Transcript
Speaker: Hi guys, and welcome back to my podcast.
Speaker: If you're new here, my name is Kylie Oblak, and thank you for being here.
Speaker: I just want to start this podcast out by saying thank you to everyone who's listened to and sent me messages about my most recent podcast, one with my boyfriend, Luke.
Speaker: It's been the most listened podcast ever.
Speaker: on this channel times two.
Speaker: So yeah, that just makes me really happy.
Speaker: And I honestly think it's the funniest podcast on my channel and the sweetest as well.
Speaker: I wasn't expecting it to be as great as it was.
Speaker: So if you haven't listened to that one yet, go check it out now.
Speaker: Or I guess.
Speaker: Don't do it now.
Speaker: Do it after you listen to this episode.
Speaker: So anyways, to give a little update, it is currently August 1st, which is actually nuts.
Speaker: Like I feel like summer just started yesterday.
Speaker: I was swimming today and if you swim at all, you know what I'm talking about, but you're literally just like alone with your thoughts and you just think.
Speaker: And so for the 90 minutes that I was swimming, I just like kept thinking about all the changes that I'm about to go through in the next month.
Speaker: You know, by September 1st, I'll have moved back to school.
Speaker: I'll be living with my roommate.
Speaker: I'll have started classes.
Speaker: I'll be back with my team.
Speaker: I'll be back to practicing.
Speaker: I'll learn more about my current injury, which I'll get into soon.
Speaker: I'll get a proper diagnosis and learn if I need to get surgery.
Speaker: And yeah, just I'll be starting my last ever year of college, at least undergrad.
Speaker: So, so many crazy changes are about to happen in my life.
Speaker: And I'm overwhelmed, to say the least.
Speaker: Excited, overwhelmed, nervous, happy.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: Lots of emotions.
Speaker: But yeah.
Speaker: For those of you who are new here who don't follow me on Instagram at Kylie Run Smiley, I'm currently dealing with a tibial stress fracture.
Speaker: I've been dealing with the injury since November of 2022.
Speaker: So, oh my gosh, I don't even like to do the math, but I think it's around nine months now.
Speaker: And I've been on crutches for almost seven weeks.
Speaker: I won't bore you too much with the details, but I was getting misdiagnosed and just having improper treatment, etc., etc.
Speaker: I hadn't seen much healing in all this time, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker: So I find out in nine days as to whether or not the time on crutches actually helped to heal the injury or at least see some progress on the images.
Speaker: Because if I don't see any progress, that means I'm probably going to have to opt for another surgery to get me back to walking and to running, of course.
Speaker: So that's probably in my head the most important thing that's going to come out of the month of August is whether or not I'm going to be able to run cross country, whether or not I'm going to have
Speaker: to get surgery, all those things.
Speaker: And yeah, I'm nervous.
Speaker: I don't feel great about it.
Speaker: I don't feel like I've seen much difference in terms of my pain level, even being on crutches, non-weight bearing, but just have to hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
Speaker: If it has to be a surgery, I've been there before and you know what?
Speaker: I'll be bringing you all along for the journey.
Speaker: And, you know, I'll definitely get into this, but being injured has had lots of, you know, little blessings wrapped up in it.
Speaker: And I'm glad that I'm able to kind of use my experiences and the lessons I've learned to give back to the Kylie Run Smiley platform and on this podcast.
Speaker: So let's get right into the topic of this episode.
Speaker: So I feel like normally when I talk about injuries on my channels, I talk about the athletic side of things or the physical side of things or even like the mental side of things like mental strength through cross training or having hope when it feels like been going on forever, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker: But I feel like I never really touch on the ways that it impacts your life just as a regular person.
Speaker: And I think those impacts are actually a lot harder to really work through because there's not like a physical therapist that can help you overcome social situations or a coach to give you training about how to go to work on crutches, if that makes sense.
Speaker: So I thought that although this is a niche topic for this episode, it's something that's very important and something that I feel very strongly about bringing awareness to.
Speaker: So in this episode, we're really going to dive into socializing while injured, kind of the struggles that come with it, acknowledging the hardships, but also me giving tips I've learned on how to overcome those struggles and to still have a really, really great social life while, you know, again, you're injured.
Speaker: Something I want to say about this topic before we start is I've actually found that unlike most things, socializing while injured actually becomes harder with time, meaning the more injuries you face, the harder it is for you to socialize and be in public and do all these things.
Speaker: And I think it's partially just wrapped up with guilt and shame of having the label of being the injured one.
Speaker: Like I think when it's your first injury, people are like,
Speaker: oh my god I'm so sorry like yeah running related injury and they're like oh I'm so sorry and then you heal and then it's fine but if you're constantly showing up to things like in a boo and then you get cleared and then you're in crutches and blah blah like my whole story you know what I mean it can just be tied up with all these like negative emotions and obviously you shouldn't be feeling guilt or shame but it's kind of hard not to
Speaker: In general, I would think of myself as a very extroverted person.
Speaker: Like I love hanging out with friends.
Speaker: I just really get energy from being around people, whether it be from a friend standpoint, a team standpoint, a work standpoint, all of those things.
Speaker: But I do know personally that when I'm going through a hard time, my coping mechanism is to isolate myself and I'll stop going to all the parties and I'll stop responding to texts and even just like bring meals back to my dorm and eat by myself.
Speaker: And it's like a double-edged sword because it's what feels right for me in the moment.
Speaker: But in the long term, I know that like missing out on these social events are actually just making me sadder and also like making the injury process or whatever struggle I'm going through that much harder because I just feel so lonely.
Speaker: And loneliness is one of the worst feelings in my opinion.
Speaker: This especially becomes true when it's very visible that I'm dealing with an injury, especially, you know, if I'm in a boot, in a cast, on crutches, etc.
Speaker: Like, I just get this desire that I want to hide and stop going to things.
Speaker: And again, I think it's just because it's just like, ugh, like I'm going to be seen as an injured girl again.
Speaker: And people are going to ask me what happened and blah, blah, blah.
Speaker: And obviously people just care and they want to help you.
Speaker: But I think it's just my own insecurities just like on display.
Speaker: One of my biggest insecurities as an athlete, but also just like a person is like I'm the girl who's always...
Speaker: Injured.
Speaker: And unlike most insecurities that you can kind of just like keep to yourself, mine is on full display and it might be on display for months, even years at a time.
Speaker: And I know I'm not alone in this sentiment because I do receive messages from you guys asking about how do you face the crowd when you're on crutches, etc, etc.
Speaker: And it's tough.
Speaker: It's really tough.
Speaker: And one tactic that I've tried to develop for myself when I see myself wanting to turn down a social situation because I know I'm going to be on crutches is I ask myself a simple question.
Speaker: Do I not want to go to this event because one, I'm tired?
Speaker: Two, it's just going to be a lot to be on crutches physically?
Speaker: Or three, is it because I'm really just ashamed that I'm injured and I don't want people to see me?
Speaker: And if it's number three,
Speaker: I then say to myself, well, if I can just get over the five minute hump of people seeing you and be like, oh my God, what happened?
Speaker: Once you get over that hump, then it's back to status quo.
Speaker: And then you're able to just be and people aren't going to be talking to you about your injury now that they know.
Speaker: So I think to myself, like if it's number three, I should still go because I know that once that hump is done, I can just have a normal social life again.
Speaker: I can just have you with my friends and be happy and be making those memories even though I'm injured.
Speaker: If it's number two and it's some like physical limitation, I have tips coming, so stay tuned.
Speaker: And if it's number one that you're too tired, well, yeah, that happens to everyone.
Speaker: That's what a social battery is.
Speaker: So I would say just take care of yourself and stay home.
Speaker: So if you're thinking that you don't want to go to something social because of number two and in the sense that you think it's going to be a lot on you physically, especially like, again, if you're on crutches or in a boot, I would say get creative.
Speaker: Find a way to still make it happen.
Speaker: Like I've gone to two concerts in my lifetime and both of them I was on crutches non-way bearing and I wasn't gonna not go to the concert just because I was injured.
Speaker: So what I did was I like found a chair at the venue and I just sat and watched the concert.
Speaker: Like I was able to be there with my friends and listen to music and see the performance even though I was injured.
Speaker: Another thing is just like being able to
Speaker: ask your friends for help.
Speaker: Like I've gone to the beach with my friends when I was on crutches and I asked like, hey, is there any way you could drop me off at the beach and then park the car so that I don't have to crutch like a mile through the town just to get to the beach?
Speaker: And obviously they're happy to do it.
Speaker: Like I think we psychoanalyze ourselves so much when we're injured.
Speaker: We feel like we're a burden for asking for help.
Speaker: But what I've learned is that asking for help is actually the best thing you can do.
Speaker: because one, again, it's making sure that you're prioritizing healing, but two, it's strengthening your friendship and your relationships.
Speaker: And you know that if the tables were to ever reverse and your friend would be the one that's injured, you'd be the first one to help them.
Speaker: Another tactic I found to be really helpful when dealing with injuries and going to social situations is to give the people you're seeing a heads up.
Speaker: Like, hey, by the way, just so you know, I'm on crutches.
Speaker: And this is, again, both beneficial for your mental health and your physical health because it's going to prevent the
Speaker: the, oh no, oh my God, Kylie, what happened?
Speaker: That I mean, again, I always know that this is like coming from a great place and a nice place, but it just, if you know what I'm talking about, you know what I'm talking about, you feel guilty and you're like, oh, like I want to hide.
Speaker: I don't want to talk about this anymore.
Speaker: So it gives people that warning.
Speaker: So they're not
Speaker: They're not surprised when they see you.
Speaker: And then two, it'll help them and you to plan like, okay, how can we make this event still happen?
Speaker: How can we still go clubbing in New York City, even though you're in a boot?
Speaker: Okay, we're going to do this, that, and the other thing.
Speaker: So give people a heads up.
Speaker: It'll be good for you for so many reasons.
Speaker: I've also found that if possible, hang out with people who have been in your shoes before or who have been injured before because they'll get it.
Speaker: They'll know how hard it is for you to be injured and they'll be very conscientious of it.
Speaker: Like again, I went to a concert a few weeks ago with my friend Olivia, she runs at University of Florida.
Speaker: I love her and she's dealt with many bone injuries like me and because she's
Speaker: She knew these things.
Speaker: When we went to the concert, one, we were very strategic on how we got there.
Speaker: We met by train.
Speaker: We made it so it was a short walk.
Speaker: And once we got to this concert, we got me a chair right away.
Speaker: She just gets it.
Speaker: And she knew.
Speaker: And that was so huge.
Speaker: And then also, they're more able to empathize with the emotional struggles that come with injury.
Speaker: in a way that people who've never been injured before might not so I'd say like if there's any time in your life to really seek out friends who've been in your shoes before it's when you're injured if they've been injured they'll get it they'll be there for support in the same way that you probably were for them I've also found that for me my injury process is always so much more enjoyable I don't want to say enjoyable because no injury process is enjoyable but so much more bearable okay that's too negative
Speaker: Shoot, I'm thinking of a word and I can't.
Speaker: It's, you know what I'm trying to say?
Speaker: It's livable.
Speaker: I guess that's the way I'm going for.
Speaker: When two things, one, you just own that you're injured.
Speaker: You're like, okay, I'm injured.
Speaker: This sucks, but I'm injured and I'm not going to be ashamed because of it.
Speaker: And two, you just continue to do most of the things that you normally would that obviously don't hinder your healing.
Speaker: Like you still go to the office for work, still show up to team events and
Speaker: still, I don't know, just live every other area of your life as much normally as you can.
Speaker: Because when you deprive yourself of things that normally bring you joy because you're injured, it just makes an already hard time that much worse.
Speaker: Like, why would you be like, I'm going to skip out on going to ice cream with my friends because I'm on crutches?
Speaker: Because then you're just going to associate being injured with no ice cream.
Speaker: And like, that's just a terrible thought.
Speaker: So why would you, why would you do that?
Speaker: You get the analogy I'm trying to make.
Speaker: But yeah, this is just a little ramble that I wanted to share.
Speaker: And I guess this will be a pretty short episode.
Speaker: But just bringing attention to like those kind of internal struggles you face about being social and kind of just being around people when you're injured, like they're valid.
Speaker: Like I feel that I know other people do too.
Speaker: And it's time that we acknowledged it.
Speaker: And this is also your little virtual hug and reminder that like, although it's hard, it's so worth it to continue to do social things and do things that bring you joy with people while you're going through a hard time.
Speaker: Because at the end of the day, like,
Speaker: people are going to be what gets you through your biggest struggles.
Speaker: I know for me, I've had so many great mentors and friends who've helped me out on the hardest of days.
Speaker: And even again, like this community, this platform, my Instagram followers, people who listen to this podcast, like your DMs and messages give me purpose and hope and joy and just remind me that there's so much more to me than who I am as an athlete.
Speaker: And I
Speaker: I'm just so incredibly grateful for that.
Speaker: I literally last night received a letter.
Speaker: I don't know how this girl got my address, but one of you guys literally sent me the nicest letter ever and I have it hung up on my ceiling.
Speaker: So it's the first thing I see in the morning and I sobbed, guys.
Speaker: I kept sobbing.
Speaker: And that's what I'm trying to say is that people in your life are rooting for you and they want to help you and they'll want to see you.
Speaker: you know, so continue to try to find a way to socialize.
Speaker: And before you know it, hopefully you're healed and everything is relatively back to normal.
Speaker: And you know, it'll just be a moment of the past that you've moved on from.
Speaker: But yeah.
Speaker: And as always, if you're injured, I'm here for you.
Speaker: And every sense of the matter, you
Speaker: Have my Instagram at Kylie Run Smiley in the podcast.
Speaker: Instagram at stayingsmileypc.
Speaker: My DMs are always open.
Speaker: And if you're listening to this and you have any other topics that you'd love to hear, I know we're like kind of at like a pivotal point in the year going from summer to fall back to school, back to cross country, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker: So if there's anything specific you want me to touch on, just let me know.
Speaker: But I appreciate you guys so much for being here and have a great rest of your day.
Speaker: you
