I have a guest post for you today written by Matthew, I hope that you find it interesting. Matthew is a student at the University of Durham and author at Running101 – a relatively new running blog full of quality training tips, gear reviews, news, and so much more Apologies to Matthew for the delay in publishing this post.

The mental side of injury is often overlooked – here are five tips to deal with it.

It happens to the best of us, we’re training at our best, logging personal bests week after week, boasting impressively fast long runs on Strava then it hits – you’re injured and out for a minimum of six weeks or more.

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While the physical side of injury is much more obvious, whether on crutches, in a cast, hobbling to and from work, or living with a stress fracture, the mental side, else known as the psychological impact of injury is not as well documented.

We all deal with our own psychological battles, with mental health being the most global and aware it’s ever been now is a time like no other to seek support and to really understand and deal with our emotions, including the ones which come with sporting injury.

However, without further ado here are five tips to deal with the mental side of injury as a runner.

1. The sooner you can accept it the better

Once injury hits it’s easier to fall into the trap of denial. Don’t be the runner that picks up eating ice cream and watching Netflix as their new ‘sport’ – the sooner you can accept the injury the better.

However long your injury, whether it’s three weeks or three months the quicker you can come to terms with not being able to run the quicker you can begin effective rehab and cross-training if the injury permits.

This way, you’re able to keep up your fitness best as possible while focusing full energy on rehab exercises, effectively returning you back to running as quickly as possible.

Likewise, coming to terms with this early on is likely to have less of a detrimental impact on your mental health, especially if you use running as a tool to de-stress, to relax, and as a catalyst for positive mental health.

Why not talk the injury through with a close friend or family member? Talking this through will allow you to accept the reality that is your injury.

2. Psychological skills training

Sports psychology is a rapidly growing industry, with many professional football teams, athletic teams, and other sports making use of one if not a team of sport psychologists.

One of the jobs of these sports psychologists is to provide effective skill training to reduce the overall impact of the injury process, alongside various other psychological training, of course.

One of these you may want to try is mental imagery. This is concerned with imagining positive experiences such as your return to the sport, receiving positive news regarding your injury such as the removal of a cast, or perhaps winning a race once returning to the sport.

However, it’s important to keep these as realistic as possible. If not, you run the risk of damaging your emotional well-being and confidence if these do not come true within a reasonable time period.

Another form of psychological skills training you may wish to make use of is relaxation training. Much like mental imagery, relaxing training encourages positive thinking, and quite obviously relaxation. Relaxation training is especially useful if feeling stress, anxiety, or any negative emotion in relation to running, training, or life in general – it’s quite a powerful and versatile little tool to have in your arsenal.

To perform relaxation training you want to enter a comfortable position while simultaneously tensing individual muscles for a few seconds a time, increasing tension and decreasing tension allowing the muscle(s) to relax.

Work your way through the main muscle groups to further enhance relaxation. This will also increase blood flow to individual muscles, effectively enhancing your recovery. Cool, right?

3. Focus your energy on ‘something else’

While running is great, why not make use of being injured and focus your energy on something you don’t usually do? Perhaps spend more time with family, pick up a new sport (if the injury permits), watch your favourite movies, or even go for long hikes – whatever works for you!

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Taking time to enjoy other things in life is a great way to put your injury into perspective, remember as much as it may seem at the time, life isn’t just about running. Nonetheless, investing time in other areas of your life is a great way to distract yourself from the injury, make progress in other interests, or even to make new friends in the process.

Just remember to keep up with the rehab exercises and avoid hitting the pub too often – you’ll thank us later!

4. Set realistic goals 

Much like your training, you’re going to want to set goals once injury strikes. However, it’s especially important to make sure these goals are realistic. Failure to set realistic goals will only knock your confidence and motivation towards returning to running.

In fact, we recommend following the SMARTER principle when it comes to setting goals – even when injured. Following this principle increases the likelihood of you actually sticking to the goals, effectively increasing adherence towards rehabilitation, maintain fitness, or making a comeback once the injury subsides.

To find out more about SMARTER goals check out another blog post here.

5. Don’t deal with it alone 

Dealing with any emotional distress alone can be a painful experience, so why do it? If your injury is playing on your mind be sure to talk about it! It doesn’t even have to be with a friend or family member who runs, just someone willing to listen.

Talking through your injury, even if it is primarily your own ideas is a great way to clear the air and to put your injury into perspective – more often than not it really isn’t the end of the world and not as bad as you may think, especially in the grand scheme of things!

Be sure to contact your running friends and see if they’re willing to hang out without running for a change. This is a great way to stay involved, to feel a part of the running community while injured, and most importantly offers a great space to share how you’re actually feeling with those who will definitely listen and offer great advice.

The bottom line 

Injury is not just physical, it’s also mental. It’s important to acknowledge that we’re not invincible and sometimes do need the help and support from others – it’s not a sign of weakness if anything it’s a strength.

If you’re interested in finding out more about injury, please check out the 10-step approach to recovering from injury article over at Running101.

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