The injury that taught me to listen

It has been years since I tore my Achilles, but sometimes my body still likes to remind me of it.

Anyone who has battled an injury knows how difficult it is to suddenly be unable to do the thing you love most, to have your body tell you no. It is frustrating, humbling, emotional. Injury is just as much a mental battle as it is a physical one. But the mental side can also work in your favor. With the right mindset, patience, and willingness to adapt, you can come back even stronger.

When I tore my Achilles, it forced me to slow down in a way that I never wanted to. Fitness was such a huge part of my life. I was heavily involved in running and CrossFit, training hard almost every day.  Movement had become a part of who I was, my outlet, my stress relief, my challenge and I rarely gave myself permission to slow down. So, when the injury happened, it felt like everything came to a stop all at once. Anyone who has gone through a serious injury knows the feeling. It is not just the physical pain, it is the emotional weight of not being able to do the thing that makes you feel alive. During my recovery process, there were days I was angry and defeated but somewhere along the way I knew I had 2 choices, I could focus on the anger of the injury or focus on what I still had control over. I committed fully to my recovery. I followed the advice of my physio closely. I adapted my training instead of giving up completely. If I could not run, I found other ways to move my body. I focused on strength work, recovery and nutrition. Giving my body that tools it needed to heal. I focused on fueling myself properly. Recovery is hard work on the body. Healing requires energy, protein, nutrients, and rest. I made a priority to eat well and support my recovery instead of restricting food because I was training less. Instead of viewing recovery as being stuck, I tried to view it as rebuilding. I focused on the small wins: walking without pain, running one kilometer again, then two, then five. Slowly, I built myself back up. I rebuilt my running and I came back stronger. That injury taught me resilience, patience and most importantly, it taught me the power of mindset. Your body listens to the way you speak to yourself during hard moments.

The thing about injuries, though, is they have a way of quietly resurfacing when you least expect it. For years, I had been relatively injury free. Sure, there were little aches and pains here and there, but nothing major. I kept running hard. Chasing my goals. Setting new standards for myself. I rarely took time off and never really allowed my body a true break from running. Over time, my body learned to adapt to the lingering side effects of my Achilles injury. Eventually those adaptations caught up with me.

This year, I had my sights set on qualifying for the Berlin Marathon. To get there, I needed to run a sub 3:10 marathon. An opportunity came up to run the Nagoya Women’s Marathon in Japan in March, and I was determined to make it my race. Training was going well until about six weeks before race day. My body started yelling at me. I began having pain in my ankle and along the outside of my lower leg. Every time I ran, I could get about five kilometers in before my leg felt like it was on fire. I tried everything I could to get it under control before the race. Acupuncture helped. I rested more. I tried to stay positive and honestly, I think I tried to convince myself that if I ignored it long enough, it would disappear. I got on the plane to Japan hopeful that I could get my body to hold together for 42 km. Race day came and I was ready to go, but there was still a small part of me questioning whether my body would hold up. Marathon running is just as mental as it is physical and once doubt creeps in, it can change everything. Anyone who knows me knows I am stubborn. When I set a goal for myself, it takes a lot for me to step away from it. I started the race feeling strong. Then kilometer five came and the pain started. I tried fighting through it, hoping it would settle. By kilometer ten, I was struggling badly. My ankle felt numb and my lower leg burned with every step. I pushed through until kilometer thirteen, but my body was clearly telling me something was wrong, and my mind was spiralling into darkness. Stopping was not what I wanted, but I knew continuing would only make things worse. So I made the difficult decision to pull out of the race.

Looking back now, it was absolutely the right decision. The last thing you want to do is turn a manageable injury into something far worse. But at the time, it crushed me. It was the first time I had not finished something I set out to do, and honestly, it did not feel good. I had built up so many expectations around that race and that goal. It felt like everything was crashing down around me. If I am being honest, I was embarrassed. I had poured so much energy, time and emotion into that race. I had built this huge goal in my mind, qualifying for Berlin. Coming home with a DNF felt crushing. I sulked for a day or two, then I realized something. A DNF does not define you as a runner. Stopping does not make you weak. Listening to your body is not failure. Sometimes the hardest and strongest thing you can do is stopping when your body is telling you to. Once I accepted that, I stopped viewing the race as a failure. I was in Japan and I did not want disappointment to take that experience away from me. So instead of focusing on the race I did not finish, I chose to be present for everything else around me.

When I returned home to Canada, I was determined to figure out what was wrong. I got scans done and started working closely with my physio, who has honestly been incredible. Diagnosis: trapped nerve with peroneal tendonitis. After my Achilles injury healed, I treated my body like it had fully reset. I stopped prioritizing the rehab work. I was not stretching enough. I stopped doing many of the exercises that once kept me healthy. Over the years my body adapted. Then tightened. Then compensated. Once I started seeing my physio and acupuncturist regularly, it felt like they were slowly unwrapping this tightly packaged system of compensations I had built over years. Honestly, I desperately wanted to wrap the present back up and pretend none of it existed. Healing however does not work like that. Sometimes the body must get worse before it gets better. I needed to retrain my body properly and that also meant taking time some away from running. Mentally, that was hard but physically, my body needed it. My body has been feeling good again and I am back running. I am learning to appreciate the process instead of constantly chasing the next outcome. Not every season needs to be about personal bests. Some seasons are about rebuilding.

One of the biggest lessons this experience taught me is that injury prevention needs to become a priority for runners, not an afterthought. The problem is that most runners would rather spend their extra time running than doing mobility, strength work, or recovery. I am guilty of this too.

There is something very humbling about flying all the way to Japan for a marathon and not being able to finish. It taught me something important:

Your body will always tell you the truth.

Preventing Running Injuries

Train Smarter

·       If you are new to running, increase your volume slowly. One of the most common causes of injury is simply doing too much too soon. A common guideline is to avoid increasing your mileage by more than 10% per week. Rapid increases can overload muscles, tendons and joints faster than they can adapt. Also avoid increasing speed and distance at the same time.

Prioritize Strength Training

·       Strength training and cross-training are essential for runners. Not only does strength work improve performance, but it also helps create a more resilient body that can better tolerate training demands. Focus on movements that support stability, mobility, and proper running mechanics.

Stretch and Recover Properly

·       I will be the first to admit that I need to do a better job practicing what I preach when it comes to mobility work. Tight muscles do not move efficiently, and over time that can impact running form and increase injury risk.

o   Before runs, focus on dynamic stretching. After runs, focus on static stretching.

Soreness vs Pain

·       Muscle soreness is normal during training. Pain is not. Do not ignore pain. Do not try to “push through”. One run is never worth months of injury recovery. Trust me, I have learned this the hard way.

Fuel Your Body Well

·       Running places a huge demand on the body, especially during higher training volumes or marathon preparation. Your body needs enough energy not only to perform, but also to recover. Under-fueling is one of the quickest ways to run your body into the ground. Make sure you are eating enough calories to support the amount of training you are doing.

·       Even if you are running less during injury recovery, your body still needs fuel. Recovery is when nutrition matters most.

Prioritize Sleep and Recovery

·       Aim for 7–9 hours of sleep per night and allow your body proper rest between hard efforts.

Wear Proper Running Shoes

·       Shoes play a major role in injury prevention. They provide cushioning, stability, and biomechanical support.

·       Rotate your shoes when possible and replace them every 500–800 kilometers, or sooner if they start feeling worn down.

·       While super shoes are great tools for racing, they should not be your everyday training shoe. Save the carbon plates for race day.

Unfortunately, injuries are common in running, but many of them are preventable. Running requires patience. Do not rush the process and most importantly: Listen to your body. It will always give you the most honest feedback.

At the end of the day, running is about more than finish lines and personal bests. It is about learning your body and taking care of it so you can continue doing what you love for years to come. Fueling your adventure is not just about race day, it is about taking care of the body that carries you through it all.