10 things i learned from…
My running accident
by Sally Minchella
Thumbs up! Sally 1 week after her accident as the healing begins and all the recovery and rebuilding starts!
On 27 December, I headed out for my usual Sunday long run. Around an hour later my husband got a phone call that went something like "Hi, I'm with your wife, Sally. She's been in an accident."
Do what you can with what you have! Sally finds an unlikely friend in the turbo trainer so she can get a fix of higher heart rate without running!
It was a pretty nasty accident as it turns out, involving a collision with a bike and resulting in various fractures to my skull, concussion and quite a bad head wound involving stitches and nerve damage to my forehead. The good news is that my brain was ok and that I'm recovering well.
But I have learned some stuff about me and running through the recovery process so far...
Not all my running clothes fit in my running clothes drawer! Apparently, there needs to be a certain amount in use/the wash for them to fit... I genuinely had no idea! (I've subsequently had a clear out and am planning on sending them to sw11 apparel.)
Concussion is nasty! I really had no idea it could leave you feeling so sick and generally yuk, I couldn't face eating and lost weight. Fortunately it passed after about a week. More generally, I'm really grateful my brain is ok, my skull did a great job of taking the impact!
I can survive without running for a while. (Though perhaps I might have taken the news about schools closing slightly better if I'd been able to go for a run!)
My husband is a star - he singlehandedly looked after both me and our 3 kids in the week after my accident. His running coach asked me to tell him if he was running too much, I said that it was probably what was keeping him sane, and that I didn't intend to take that away from him!
Unhelpful thoughts - I'd occasionally reflect back on the accident and think that it wouldn't have happened if we'd been allowed to travel and see my family at Christmas as we'd planned, but I'd usually realise it wasn't a helpful train of thought as it didn't change anything and move on pretty quickly.
Helpful thoughts - A phrase I did find super helpful was "do what you can, with what you have". When I was back up to doing some kind of exercise after a few weeks, it switched my mindset from thinking about all the things I couldn't do (run, any exercises which bent my toe, involved impact or weights) to all the things I could still do (turbo trainer, all the exercises which don't involve bending your toe etc). Rach and Tom gave me a training plan which revolved around indoor cycling and I quickly began to try every free trial of indoor cycling apps to see which ones worked for me and learn what exercises were do-able (plank - no, side plank - yes). I learned how to make exercises as intense as possible while keeping them low impact and bodyweight, which is actually handy to know and I still use these variations now.
A large part of the enjoyment I get from running comes from being outside and appreciating nature. Actually I can get this from walking (though not from the turbo trainer!), but it takes so much longer to get to the places you love when you're walking! (There is also a part of me that likes a sense of achievement, but this requires less frequent fulfillment and can wait until I'm recovered!)
The hardest part of my recovery was when I was able to run (admittedly at Grandma type pace), and was doing a run/ walk plan to ease me back in... I found this SO frustrating! I couldn't get lost in my thoughts as I usually might, because I was clock watching for when my run/walk interval was due to finish. I was longing for freedom to just run! But as a friend said, recovery is a marathon, not a sprint.
Friends - I have lots of running buddies and I miss them when I'm not running. I didn't really think about it until I was running again and it was so lovely to see people and have a catch up!
Gratitude - I've always liked the Sophie Radcliffe phrase "There will come a day when I cannot do this. Today is not that day." So when I was out running today and it started to pour with rain, I did have to remember that despite the weather I should remember to be grateful for the times I can run, because then when the rough times hit and you aren't able to, you feel like you've appreciated and made the best of the good times.
On a walk - run session as she builds back after the accident. Sally and her son finding gratitude (and sanity too!)