Athletes and Self-Compassion: A Better Alternative to Beating Yourself Up

Athletes and self-compassion How many times in the past 48 hours have you beat yourself up over something? “I’m not motivated. I should be doing more.” “I haven’t done anything with this time in quarantine.” “I’m worthless.” “I’m letting people down.” (Read below for the full story

Read more

What to Do When You Can’t Outrun the Stress of Injury

We’ll start this blog with serious stuff then talk about practical solutions for overcoming the stress of injury. When we can’t move, work out, or train how we wish, we come unglued…simple as that. Consider this blog your glue. Maybe your boss exasperates you. Or maybe you’ve

Read more

Ultrarunning Injuries–Podcast Interview with Physician, Ultrarunner, and Coach Jay Friedman

Ultrarunning injuries I’m excited to share a podcast I recorded with ultrarunner and physician, Jason Friedman, on his podcast, The Pain Cave. In this episode we talk about overcoming the mental and emotional fallout of ultrarunning injuries. The Pain Cave is a free-flowing conversation with a wide

Read more

Part 2–Struggling Versus Suffering: How to Suffer Less

NOTE: If you haven’t read part 1, please check it out before you read part 2. Otherwise, you won’t have the necessary background for part 2, where I talk about how to suffer less. Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke, co-hosts of one of my favorite

Read more

Part 1–Struggling Versus Suffering: Perspectives

“If you want to make someone unhappy, tell them they’ve never suffered,” said Dr. Bob Duke at the beginning of his weekly podcast, 2 Guys on Your Head. He and Dr. Art Markman conjure up the Car Talk guys, Click and Clack, only they discourse about psychology

Read more

Every Injured Athlete’s Linchpin: A Guide to EMDR in Plain English

Introduction I’m sharing a personal vignette in this blog because so many of you share similar struggles. I want you to feel unashamed and know you’re not alone. I want you to know there’s an infinitely effective tool to help. It’s called EMDR, and we’ll talk all

Read more

Overcoming Injuries–A Video Conversation with Nicolas Pujol

Being injured means experiencing frustration, impatience, disconnection, and anger for most athletes. Consequently, overcoming injuries means learning to deal with each of these challenges. On a recent visit, Nicolas Pujol and I had a conversation about recipes for success for handling these challenges and moving forward. Nicolas

Read more

Type One Diabetes and the Injured Athlete

About how I got involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation In 2000 my favorite Uncle (UC is what I call him; everyone else knows him as Kevin) nearly lost his foot to diabetes. Months of not knowing how the wound heal (or not) ended in relief when

Read more

On Obsessions: The Man Who Swam 10,000 Days in a Row

Might you be an obsessive athlete? It’s the first Saturday in September, on a mercifully cool Texas summer morning. I’m sitting under a gnarled old pecan tree, plump with nuts, watching a remarkable event unfold before my eyes. A man I know through swimming is celebrating his

Read more

How to Recover from an Injury: Hint…Don’t Try It Without a Movement Therapist (Part 3)

This is the third in a 4-part series where I’ll share why, after injury, working with a Movement Therapist is a must. You can read part 1 here and part 2 here. I’ll share what prompted me to see Jesse, what happens to your nervous system after

Read more