55 | Runner and Mountaineer Manal Rostom: Accept, Adapt, Act
Release Date: 07/15/2021
123 | Personal Trainer John Petrelli: Grateful Every Day
The Injured Athletes Club
“If this was 20-year-old, John Petrelli, I probably wouldn't have the positive mindset to navigate those waters. I would have probably been going, why is this happening to me? Being fearful, having shame, being angry. But because so many people had come into my life as a mentor and shared their gift of knowledge, their love, their compassion on me … I said, how do I possibly make something positive happen out of this that may impact other people?” For 30 years, John Petrelli’s work as a personal trainer has relied on him being physically capable. So it came as a shock when,...
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122 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question: Reese’s Roller Coaster
The Injured Athletes Club
“I am a cyclist. I have had multiple surgeries for an injury that occurred 2.5 years ago. Things are going downhill again, and it looks like I’m going to be faced with a third major surgery. If I do have this surgery, there is a good chance I will not be able to ride a bike again, even recreationally. I am completely heartbroken. I remember the beginning of this journey when I thought 6 weeks non-weight bearing and 6 months to recovery sounded insurmountable. I can’t believe that I’m still here and still in pain. I feel like I’m drowning and I need help navigating what is becoming a...
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121 | Football Player and Entrepreneur Will Bartholomew: The Gift of Perseverance
The Injured Athletes Club
“Injuries, you can use them as opportunities to go do something great. I feel like that was ingrained in me early on in my life. I look back now and I'm very fortunate for having those injuries because they set me up for some great things.” This week, Coach Carrie and Cindy chat with Will Bartholomew, founder and CEO of D1 Training. Will shares his journey from being a promising football player who faced career-altering injuries to the founder of a successful nationwide network of athletic training facilities. Will discusses the significant moments in his athletic...
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120 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question: Emily’s Emotions
The Injured Athletes Club
“ How can you deal with anxiety not of a specific reinjury, but a more generalized fear about your sport being taken away from you again? That fear does help me appreciate what I have now that I'm running again, but also makes disruptions to my training or race plans—whether from how I'm feeling physically, or work/life stress—harder to deal with. How can I cope?” In this episode of The Injured Athletes Club podcast, mental skills coach Carrie Jackson answers a question from Emily regarding handling the anxiety associated with the potential permanent loss of her sport due to...
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119 | Ultrarunner Aum Gandhi: Your Inner Coach
The Injured Athletes Club
“Instead of being mean to myself and saying, ‘You’ve got nothing else outside of running,’ I said, ‘Look at all the other multi-faceted things you are. You are a son, you are a brother, you're a business owner. Humans are multi-faceted; you have an identity outside this sport. The sport may have helped you find more of your authenticity, but you're not bound to this sport. It's only a piece of the puzzle, a part of your identity.” When Merrell Professional Athlete Aum Gandhi first started running six years ago, he barely went a quarter of a mile—and he describes it now as...
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118 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question: Cecile’s Situation
The Injured Athletes Club
“ How can you let go of the injury? Sometimes when you spend a long time with a chronic injury, it shapes how you move, plan, and think about life and your body. How do you let go when the time has come?” In the seventh season of The Injured Athletes Club podcast, mental skills coach Carrie Jackson answers a question every other week about the mental side of overcoming injuries. This week, Coach Carrie delves into the complex issue posed by listener Cecile on letting go of the identity formed around a chronic injury. She points out how this attachment can make the...
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117 | Strongwoman and Author Alyssa Ages: Learning through Failure
The Injured Athletes Club
“Because I wasn't a competitive runner, I don't think I ever had to face failure in that situation … but in strength sports, when I compete, I'm doing that in front of a crowd and a judge who is just looking at me. And it's totally changed the way that I have to handle that fear of failure because it's right there in front of me. I can't escape that someone is looking directly at me and judging whether I've passed or failed. And what I've learned from that is just that it makes you, I think, a better person when you face failure in that way.” On this week’s episode of The...
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116 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question: Cassandra’s Cocoon
The Injured Athletes Club
“ As someone in long-term recovery, likely 12 to 18 months before I'm running again, I've struggled a lot with the muscle loss and atrophy to the point it's causing identity struggles. I don't look or feel like an athlete anymore. My coach and I will have to literally rebuild my strength and my body. How can I cope?” In the seventh season of The Injured Athletes Club podcast, mental skills coach Carrie Jackson answers a question every other week about the mental side of overcoming injuries. This week, listener Cassandra is struggling with losing her athletic identity. Coach...
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115 | Former NCAA Basketball Player Britt Hunter: Pour Into Others
The Injured Athletes Club
“You need to equip your young adult for how to get through it on their own. So shepherd them. Get them the tools and resources. Let them mess it up a little bit. It's natural to protect, protect, protect, and direct, direct, direct—but your child needs to explore this time on their own a little bit with the right resources and the right people around them. They're going to go through this again and again and again at different stages of their life and going through an injury at a young age, they're going to have to grow up a little bit faster. So help them, but don't control them.”...
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114 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question: Jennifer’s Junction
The Injured Athletes Club
“ How do I walk the fine line between being independent and self-reliant in recovery—a positive—and opting to go it alone, which can be a negative? Separately, I’d love to know more about managing an injury in the context of a chronic condition. For example, I have epilepsy but seizure meds are not great for bone density. Flip side, reducing meds is good for bones but bad for the brain. Doctors can offer guidance but making the decisions is ours alone.” In the seventh season of The Injured Athletes Club podcast, mental skills coach Carrie Jackson answers a question every...
info_outline"It's not like I hurt myself because I wanted to hurt myself. It came from passion, it came from an athletic drive, it came from inspiration and dreams. I just wasn't an irresponsible athlete; I don't want to call myself that. I might have been an over-optimistic and over-passionate athlete, as opposed to calling yourself bad names. Once I made the decision to stop calling myself bad names, that's when the true sense of self-love and self-kindness came through. And that's why I say, in those six months, I've learned more about self-kindness and self-love than the rest of my 41 years on Earth."
Manal Rostom has been running since the age of 13. She rededicated herself to the sport in her 30s, and subsequently ran 13 marathons, becoming the first Egyptian woman to run five of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors. And, she climbed new heights; she’s also the first Egyptian woman to summit two of the world’s highest mountains, Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Elbrus.
Along the way, she built a career in sports and fitness, through partnerships with brands like Nike as well as through personal training. So when she found out, in December of 2020, that she’d have to take six months off to heal her Achilles tendons, she found herself fearful and devastated in more ways than one—physically, emotionally, and financially.
As she searched for a way to process her injury and recovery, Manal—who’s also the founder of her own Facebook group, Surviving Hijab—sought out community in The Injured Athletes Club. We’re so glad she did! And in this episode, which was recorded exactly six months to the day after she began her time off, she shares all the lessons she’s learned in that time about showing up for yourself and your community, reconnecting to your purpose, and trusting where your rebound will lead you.
A huge thank you to our sponsor for this episode: Fluid Running. Fluid Running makes it possible to maintain your peak physical fitness even when you're injured through the power of deep water running. Listen for a special discount code in the episode!
In this episode, we discuss:
- How she’d say injuries are viewed among runners—and her unique perspective on that as an Arab woman in sport (7:17)
- Why she thinks, when it comes to injuries, “your biggest enemy is your ego” (11:31)
- How she felt when she learned she needed six months off (13:31)
- How her injury first developed and progressed (19:54)
- What she’s gotten out of the Injured Athletes Club community and the book Rebound (21:06)
- Why self-care is such a critical component of recovery for her (25:00)
- The specific struggles of having an injury as a fitness content creator (30:01)
- How she “remembered her why” (38:19)
- How she’s moving forward from here (42:35)
- The importance of listening to your body (49:04)
- Her final words of advice to injured athletes, about community, values, and joy (51:27)
You can subscribe to The Injured Athletes Club on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, and if you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or a review in Apple podcasts. That helps other injured athletes find the show.
Resources/links:
- Manal’s Instagram, including the amazing videos of her wakesurfing (one while eating a protein bar!)
- Surviving Hijab on Instagram and Facebook
To access more resources for injured athletes:
- Join The Injured Athletes Club mailing list, for news and updates
- Join The Injured Athletes Club Facebook group, for support and camaraderie
- Like The Injured Athletes Club Podcast Facebook page, for the latest episodes
- Email us at [email protected] with questions, guest suggestions, or other feedback
DISCLAIMER: This content is for educational & informational use only and & does not constitute medical advice. Do not disregard, avoid or delay obtaining medical or health related advice from your health-care professional because of something you may have heard in an episode of this podcast. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult with a qualified medical professional for proper evaluation & treatment. Guests who speak on this podcast express their own opinions, experiences, and conclusions, and The Injured Athletes Club podcast hosts nor any company providing financial support endorses or opposes any particular treatment option discussed in the episodes of this podcast and are not responsible for any actions or inactions of listeners based on the information presented. The use of any information provided is solely at your own risk.