A column by Olympian and national rower Aisyah Gala

I just got off the bike.

Another two hours on the stationary bike done and dusted. I have been cycling either on the stationary bike or on my road bike on a wind trainer almost everyday for seven weeks now, since I dislocated my shoulder. Sometimes, I’d cycle twice a day.

Sitting on the stationary bike is absolutely mundane but I won’t bore you with my daily rant about having to sit on the bike. I realised that this injury, as annoying and frustrating as it is, has taught me valuable lessons that I might not have been able to grasp if not for it.

Being out of the boat means that I train on my own almost all the time now. That means no training partners to push me, no coach to give me feedback on my technique and no one to keep track of my speed and cadence. Easily, I can choose to tell myself that I’m too tired or too lazy to train and skipping one session won’t kill me and no one will ever know about it. But I haven’t skipped any training because I can’t seem to find a good enough excuse that I can use to miss training.

Having the bike set up on the wind trainer in my bedroom, literally seconds away from my bed, means that I still can train even if there’s a natural disaster going on outside my room. Furthermore, this is the first thing that I see hanging on my wall when I open my eyes every morning:

There have been plenty (oh God yes, many) of days where I drag myself out of bed to sit on the bike. I would whine and even cry and hate life for being so cruel for making me do this, but after getting a grip on myself and (most importantly) after posting an Instagram/Facebook update on how much I hate cycling, I would wipe my tears, put on my cycling gear and train.

What I’ve learnt in these seven weeks or so of doing almost nothing else but cycling is that, sometimes you can’t always do what you love but you have to do what you hate to really appreciate the moments when you get to do what you love. Sounds complicated, but not really. Just think of it this way- sometimes you just have to shut up and do it because that’s the only thing you can do.

Control the controllables.

I hear this phrase way too many times but it makes so much sense! Spending all these hours being angry that I’m injured isn’t doing good to me at all so might as well I spend these moments being grateful that it’s just a shoulder dislocation and not a fracture or a broken bone which would take longer to heal.

I can’t control what has happened but I know that cycling will help me make my legs stronger. I can’t control how fast my shoulder will heal but I can control how much effort I put in to my sessions. BUT I can control how I approach my trainings- whether I choose to sit on the bike and dread my next few hours on it or tell myself that this session is going to be awesome. When I’m in control of things in my life, I feel better.

I have learnt to be utterly, painstakingly patient. It has been a crazy emotional roller-coaster ride for me. One day, I would feel like I’ve been thrown to the deepest depths of misery and disappointment and the next day, I would feel like I’m on the top of the world.

When I find myself going into this dark place and having dark thoughts like, “I’ve wasted all these weeks doing nothing” I would quickly snap myself out of this and look for the light. Optimism and happiness are found to aid in the healing process. So hey, chin up and smile!

Maybe my body is telling me to have a break before something actually falls apart and breaks. Maybe being out of the boat will make me hungry once I get back on water. You don’t have to be an elite athlete to get injured because it can happen to anyone. And it sucks. It totally sucks to be injured because you feel absolutely useless. I know the feeling.

But here’s the thing- you can either see the injury as something that drags you down or you can take it as a challenge that will help you grow and propel you forward. I cannot insist more on changing how we should look at things.

Our thoughts will determine our future. If I have to come up with a list of how to make the best out of getting injured, here it is:

1. Be grateful that whatever happened to you, you’re still alive. It could have been worse.

2. Ask a reliable medical professional for advice on your recovery timeline. If it means having to miss the upcoming race/event, then accept it and move on. There’s always another one to sign up for.

3. Talk to other patients who have been through the same injury. This helped me a lot on what to expect after my ACL reconstruction and it made me mentally prepared for it.

4. Be hardworking and diligent on the recovery process. Rehab sucks and is boring as hell but it is important. Also, listen to your body.

5. Be absolutely patient- so patient that the Tibetan monks will be so proud of you. Know that eventually, everything will be okay.

6. Eat good food that aids in the recovery process. For example, avocado contains omega-3 fatty acids that enhances wound healing and reduces inflammation. Make Google your best friend and be open to learning. Make use of this time to become smarter so you can show off these knowledge gained to your friends in the future.

7. Stay positive. Accept it that you’re injured and stop feeling sad or angry or disappointed or miserable because there are so many other reasons to be happy about. (Like making your sibling bring food to your bed if you happened to be bedridden because of your injury.)

Also, think about it this way- the happier you are, the faster you’ll heal.

“Above all else, we’ll see that champions take pride in comebacks, relishing the opportunity to come back stronger.”
-Jim Afremow, The Champion’s Comeback.