Most of us have heard of the "stages of grief" that follow a traumatic event like the death of a loved one.
These are: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. What many don't realize is that we go through these
stages not only in times of deep loss but also with annoying things like a dead car battery or running out of gas.
Let's
take a look at how an injured runner evolves through these stages. Runner has an injury, for example a stress fracture:
- Denial
-- "this can't be a stress fracture; let me go out and run and see if it still hurts" Yep, it hurts.
Wait two days, repeat. Wait two more... repeat.
- Anger -- "This is SO not fair for me to have a stress
fracture!" "I was in training for my major event!" "Who/what can I blame for this stress fracture?"
- Bargaining
-- "If I can only make it through this upcoming event, I'll do anything!" "Can't you just give
me a shot or a pill and make it better?"
- Depression -- "If I can't run this event, why bother running
at all? What's the purpose in life if I can't run?"
- Acceptance -- "OK... I've got a stress fracture.
What do I need to do to get through this and insure I don't get another one?"
Now, keep in mind that
not everyone goes through these stages in this order, and some people skip stages along the way. The goal is to get
all the way to acceptance that you do indeed have an injury, because only when you get to this stage will you begin to move
forward in dealing with the underlying CAUSE for the injury. Until then, you're just spinning your wheels looking
for a way out! Keep in mind that lots of runners get hung up in the various stages long enough for physiological healing
to take place because they physically can't run and they're forced to rest. Lo and behold, one day they get
a wild hair to try it again... and it doesn't hurt! YIPPEE... I'm healed, right? NO. Your bone may
have healed, but the underlying causes for the initial injury may or may not have been addressed. At some point in the
future when the athlete does too much too fast - the symptoms will be back, or another symptom will arise.
It isn't
until you ACCEPT the injury and acknowledge it, that you can move forward with the proper steps to address it. The best
thing to do is to get to acceptance quickly when you realize you have an injury -- blast through those other stages, but get
to acceptance as soon as you can so that you can start making headway in addressing the cause and getting to a real solution.
About the author: Janet Hamilton is the
author of the book “Running Strong & Injury-Free” (http://www.runningstrong.com/publicat.htm) and she coaches runners & walkers through her business Running Strong (http://www.runningstrong.com). She has a master’s Degree in Exercise Physiology and is a Registered Clinical Exercise
Physiologist through the American College of Sports Medicine and a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist through
the National Strength and Conditioning Association 
