85 | Runner and Dietitian Starla Garcia: Empowerment in Recovery
Release Date: 02/16/2023
100 | Carrie & Cindy Celebrate Success
The Injured Athletes Club
“One of the catalysts for us starting the Injured Athletes Club support group and then also doing the podcast is so that you don't feel like you're alone … when you lose your sport, there's sometimes so many little mini-losses that come with that. So to be able to come to the Injured Athletes Club and be a part of a community is so special, and you all are the ones that make that special.” One big message we try to share on this podcast, in our Facebook group, and throughout our work with injured athletes is that it’s essential to celebrate your successes. This week,...
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99 | Ballet Dancer Chyrstyn Fentroy: Exploring New Identities
The Injured Athletes Club
“My parents are dancers, so I literally grew up in the studio. Ballet kind of goes hand in hand with my identity—I have always been Chyrstyn the ballet dancer. I didn't realize that until I had it taken away from me and I had to sit down and identify other things that I was interested in. Otherwise, what was I existing for? I think having the confidence of understanding a little bit more about what I want in life that's not just ballet, or what I represent more than just being a ballet dancer or being a pretty mover on stage, was helpful.” is a principal dancer at the Boston...
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98 | Carrie Answers a Question: Stephanie’s Snag
The Injured Athletes Club
“I'd really love to know how to stop comparing the athlete I was before injury to the athlete I am now. I had knee surgery 10 months ago, and even though I'm fully cleared for all activities I am really struggling to get back into a groove with running. Any type of speed work really isn't working for me and I just can't seem to get any speed back. I am so frustrated with my lack of progress and would love to know how I can get over it.” —Stephanie This week, co-host and mental skills coach Carrie Jackson answers a question from listener Stephanie, who feels stuck comparing herself...
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97 | Carrie & Cindy Ease Your Fears of Reinjury
The Injured Athletes Club
“One of the biggest challenges athletes face is trying to figure out if the pain that they're experiencing is pain that's a signal to stop or a pain that is okay to push through. Like, ‘When I feel this pain, if I push through, am I going to do further harm? Am I going to make things worse?’ The fear of re-injury helps you pay attention to your pain. But when you are physically cleared to do your physical therapy, or cleared to get back to training and practice and return to competition, yet you're still struggling with that fear—now the fear is holding you back versus...
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96 | Carrie Answers Your Questions: Re-Finding Your Edge
The Injured Athletes Club
“I’d love to know how you ever get comfortable with pushing the limits, or pushing hard again, without being so scared of re-injury. I often feel that in my speed workouts, I’m holding back, afraid to see how hard I can push, because I’m scared, but I also don’t want to let that fear hinder my athletic development! How to strike a healthy balance of ‘fear’ I suppose or learning to listen to your body.” —Jessica “How do I trust my body again, and how do I untangle what is purely mental (fear!) and what is physical (still rebuilding muscle)? How do I separate what...
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95 | Long Jumper Kate Hall-Harnden: Finding Strength in the Challenge
The Injured Athletes Club
[Having type 1 diabetes] comes with a lot of struggles, but I try to kind of embrace those struggles and learn from them and they help me grow. Having that perspective with type 1 helped me with my ACL recovery. Because I could say, ‘Alright, this is going to be one of the hardest times in my life, but in the long run, I will be stronger because of it.” When the 2020 Olympics were first postponed, long jumper Kate Hall looked on the bright side—she’d have more time to train and prepare for the Olympic Trials, which would qualify her for the Games. But a week before her first...
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94 | Carrie Answers a Question: Family Matters
The Injured Athletes Club
“How can we communicate with our partners, friends, and family about how hard we are finding it to be injured and what we need in terms of emotional support? —Anna “I have the same question: My husband is very helpful in doing physical tasks I still can't manage eight months after a trimalleolar pilon fracture, but he can't accept how severe this injury is, even though he has heard my surgeon explain it. He thinks it's just a broken ankle and thinks I should be back on the tennis court this summer, which is not going to happen since I can't even walk down the stairs properly and...
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93 | Paralympic Rugby Player and Coach Joe Delagrave: Defining Yourself
The Injured Athletes Club
“Rugby is something I think about all the time. But then going like, if it's gone, am I okay? If it's ripped away, like my able-bodied football career was, am I okay? In that moment, I wasn't. I had to ask, who is Joe in this new life in a wheelchair, and what's my identity? ... I think that's an important piece too, where a lot of athletes—it might not be as devastating as a paralysis, but when they're going through that eight- to 12-month rehab or a two-year rehab, or whatever it is, that identity is gone for a minute there and they have to kind of fight through and ask themselves those...
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92 | Carrie Answers a Question: Louise’s Lament
The Injured Athletes Club
“I loved the bit in the book where it gave ideas of how to respond to common messages or responses from people. I find it difficult to respond to the two following common comments I get about my injury journey: 1. You'll come out stronger 2. Your injury means you can concentrate on other things that are not your sport.” —Louise This week, co-host and mental skills coach Carrie Jackson answers a question from listener Louise, who finds herself at a loss for words when people around her express these common sentiments. In her response, Carrie...
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91 | Olympic Heptathlete Annie Kunz: Behave Your Way to Success
The Injured Athletes Club
“I obviously was devastated; there's no way around it. It hit me really hard, and I kind of allowed myself—I tend to do this when I'm going through something like emotional turbulence or something where I'm upset about something going on with my sport or personal life or whatever—I'm like, okay, I'm gonna give myself x amount of time to be sad. Lean into that. Cry it out, feel bad for yourself, like just all the things. And then when that time limit is over, it's like, all right, we did that, we grieved. Now, what can we control? What can we focus on moving forward?” As a...
info_outline“I always felt like I was supposed to help people in general, and then I just thought, ‘Well, maybe this is actually what I'm supposed to help people with, is navigating nutrition and navigating feeling like they don't belong.’”
So many athletes who cope with injuries and other setbacks emerge with a powerful drive to give back. For Starla Garcia, that desire arose even before she’d reached the other side—when she was still a collegiate runner in the depths of an eating disorder.
Even in her darkest days, Starla knew that when she reached recovery, she would want to help other runners in the same position—especially people of color, who are underrepresented in dietetics and eating disorder treatment.
As she explains in this episode, overcoming challenges has brought her not only a fulfilling career, but the confidence to advocate for herself and others (including at the doctor’s office—something many injured athletes struggle to do, and Starla has amazing advice about this). And, it’s brought her an entirely new perspective on running, one that allows her joy and freedom even as she reaches better, faster times.
NOTE: This episode discusses eating disorders and recovery. If you are dealing with these issues right now and want support, you can call or text the National Eating Disorders Helpline at (800) 931-2237 or chat with someone online at nationaleatingdisorders.org.
Thank you so much to our sponsors for season 6:
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Fluid Running, which has revolutionized fitness by bringing running to the deep water
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IceeNOW.com, which provides innovative injury prevention and recovery solutions for athletes
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ADAM Rehabilitation, creators of the ADAM Brace System, the most stable exercise system built to save the health of your shoulders
Learn more and access exclusive discount codes for their products at buymeacoffee.com/rebound or by joining The Injured Athletes Club Facebook group.
You can subscribe to The Injured Athletes Club on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Audible, Amazon Music, 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:
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Link to purchase the video replay for the IAC webinar she spoke at, Eating During Injury Recovery (doing so helps support the podcast!)
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Starla Garcia is Helping Runners Embrace Their Cultural Identities Through Food, an article by Stacey Megally for Women’s Running