sick of that and go all-out and make it worse, rinse repeat until I am 40 lbs overweight. Does that help?

Timorous_Beastie

When I was out 8 weeks with a stress fracture, I played a lot of video games.

The 4 months or so I was out with my back injury, I self-medicated with butterfingers. And video games, books, and netflix. Some crafting. Mostly netflix and butterfingers. Which is why I'm back here logging my calories again.

gmallan

I've had multiple injuries before ranging from broken wrists, lower back injuries, patella tendonitis and now high hamstring tendonitis. I find you can choose to deal with it in one of two ways. You can give up and pack it all in for a while because if you can't do what you love then what's the point, or you can focus on what you can do, take it as an oppertunity to try something new and work on the weak points that caused you to get injured in the first place. I've tried both before and I know what works the best for long-term health and recovery. For most injuries there's something you can do and generally something that will minimise the time it takes to get back into running when you've allowed your body time to heal.

Swimming, boxing, cycling, lifting weights, yoga/stretching/release - all good options. Work on building up some of the small supporting muscles if you can't go heavy with weights

999tigger

Boringly sensible. I try and learn about the injury and what it takes for a speedy safe sensible recovery. I then try to follow that advice. On the mean time O ise patience becayse anything else sends me further away. I would spend some time looking if its possible to avoid such injury in the future, maybe by strengthening exercises or look at what rehab exercises I will need to do so I know thats in place when ready.

In the meantime you are keeping busy in finding alternatives. Do some planning and prep on what you are going to do when you finally heal up, so you have stuff to look forward to.

cheshirecatastrophe

I'm *doing* what I can, and just as importantly, not doing what I can't/shouldn't.

But how do I *feel* better about it? And how do I move on with the rest of my life when my brain just keeps obsessing about this? (Last time I numbed out by binge-watching eight and a half seasons of Winchester brothers being hot and killing demons. Twice. And then there was Stargate. I...can't do that this time.)

cwolfman13

bourbon...

BWBTrish

I was injured too.

Too be fair i ate too much.

Some things i have/had to accept like i wont ride a horses ( in high competition level) again. I wont ever really run.
Sometimes hard, and sometimes not.
At least i stopped the excuse that i cant do anything away. I exercise again. In my own tempo but i do.

And even more important i stopped the eating out of feeling bored. Didnt even ate unhealthy. Just too much.
The weight i gained while i was injured and not able to do anything i am working it off now. By a intake of calorie deficit and getting fit again with training every day.

Emotional i try to set goals in my progress. Like i did teach aerobics before now i try to get into those routines. And every little step and not falling back is a victory.
When i jogged my first 5 minutes it was a victory and a moment of " look at me i proved you wrong surgeons, i will and can walk and even jog"

I am one of those stumborn ones lol The harder they kick me the harder i work to prove them wrong.
At first i gave in because i had to much pain to do anything so was sitting the whole day and eating.
But after that the fighter in me came back and that is how i deal with my own situation. I know i will never compete again ( not at the level i was) But that didn't had to mean to be not fit and getting fat.
So i work my A** off lol.

lishie_rebooted

cheshirecatastrophe wrote: »

I'm *doing* what I can, and just as importantly, not doing what I can't/shouldn't.

But how do I *feel* better about it? And how do I move on with the rest of my life when my brain just keeps obsessing about this? (Last time I numbed out by binge-watching eight and a half seasons of Winchester brothers being hot and killing demons. Twice. And then there was Stargate. I...can't do that this time.)

well theres Greys Anatomy and Gilmore Girls on netflix lol

it just takes time. maybe wallow for a day or two then fallopian up (I love that you used that phrase).
its hard. i get it. I'm still going through my issues a bit

gmallan

Maybe you could find yourself a different goal or focus for the duration of your injury. Something else to pour your time and motivation into might help take your mind off your injury. What's something you've always wanted to do but never seem to find time for?