153 | Elite Runner and Coach Becki Spellman: Embracing Your Best Each Day
Release Date: 05/29/2025
171 | Author and Athlete Dimity McDowell on the 27th Mile and Charting a New Path Forward
The Injured Athletes Club
“ You don't want to think about a friend dying or going through a divorce or anything like that—you kind of don't want to even put that energy in the world. Same thing with running. You don't want to think about what it looks like, but the reality is, most of us are going to have to think about that. Not everyone can stand on the podium at age 70.” Dimity McDowell was first on our back in 2022, when she’d just written a series of for (the late, great) Women’s Running magazine about what happens when you can’t run anymore. As she describes in her return...
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170 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question on When Grief and Gratitude Collide
The Injured Athletes Club
“ How do I cope with knowing that I may never get back to where I was—that this might be a permanent change for me?” —Emily Many athletes—whether they’re professionals or amateurs—have a strong athletic identity. When that’s threatened by injury, especially if it’s a permanent shift, it’s normal to feel frightened and unmoored, Coach Carrie shares in this week’s listener Q&A episode. Whether you have to give up your sport altogether or must adjust the way you participate, you should allow yourself to feel grief at the path you’re no longer taking....
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169 | Triathlete and Coach Angela Naeth on Creativity, Curiosity, and Compassion
The Injured Athletes Club
“If I had to choose one injury or obstacle as the most difficult, it's really hard for me to do that because each one was very different in and of itself. I look back at them, and I'm honestly quite grateful I've been through it all, because it's changed who I am and it's made me who I am. You learn a lot when you're down and out.” Angela Naeth has been racing as a pro triathlete since 2008, and added gravel racing in 2022. In that time, she’s had plenty of success, reaching the podium more than 40 times in 70.3 and Ironman events and placing in the top 8 at Ironman World...
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168 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question: Tell Yourself Something Worth Believing
The Injured Athletes Club
“ My surgery was a success, and my doctors have given me the go-ahead to play again next season, but it's been over a decade since my initial injury, and I needed to hang up my skates. I've been sidelined for about 11 years. I was always a really aggressive player, and I've never been one to shy away from a confrontational situation on the ice. But after my injury, I'm worried that I'll be too nervous to really dig in and go full throttle when it comes to checking or anything that brings me too close to the boards. I DESPERATELY want to play again, but I know myself well enough to...
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167 | Coach Carrie and Cindy Label Your Emotions
The Injured Athletes Club
“ When you take a moment to pause and label the emotion you're feeling, you're asking your prefrontal cortex to get involved, which pulls the activation out of the amygdala where your brain is processing threat or no threat. Instead of being overwhelmed by the physiological experience of the emotion. It creates psychological distance so you can experience it from a less threatening vantage point.” Here at the Injured Athletes Club, we talk a lot about the roller coaster of emotions. Today, on this host-ful episode, Coach Carrie guides us through some of the ups and downs you’re...
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166 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question: Sustaining Motivation and Energy During Recovery
The Injured Athletes Club
“I just had my 12-week post-op follow-up with my doctor. It was a good appointment and things are pretty much where they are supposed to be at this stage. But I’ve been hitting a wall in my PT in terms of fatigue and overall enthusiasm. Most days, my energy is very low, and I’m trying to incorporate more rest and sleep in as much as possible. The doctor said at this stage—between month 3 and 12—is where the real work begins in terms of strengthening and getting back to where I was before, and hopefully stronger. So I’m wondering if you have guidance on keeping...
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165 | Author and Athlete Chelsey Klein on Grace, Survival, and Letting Go
The Injured Athletes Club
“ I've had to learn how to ask for help. I am grateful for my independence. I'm grateful for the fact that if I want something, I go get it. And my work ethic—I work in sales and my success of being an athlete, I owe it to that. But at the end of the day, there is that understanding of there's a difference between giving up and surrendering.” Chelsey Klein is a lifelong athlete—and no stranger to injury, which ended both her pursuit of gymnastics as a child and her collegiate volleyball career. But during the summer of 2020, during the height of the pandemic, she faced a...
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164 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question on Balancing Healing and Life Goals
The Injured Athletes Club
“ I’m feeling like my injury has really held me back in life. My first two years of college, I was trying to survive school while recovering from a car accident. I’ve needed every extension and have had many surgeries after that, which have affected my schooling and life in general. Now I’m ready to transfer from my community college to a university, and I don’t have all the right classes for the degree I’m going into. I feel like this injury has just ruined me, and I’m not sure what to do.” —Rylie Injuries can be devastating at any stage and time. But in some cases,...
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163 | Marathoner Leanna Scaglione on Running Through Life's Challenges
The Injured Athletes Club
“ Whatever you're feeling, whether it be anger, hatred, sadness, disappointment—it's okay. You're allowed to feel those things. That is valid. But just know that this situation— yes, NF is a lifelong diagnosis, and not having a cure, it does change your life trajectory a little bit. But it doesn't dictate how you have to live your life.” Leanna Scaglione was just 16 years old when what the aspiring ballerina thought was an injury from dancing turned into something she never could have imagined—surgery to remove a spinal tumor that left her temporarily unable to walk. Soon...
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162 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question: Rebuilding Trust in Your Body
The Injured Athletes Club
“How do you navigate phantom pains and constant re-injury fears after recovering from a bone stress injury?” —Marija Fear is one of the brain’s ways of protecting the body when it’s injured. But often, our anxiety lingers long after it’s useful. Our bodies and minds don’t always recover at the same rate, Coach Carrie explains in this week’s listener Q&A (that’s why deliberately working on your mental skills is so important!). Phantom pains and fears of re-injury are totally normal after a bone stress injury, she points out. To reset your nervous system and...
info_outline“ It really helped me as a coach to be able to look at my athletes and remind them, it doesn't have to be about a PR, doesn't have to be about the best day you wanted, but it can be—if you're healthy—about the best day you have that day. And that can be celebrated, that can be fun, even if it isn't the outcome you would've ideally written in your book.”
Becki Spellman has had a long, successful career in distance running—she qualified for her first Olympic Marathon Trials in 2008 and her fourth in 2020. In that time, she’s dealt with her fair share of setbacks, including two Achilles surgeries, diastasis recti, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, and more.
As she shares in this week’s episode, she’s come to realize that the ups and downs are all part of the sport. As an athlete, her injuries have taught her about her body, her motivation, and ultimately, her resilience. As a coach, she’s learned how to guide others through both the postpartum period and injury-related setbacks, helping find the root cause of their problems and rebuild so they can get back to doing what they love.
Becki is on the upswing now—she just won the Cap City Half Marathon on April 27 in 1:23:09. But at this point, her race times don’t define her; showing up, even when you’re far from your best, can be just as joyful and rewarding, she’s found. (And, she’s also found the LEVER system to be a critical part of both her rehab and her training—she shares more about how she uses it and why she continually recommends it to her athletes.)
Resources/links:
A huge thank you to LEVER Movement, the exclusive sponsor of season 8 of The Injured Athletes Club podcast! As you heard Becki describe, the LEVER system is an innovative way to reduce your body weight, and the impact on your joints, while exercising on a treadmill. Use the code “TIAC20” to get 20% off your purchase.
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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.