Six Tips for a Successful Comeback from Injury

 Injury and accidents happen to any athlete.  It is part of the cycle of sport.  How you comeback from an injury will play a big part in your success and growth as an athlete.
 
I was recently reminded of this after breaking my scapula and a rib in a bike race crash.
 
Here are some tips I’ve learned (often the hard way) from racing over the past 50 years.
 
What NOT to do!
 
I’ll start with an example of what not to do!  When I was younger and super-fit I got hit by a truck cycling.  I am lucky to be alive.  I was crossing a highway and the truck hit my rear wheel and I was thrown from the bike.  The next think I knew I woke up dazed in a life flight helicopter.
 
I suffered severe trauma, a concussion, broken collar bone, broken ribs, and a separated shoulder but walked out of the ER that night.
 
Three weeks later I was getting antsy and decided to do a local half marathon at a then what was an easy pace of 7 min a mile.  About halfway my knee started hurting, then my foot, and eventually my back.  I completed the half at sub seven-minute pace, but jumping the gun set my recovery back a month.  Clearly, I was compensating for my injuries and tweaked my back so bad I had trouble getting out of bed for a week.
 
What to Do…

1.  Get Professional Help:  After an accident your adrenalin is flowing, and it is hard to know how bad you are hurt.  If there is any chance you have a broken bone, if you blacked out or hit your head, or have focused pain in an area go to the Emergency Room and get it checked out.  Same if you have an injury that is not going away or getting progressively worse.  Find a good doctor who specializes in treating athletes for that injury and get it checked out.
 
2.  Accept:  Mentally accept that you are hurt and that your training will need to adjust, your speed will not be optimum and you will need to rebuild to get back your form and fitness.
 
3.  Start with small doses of training (time based):  When you are able to start training don’t even think about speed or wattage.  Focus only on time, keep it easy and keep it short.  The danger here is that even if you gut it through a workout, you may be in extreme pain later, pushing your recovery back.  In this case the workout is not helping it is delaying your recovery.  Start with a short workout (20 min run, or 30 min trainer ride) and if you feel OK add 10 mins a day. 
 
4.  Listen to your body:  As athletes we have a high pain tolerance, but it’s important to listen to your body.  After this accident, when I did my first trainer ride I was a mess.  Worse than I thought.  I had pain in more areas than just my shoulder.  I realized that I probably broke my hand, my lower back hurt too and it was hard to just get in my normal position on the bike.    I had to take short breaks and sit up and cut the ride short.  Five rides later I feel almost normal and have increased the duration.
 
5.  Train Solo:  When injured, it is hard to listen to your body if you are forcing yourself to hang with your normal training partners.  Train solo for a while and find your own flow and center first.  You will know when you are ready to get back with group rides and training.  If you had a bad bike accident, ride with a trusted friend a few times.  Don't join a group ride until you are relaxed riding close to your partner again.  Don’t force it!  (I’d also advise against sharing your training data to Strava… during this period as you will not be focused on what you need but what the post looks like).
 
6.  Reset Goals and Expectations:  Once you can get back to your normal training do a few tests to see how much fitness you lost.  Adjust your training to focus on getting that fitness back.  And reset your expectations for racing.  Be realistic, perhaps instead of an “A’ race, you should you your next race as a “C” training race.
  
I hope to rejoin you on a ride or run soon!
 
GP