40. Coming back from injuries stronger than before with our host Laura Wilkinson
One topic that Laura has been receiving a lot of messages about lately is that of dealing with injuries. There seems to be some worry, frustration, and uncertainty expressed by more and more athletes when it comes to feeling productive while they’re sidelined for weeks, months, and even longer during their recovery. Definitely no stranger to the world of injuries, Laura draws upon her own experiences, and those of previous podcast guests, to address all of these concerns and share some valuable advice.
Laura begins by recounting some of the injuries she has sustained during her career and how she and her coach responded to them. Throughout these stories, she highlights the importance of being ‘all in’ on your recovery plan, learning from these injuries and carrying those lessons forward, the power of mind, mindset, and perspective, as well as working through the many resulting emotions. Laura also reviews the stories of some past guests of the podcast whose journeys through injury and illness are both inspiring and enlightening, and she concludes the episode with her advice on ways to deal with injuries, how to use the time while on the sidelines, and just how critical it is to really take the time to assess your injury and recovery before choosing wisely on how to move forward. As you will hear, today’s topic is one with which Laura is greatly familiar, and the knowledge and wisdom she shares here is drawn not only from her own experience but from others in the world of high level sports. This is, truly, an important listen for all athletes, and really, for anyone who may suffer perceived setbacks in achieving their goals in life.
Episode Highlights:
· Some of the injuries that Laura has sustained throughout her career and how she and her coach responded to them
· Believing in what you’re doing when coming back from injury
· Learning from injuries and recovery and carrying those lessons forward
· The importance of our mind, mindset, and perspective
· Working through your emotions
· Inspiration to be drawn from past podcast guests
· Laura’s advice on ways to deal with injuries and what you can do while sidelined
· The power of nutrition, video study, visualization, mindfulness, coaching others, and restructuring goals
· Choosing your response to injuries wisely
Quotes:
“Obviously, hindsight, I wish we would have pressed for X-rays anyway, but my coach and I were just hoping that, you know, it wasn’t a big deal.”
“That first week, I still had all those mix of emotions that you get when you feel like your world is caving in on you.”
“We’re not going to look back and say, ‘What if?” and ‘Could I have?’, we are only going to look forward with a new plan.”
“I have to tell you that believing in what you’re doing - as crazy as it might appear to anyone watching - if you believe in what you are doing, you’ve got to be all in.”
“I would not have stood on that podium if I had not broken my foot.”
“They basically took two of the discs out in my neck and fused the bones together.”
“You can come out the other side even stronger.”
“If your goals have changed and you don’t want to be in your sport anymore, you don’t always have to use the injury as an excuse.”
“Sometimes these injuries turn into something more beautiful.”
“These injuries, they can break you if you let them, or they are something that can turn you into an entirely new athlete with a new purpose.”
“I encourage you to even check out the small injuries.”
“Take your physical therapy seriously.”
“Be smart. Know when to go slow. Know when to push forward.”
“There is so much you can do while you’re sidelined.”
“The mind is powerful. You need to learn how to use it.”
“Don’t underestimate the power of coaching. Even if it’s some younger kids that are around you, it can be really, really beneficial.”
“It all truly comes down to how you chose to look at it…choose wisely, friends.”
Links:
5 Smart Strategies to Confidence
Laura’s Social Media:
Previous episode links:
Robert Paylor, episode 38
Chanelle Price, episode 37
Allysa Seely, episode 29
Dr. Ben Houltberg, episode 27
Abby and Jacob Cooper, episode 23
Chaunte Lowe, episode 18
Apolo Ohno, episode 16
Amy Dixon, episode 14
Brad Snyder, episode 12
Susie Parker-Simmons, episode 7
16. Mindset is everything with speed skater Apolo Ohno
The one and only Apolo Ohno is Laura’s very special guest on the podcast today.
After claiming his first major speed skating title at the US Championships at the age of 14, Apolo went from kid prodigy to the most decorated US Winter Olympian in history—a title he still holds—earning eight Olympic medals in short-track speed skating across the 2002, 2006, and 2010 Winter Games. Many of you will remember that he was also involved in one of the craziest short track speed skating races in history where, after colliding with 3 other racers and hitting the wall, he managed to skate over the line and win a silver medal. He shares that story and much more in the episode today.
Apolo begins the conversation by reflecting upon his first broadcasting experience, the effects of the Olympic postponement on athletes, and the first sports in which he participated as a child. He then compares and contrasts short track and long track speed skating, and relates his storied career in speed skating, including the game changing life lesson his father taught him, the importance and power of his shift in mindset, and especially the tremendous impact that sports psychology has had upon his performance. Apolo goes into great detail about the ‘assertive intentionality’ which revolutionized his training, and he provides all the details behind his infamous silver medal at the 2002 Olympics and his transformation as he reinvented himself for the 2010 Olympics. This fascinating conversation concludes with Apolo offering his sage advice for athletes. As an athlete who has experienced so very much throughout his remarkable career, Apolo Ohno possesses a unique perspective on setting goals and accessing each and every ‘reservoir of potential’ during their pursuit. Today you have a front row seat to hear him share his extensive knowledge, insight, and wisdom with Laura in this very special episode.
Episode Highlights:
· Apolo’s first broadcasting experience
· The effects of the Olympic postponement on athletes
· His early sports experiences
· Short track and long track speed skating
· Apolo’s speed skating career
· The life lesson his father taught him which changed Apolo’s life
· The importance and power of his change in mindset
· The impact that sports psychology had upon his performance
· Apollo’s ‘assertive intentionality’ around training
· The story of his 2002 Olympics
· His transformation for his 2010 Olympics
· Apolo’s advice for athletes
Quotes:
“It looked so impossible to me that these guys were leaning over at these impossible angles, going like 30 miles an hour, inside of a hockey rink. It just was so cool looking.”
“I don’t like racing against the clock – that seems very boring to me – I liked racing against other athletes and testing my might against them.”
“I was racing against men who were 30, 35 years old, who had been skating and training longer than I had been alive on this planet, and I was beating them with ease which was very, very weird.”
“At a flip of a switch, I was now being talked about as being a statistic, as being a kid who had it all but threw it away, who didn’t know what hard work and discipline was. And that was painful.”
“Whatever it is, I want to see real dedication and commitment from you.”
“It’s only a true failure if you stay down.”
“I have a mindset…that you are not willing to go to. I will go to the places in my mind that you are afraid to go through.”
“I have something upstairs and in my heart that other people around me do not have.”
“I had this untapped reservoir of potential, and that was my mind.”
“You’ve got to take pleasure in those small wins.”
“I was able to make such assertive intentionality around each training, pre-, during, and post-, that the quality of my training went so high.”
“Everything scarred me in some degree, and…it wasn’t healthy back then, but when it comes down to sheer performance, I think there was no one that was more driven.”
“We, as a country, needed to see some athlete like that, to get knocked down when he was supposed to win, and to not complain about it, and to not gripe about it, but to say...‘Life happens’…it was a blessing.”
“I’m so grateful that I didn’t win that race…anything else would have been different.”
“It was really about me exhausting any and all of the options, leaving no stones unturned in that preparation.”
“Every up, every down, every mediocre performance is an incredible learning experience and opportunity to light that fire within.”
Links:
Mental Training: https://www.laurawilkinson.com/learn
Laura’s Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lala_the_diver
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLauraWilkinson
Connect with Apolo:
Website: https://www.apoloohno.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apoloohno
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ApoloOhno