Just before I had the op, I bought a copy of Lore of Running by Tim Noakes. The book needs no introduction as it is regarded by most runners as the “Running Bible.” Every time I have a question about any running related topic, I simply turn to the book. It’s a bit old fashioned, but I like it.
The book has a chapter called, “Training the Mind” and within the chapter, Prof. Noakes discusses the typical responses to injury that a runner might go through. Just reading this makes me realise that I’m not alone in feeling these thoughts, and had I known this before I got injured, it would certainly have helped me in dealing with the injury.
An Athlete’s Typical Response to Injury by Tim Noakes:
- Denial: At first, the athlete refuses to accept that the injury has occurred and simply denies its possibility.
- Anger (rage): When the injury can no longer be denied, the athlete becomes enraged an blames either the doctor, a spouse, or some third party for the injury. Occasionally, athletes will blame their bodies for this betrayal and may even subject it to further abuse, for example, by continuing to run.
- Depression: When denial and rage no longer work, the athlete moves on to the (penultimate) stage of depression.
- Acceptance: Finally, the athlete learns to accept the injury and to modify ambition to accommodate the inadequacies of the mortal body. When this occurs, the athlete is likely to be over the injury.
I definitely went through all these stages, but instead of rage I experienced a large amount of frustration. It probably took nearly a month from when I realised I had an injury to me actually reaching the acceptance stage, when I adjusted my goal of running Comrades and posting on this blog. Could I have saved a month? Perhaps, but as they say, hindsight is a perfect science.
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