99 | Ballet Dancer Chyrstyn Fentroy: Exploring New Identities
Release Date: 05/25/2023
Coach Carrie Answers a Question from Jennifer: Getting Back Up to Speed Post-Injury
The Injured Athletes Club
“How can I cope with treadmill anxiety? Coming off of a mild ankle fracture, my first few weeks I was back up to speed. Lately, as soon as I go anywhere over a jog, I feel panicky, like I'm going to fall and have to slow down. I feel relatively sure it is all mental—but I’m wondering if you have any tips.” —Jennifer In season 8 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 addresses Jennifer’s question about coping with treadmill...
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141 | Pro Runner Millie Paladino: Climbing the Mountain of Recovery
The Injured Athletes Club
"Actionable goals build. It's a mountain—recovery is a mountain. Think about the stops on that mountain that you need to make to get to the top.” Millie Paladino had a successful, relatively injury-free collegiate career in running at West Virginia University and then Providence College, where she ran distances from 800 meters to 3,000 meters and was an all-American in the mile. She turned pro and joined Team New Balance, and in 2021, made the final in the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 5,000 meters. But in the lead-up, a slowly developing injury began...
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140 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question from Ava: Coping with Loss and Confusion
The Injured Athletes Club
“ I tore my ACL last April; it’s been very challenging. Do you have any ideas on how to make the recovery process fun? Also, why do I feel so lost and confused without my sport—what should I do with this feeling? —Ava In season 8 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, in response to Ava, she reiterates one of the key messages of The Injured Athletes Club: That you are still an athlete, and recovery is now your sport. And the first part of that recovery...
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139 | Professional Soccer Player Civana Kuhlmann: Strength in Vulnerability
The Injured Athletes Club
“ I don't really want to be who I was before I was injured. In a lot of ways, I'm thankful to a place that just completely broke me, just brought me to some really low points. That's when I was able to grasp my faith or what it was, which is my personal worth. It has absolutely nothing to do with a soccer field or anything of the sort. Just learning that my worth and my fulfillment comes solely through my faith has been something that will go so much farther through life than soccer ever could.” Civana Kuhlmann started playing soccer at a young age and quickly excelled,...
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138 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question from Josée: Managing Jealousy and Burnout
The Injured Athletes Club
“ I have had the worst luck in the last two years. I had a knee replacement in April 2022 for a left knee that had at least 6 scopes over a 10-year + period and it was finally ready to be redone. At last, I would be pain-free. I worked extremely hard to rehab so I could get back on my mountain bike and on the ice. I did, eventually, but with a constant nagging pain. It turns out I had a fungal infection in the joint from the first surgery and now I am facing two major surgeries and possibly another knee replacement after that. I know you have a bunch of podcasts out there with athletes and...
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137 | Gymnast and Personal Trainer Mia Lazarewicz: On Identity, Hope, and Humanity
The Injured Athletes Club
“ Anybody I've met since I got hurt, I feel like they don't know me and that they can't know me. For people that I've become really close to since I got hurt—it almost hurts me to know that this person won't actually ever know who I am or who I was. They're meeting an entirely different person … there's a before and after, and a massive wall that separates them.” As a seasoned personal trainer and co-owner of , a gym in Boston, is used to helping athletes and adult fitness enthusiasts on the road back from injury. However, little could prepare the lifelong athlete for her own...
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136 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question from Olivia: Supporting Your Team While Healing
The Injured Athletes Club
“I am a soccer player, and I tore my labrum in my right hip. After trying physical therapy for 4 months, I ended up needing surgery. I am a couple months post-op, feeling much better now, and can see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, however I am still having trouble being around soccer. Every time I go to support my team, it doesn’t even feel like mine anymore. I’m very excited to play again, but I’m scared that I will have been left behind and scared I'm not going to be the player I was before. How can I cope with the fact that I’m most likely not going to be able to...
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135 | Triathlete Lynn Rogers: Beyond the Finish Line
The Injured Athletes Club
“ I never lost my ability to breathe. I never lost completely my ability to swallow. We had to adjust things for a little while. But I am a huge believer that being as fit at that moment as I was going to be all year—I needed that to get through what I got through and to be able to get up and moving again so quickly.” Lynn Rogers had completed one IRONMAN triathlon and was training for another when her hands started to go numb. Next, it was her feet and her tongue. In the end, she’d be paralyzed from the chest down—the consequence of a progressive, chronic autoimmune...
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134 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question from Laura: Juggling Work and Recovery
The Injured Athletes Club
“ My injuries led to major surgery, a hip replacement. I have really struggled with being on my feet all day, fatigue, and not feeling even close to 80 percent at work. I just learned I will have two unrelated surgeries, and the thought of healing all over again in my stressful and physically demanding job has caused me to 100 percent regret coming back early from hip surgery. It seems hard to believe that being on my feet all day is harder than advanced physical therapy. Have you heard of athletes with this experience?” —Laura In season 8 of The Injured Athletes...
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133 | Olympic Beach Volleyball Player Casey Patterson: New Ways to Win
The Injured Athletes Club
" Now I have to take this as a challenge: How do I have this elite-level B game that is almost indestructible, where I know I can get the job done in a maybe a different way, but just as efficient … and that's where athletes get the most gain in their mental capacity and their ability to win and their consistency is understanding that they can have that elite-level B game. They can beat anyone without having to feel 100%. And so that's kind of where I would go." Casey Patterson's journey through professional beach volleyball was marked by persistent injuries, most notably a left...
info_outline“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.”
Chyrstyn Fentroy is a principal dancer at the Boston Ballet—a vocation that’s equal parts athletic and artistic. Dancing has been her passion since an early age, but when tendonitis in her ankles began worsening a few years ago, she found herself feeling like she was falling out of love.
As Chyrstyn explains in this week’s episode, she had to do something—and the pandemic gave her the perfect opportunity, an enforced break in which she could have surgery (which she did as soon as restrictions on elective procedures were lifted).
Recovering in a time of lockdown was challenging, especially when the nation erupted in racial protests (which hit home for Chyrstyn, who’s biracial). But with mental health support, patience, and cushy recovery footwear from Oofos—a brand she’s so passionate about, she approached them, and is now part of their OOcrew ambassador program—she found a deeper purpose to her art and a broader view of her future, and came back mentally and physically stronger.
Resources/links:
- Chyrstyn’s Instagram and her profile on the Boston Ballet website
- More of her story on the OOFOS website and in the New York Times
- More about OOFOS
Thank you so much to our sponsors for season 6:
- Fluid Running, which has revolutionized fitness by bringing running to the deep water
- IceeNOW.com, which provides innovative injury prevention and recovery solutions for athletes
- 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.
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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.