All about injuries, part 3
The Psychology of Injury
This is part 3 of a three-part series. Start at Part 1: Causes of injury/injury prevention
An injury can bring about a whole host of emotions - anger, sadness, frustration. It’s easy to feel silly about being so emotional about a running injury and try to minimize it instead. “It’s just a hobby, get over it,” you might tell yourself. If anything, being emotional about a music-related injury seems more respectable - that’s our livelihood, after all.
However, upon injury, we should respect our emotions and grant ourselves the space to feel fully. I cried nearly every day immediately following my muscle strain in February, which forced me to completely stop running right as I was about to start training for my summer ultramarathon racing season. I felt comforted and seen when I listened to clinical/sports psychologist Dr. Justin Ross lay out the psychology of injury:
Injury or illness leads to a sense of loss. As humans, when we experience loss, we are sad. As people who love to run, running is part of our identity. The deeper this identity, the bigger the loss, and the bigger the psychological impact.
It all clicked then - it’s not “just” running. It’s not “just” a hobby. We are justified in getting emotional over this seemingly trivial pursuit of putting one foot in front of another - because it means we care, and we love!
Even if you are emotional, I don’t want you to be sad the whole time you’re injured. Here are two suggestions to alleviate the emotional pain of injury:
Find a physical activity that doesn’t negatively affect your injury site
We runners are active people, and it can feel physically uncomfortable and mentally depressing if we are not moving our bodies in some capacity. It could be cycling, swimming, yoga, tai chi…be creative! If you are able to cycle/swim/use an elliptical without bothering your injury site, it is possible to continue training towards your running goals using these alternative cardio activities. Consult a coach if necessary to plan appropriate workouts.
Enjoy time off!
Let’s be honest: running takes up a lot of time and energy. Especially when we’re training hard for a race, a lot of important things in life can end up on the back burner - significant others, family, friends, pets, other hobbies, rest, and dare I admit - music. Take this opportunity to connect with others or yourself, and catch up on what’s important to you.
Especially if your social life revolves around run clubs and run meet-ups, you can suddenly find yourself alone with FOMO and with no social plans, which can be quite detrimental to your mental health. I suggest proactively making social plans.
Remember from Part 1 of this series that the number one cause of injury is overload. Your body might have been overloaded via physical stress, or via emotional stress, or both - either way, your body is asking for rest and rejuvenation, and a break from running. I hope you can find satisfaction and emotional relief in taking the time to nourish yourself. You are sure to return to running with renewed energy and appreciation for the sport, and for your body.
Interested in working with me? Check out my coaching services and book a discovery call today.