122 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question: Reese’s Roller Coaster
Release Date: 04/11/2024
150 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question from Kathy: On Having Patience for the Long Haul
The Injured Athletes Club
“ How do you stay patient when the doctor says you’re doing too much? Mentally I get so down.” —Kathy 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, she empathizes with Kathy’s conundrum—most injured athletes aren’t happy with the pace of their recovery, because they don’t want to be injured in the first place. But patience is essential, and the way to cultivate it is to recognize it for the strength and power that it...
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149 | Hockey Player and Marathoner Thomas E. Smith on Becoming What’s Possible
The Injured Athletes Club
”What went through my mind—I was 19 at the time, my birthday was the prior month—was, oh my goodness, is my life over in terms of being able to live my dream? Because hockey, for me, wasn't just a sport. It was a gateway to do better in all facets of life.” doesn’t like the word “impossible.” After all, time after time, he’s beaten the odds. After a paralyzing spinal cord injury during a hockey game, some doctors didn’t think he would walk again—but he found a team that believed he could not only walk but skate. Nine months later, he returned to the ice. ...
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148 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question from Whitney: Rejoining the Group Ride
The Injured Athletes Club
“ When you're injured and beginning to rejoin group rides/workouts, how do you let other riders know you're not at 100%? I'm thinking specifically of gravel and mountain biking. I have trouble clipping out quickly, and am currently overly cautious. I want to ride in the very back, but sometimes there are other people ALSO trying to ride in the back. I know people don't want/need to hear my ‘woe is me' injury story, but I also don't want to be a hazard!” —Whitney In season 8 of The Injured Athletes Club podcast, mental skills coach Carrie Jackson answers a question every other...
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147 | Coach Carrie & Cindy Explore Your Identity
The Injured Athletes Club
“ When you give yourself permission to explore your identity, you will start to realize that being an athlete is an important part of who you are, but it is not all that you are. When you develop other areas of your identity, it can sometimes open up your performance in ways that were never available to you before.” As we discuss frequently in The Injured Athletes Club, injury brings a rollercoaster of emotions. But often, one of the most destabilizing feelings is the question of identity: Who am I without my sport? In this host-ful episode, Coach Carrie explains how common...
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146 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question from Allison: Coping When Recovery Feels Overwhelming
The Injured Athletes Club
“Besides feed the athlete/feed the monster, are there other ways to reframe and build confidence with that day-to-day overwhelm in month 3 and beyond?” Allison 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, listener Allison wants advice on self-talk and other confidence-builders as she moves into the long-term stretch of her rehab—and Coach Carrie delivers advice that will help any athlete riding the emotional rollercoaster of a lengthy recovery....
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145 | Paralympian Noelle Lambert: Breathing Life into a New Identity
The Injured Athletes Club
“ I woke up in the hospital and told everybody that this isn't gonna define me. I'm going to be playing lacrosse again. But there was always that what-if in the back of my head; I didn't really know if it would be possible. Having amputees sit across from me and hearing everything that they've been through … they were telling me that I'd be able to live an active lifestyle. I would be able to do whatever I wanted to with my life. And if I really wanted to, that I would be able to play lacrosse again.” Noelle Lambert was a collegiate lacrosse player at UMass Lowell when she...
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144 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question from Emmie: On Anger and Failing Relationships
The Injured Athletes Club
“ Just after recovering from being hit by a truck over the summer and breaking a bunch of bones, I got to start running again only to slam my ankle into a table and now I can’t even walk. It’s possibly just a bone bruise but the pain is radiating through my entire leg and I’m so angry this happened to me just after I got better. Everything is just fifty thousand times worse. I don’t get along with those closest to me, I have so much more conflict with family and friends because nobody understands what I’m going through and nobody is even that nice. Does anyone else feel...
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143 | Physical Therapist and Strength Coach Susie Spirlock: On Dropping the Comparisons and Training for Life
The Injured Athletes Club
“ The biggest change that I've had to make in myself is, you don't always have to be progressing. I feel like there's this huge push to be able to run faster, run farther, lift heavier, just do more all the time. But it doesn't necessarily have to be that way to reap all the benefits of health and fitness that come along with cardio and with strength training.” Physical therapist and strength coach has always been a healthy, active person. But after she got sick with COVID in the fall of 2020, everything changed; her resting heart rate soared, she lost fitness and muscle mass,...
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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...
info_outline“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 deep depression. How do I find a therapist who will understand how huge this loss is and can help me through it?”
Life, inevitably, will throw rapids your way. What could happen when you stop fighting the current and instead move in the direction of your challenges?
In this Q&A episode, Coach Carrie addresses a question from Reese, a cyclist faced with the potential end of their cycling career. Coach Carrie conveys empathy for Reese's situation, encourages the practice of resilience, and emphasizes the importance of finding a suitable therapist, ideally a sports psychologist familiar with athletes' mindset and challenges.
Coach Carrie uses the analogy of rafting through rapids to talk about labeling and accepting your emotions. She discusses the benefits of journaling, and the importance of taking one day at a time to avoid overwhelming anxiety about the future. Furthermore, Coach Carrie provides detailed advice on finding a qualified sports psychologist or mental performance consultant, distinguishing between their roles, and ensuring a good fit for effective therapy.
Resources/links:
- Sign up here to get the Rebound worksheets, including the Emotion Decoder
- AASP directory to find a Certified Mental Performance Consultant
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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.