A Runner's Guide
Staying Positive Through Injury
Sigma Sports Run Ambassador, Maisie Kilner, talks us through overcoming injury and the importance of a positive mental attitude.
Keep On Moving
Between 65 and 80% of runners will get injured at some point. If you’re on the injury bench you can be left feeling a little lost. As well as seeking help from a medical professional/physiotherapist; here are some of my top tips that I have used to help me stay positive throughout injury.
Keep moving - even if you can't run, do what you can to keep moving in whatever capacity is safe to do so with your injury. I found yoga, swimming and cycling are great low-impact alternatives to running. These will also help you to maintain your cardiovascular fitness which will make your return to running easier.
Stay Positive and Plan
If you have a positive mindset, you will get better quicker. Focus on what you can do rather than what you can’t. Be grateful you usually have the ability to run and remind yourself this should be a temporary thing and you will get back to running.
Make a plan- even if the marathon training plan is out of the window for now. Keep the structure to your week and plan in your cross-training/rehab session in place of your usual runs.
Strength and Sleep
Strengthen - use this time to focus on what many runners neglect. Strengthening is key to injury prevention. Use this time to create a strong foundation to make you a better runner in the future and avoid further injury.
Make sure you are getting enough sleep- sleep is vital for recovery. If you are not as active as usual this can make sleeping harder. There is an abundance of information on sleep hygiene available, which I’d recommend looking into to aid your sleep.
Stay Connected
Don’t lose touch with the running community. Keep giving kudos on Strava and stay connected with your running circle. It's likely these are the people who can relate to your position and will be the most supportive and encouraging.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Your body needs time to heal. It’ll take time to build back to your pre-injury state so readjust your expectations and allow your body to adapt to new loads as you return to running.
