How I got Injured | Stress Fractures | Road to Recovery 

It's very kind of you to say the things about age group athletes, people like myself look up to people like yourself as we all know even being talented at something the amount or work needed to unleash that talent is immense. The injury must be frustrating but I am taking a lot away from how you handle it because that is the smartest way.

I remember reading something Johnny Brownlee wrote a while back when he was injured. It was something like “if I can’t train like the best in the world, l’ll be the best at being injured in the world”. I’ve probably butchered that quote, but the point being that if you do all the right things during your injury, you’ll be back faster and stronger. It certainly looks like you’re doing everything possible, so I’ve every confidence you’ll come back better than ever. All the best with your recovery.

Lucy, I think your detailed analysis of the causes of your injury is definitely on point. My best wishes for a speedy and stress-free recovery, and I look forward to following your next race. 💖

It's so great that you talk openly about it! With your honesty you will help many people to overcome such times. We love you Lucy and will keep supporting you as we have done so far! ♥️ Love from Munich

I would always watch your videos and listen to you as you are always a foundation. You perfectly sum up all the aspects of stress fractures I have ever heard and it is really great how you put this in a hollistic perspective. As you said as amatures we can learn a lot from this. Sending prayers for your recovery. You are the beautiful face of this sport and we nee you back on the road.

Great video Lucy! You're being a great role model by sharing not only your achievements but your mistakes. Can't wait to see your return to racing! Look out everone!

Lovely to hear the change in your voice Lucy and outlook from your last video! Positive vibes are clearly flowing and sticking with the process! Well done Lucy (+Team Lucy)... you are clearly treating this like the champion you are and will continue to be going forward!

Thank you for this video! I can only imagine your initial thoughts when the injury was spotted, but your attitude and plan for recovery is inspiring and helpful. All the best to your recovery and again thank you for a video like this to remind us all the reality of injury in sport but the importance of recovery and perseverance.

You are very positive about this! Your mind is so powerful and the body itself will adapt. You will be recovered soon! ❤️

Thank you for the informative video, very useful as I am currently recovering from a stress fracture in my fibula. Stay positive and you're going to come back strong as ever! Sending well wishes ❤!

What a great video, Lucy. Wishing you a quick, robust recovery! I’ve been the victim of 2 SF’s and what you said as possible causes are so very true! It’s my job to help rehab people, and often it’s SF’s! Cheers, Lucy 🙌🏽

Thank you for sharing this. You point out a bunch of potential issues that could lead to a stress fracture, and definitely opened my eyes. Rest well and recover soon Lucy!!!

Incredibly grateful that you took the time to sit down and do such a thorough video on the topic. They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but I think you put in tons of prevention today. Stay strong and thank you.

Get well soon Lucy! Rest, you’ll be back stronger! You got this!

Thanks so much for another great video. I love the 'no blame' mindset! It's great to hear how much support you've got around you. You'll no doubt come back stronger than ever, mentally and physically!

As age grouper strength and nutrition are the A,B,C for longevity of training and racing. I wish you a super easy recovery. You will be a stronger when you come out at the other end. Having Reece is back is amazing. You guys are such an inspiration.

Really informative and helpful video - wishing you a speedy recovery Lucy 💗

Thanks for sharing your experience and reminding all of us that we must consider the stressors in our lives. Sage advice. I am a back of the packer, trying to "balance" 80+ hour work weeks (own/run a pet supplies store- pats to Lola!), helping my husband with cancer, taking care of our elementary-aged kiddo, and training for IMs. I tend to let life take over and then just increase mileage/training stress quickly to race. During an IM a few years ago, my foot was bothering me on the bike. I thought it was strange as my bike shoes never bothered me before . . . I was surprised to find it still hurt when I slipped on my running shoe. During the run, it hurt the whole time. I brushed it off and finished (slowly). My foot was still hurting 4 months later to the point that it was hard to even wear a shoe/stand at work and I finally took the time to see a doctor. On x-ray, I had a huge stress fracture in my foot. After 8 weeks in a boot, it finally healed. Thank you for the reminder! I think I was about to repeat my mistake. You have worked so hard to get where you are and I am glad to see you are crushing the healing process! May your recovery from this injury go smoothly. I hope you get back to doing everything you love very soon.

We are wishing you a speedy recovery! 100% you will come back stronger 👍🏻🤩💪

Good luck Lucy with your recovery! It’s nice to hear you talking through the injury and what impacts it has mentally and physically. Also massive kudos for speaking about amateur / age athletes who do the average day job and try to train and cope with injuries, as always a great ambassador for our sport and British Sport in general 😁 Keep smiling!

You’re gonna kill it once you’re recovered. My family has been following your training and races for years and you’re an absolute beast and legend!

What a great example you’re setting! Such an awesome video. Can’t wait for you to get healthy again and back it. Will be rooting for you whenever you get to race again! 💪🔥

Always look forward to seeing your great videos, good points about keeping up with the nutrition and watching your diet,in the off season And ramping up the training Nice and steady, Thanks for the shout out to the age groupers out there, loads will be watching this and taking note of the great advice, Keep us updated with your progress Best wishes for a smooth recovery 👍🏻😊

Lucy, you're a doll...even in the midst of injury! I suffered a very serious case of runner's knee over a decade ago that took me to the depths of my own darkness. Praise God it was in that place where I realized how out of balance my life was! We're whole body creatures and our physical health cannot be separated from our spiritual, emotional and mental health. Praying for you during this time that God will show you that balance you're looking for in life and training. My horrible knee injury which could have just ended my running instead led me into triathlon (which I'm loving at almost 50years young!)...so again, praise the Lord for turning darkness into light. God bless your ongoing journey, Lucy, Reece and Lola! ~Megan ps. Thankful to hear Reece is ok and back to training! You'll be there soon Lucy!

Stress creeps up on us all. I had sleepless nights a few weeks ago, life was getting to complicated so a few key changes and back to normal. When training stops becoming fun, stress is high. Key indicators and undrstanding these are a must. Sometime it takes others to point these out to us. Recovery well, your an amazing athelete. We learnfrom the professionals so grateful for these videos

Very well explained . The best bit of advise I had from my hip consultant was let pain be your guide for me Iv had lots of pain . Like you say for the more elderly like myself ! There are more risks . Iv had to start taking medication as I have low bone density . My diary Iv kept has been my bible . Iv written down everything studied every move Iv made . I’m sure your deal with it 1000 times better than me you have a top team behind you no kids or a whippet puppy who’s proving a bugger to train on the lead pulling me along at a million miles per hour !! and an nice healthy young body . Just goes to show it can happen to any of us . Iv found your videos to be a great support Iv battled this injury for months and it’s really put myself and my family though a lot of stress . I have to admire how well your coping !

It is always good to hear from you Lucy. Keep up that good rest :) and thank you for providing us, age groupers some information about this injury.

Looking forward to following your healing and back to training 🎉

Each day you are one day closer to full recovery. Having a positive mindset knowing it is temporary and you can influence the healing process will give you something to work with. Doctors say the hardest thing is for patients to follow orders and resist the urge to think you are not the average injured person and can recover faster. After my major injury, I got back at precisely the time my specialist expected. I religiously followed orders. Also use the time for a mental refresh and learn more about mental training, stress etc, which is usually secondary when you are training and too tired to train your mind. Great video! Hope your recovery all goes well and good luck

Thanks for sharing it, wishing you all the best and a speedy recovery.

I know this video is a year old- but I just came across it and wanted to thank you for posting it! I am 2 weeks out from the Tokyo Marathon and just found out I have a femoral neck stress fracture and will have to pull out of the race. Your video gives me hope!!

Thank you for sharing. This is so important to know and understand! Get well soon!

Good to hear you don't blame yourself and anyone of your team. Things just happen good and unfortunately bad ones too. And thanks to say some words for other people - age group athletes - in the sport. You'll be ok soon, Lucy.

Thanks for sharing your experience and advice... Much needed for amateur athletes like us

Thanks for sharing Lucy, having just been diagnosed with the same injury its really helpful watching your recovery and tips.

Thank you for doing this video. It will help many people to understand injury.

Always inspiring & amazing 🤩 Thanks for sharing your journey & recovery with us !

thank you for the updates - godspeed for recovery

Thank you so much for sharing. It's nice to see a pro be honest with what is happening when it's not all rainbows and unicorns. Sending positive vibes, can't wait to see you back at it!

Just shows you what a hard balancing at it is as a pro athlete, training to be the best without sustaining injuries… also for AG athletes too… I hope the recovery goes continues to go well, that Reece’s health is okay too, and that you’ll be competing again in the second half of the season, if you’re ready by then

I watch this video now being injured myself. Your attitude is so valuable. Glad you’re doing well again. Btw you dog is so cute.

Thank you! I'm recovering from hip joint injury right now. Your story is inspiring.

I wish you a quick recovery! Do not worry, you'll always ně the best! Just be fine and happy!

Get well soon!!!! Thanks for video!!!!

Another advice from a french physio. Its a great idea to have a training diary with how you feel about your body. It is even better if you write your "well being" (with Rated Perception 0-10) than your pain (RP 0-10). Its the same thing exept that in one case your scanning yourself in a positive way (which lead to confidance etc), the other one is more négative and stressful. It doesnt look like a big deal but the state of mind impacts a lot our sensation. Cheers, keep going ur good work !

Reece loves you! God bless you both.

Frodeno had his best race after the same injury - you are in good hands and can come out of this on top!!!!!!!!!!! every race is better with you in it

great to see you in a Positive Frame of mind Lucy you're a Star and Reece being Back with you is a Blessing too, and yes Timeout to Relax is Important after an eventful Year, so enjoy the time you have together with Lola, and ease up a little? and if you want a challenge try Sewing?

For years, Mark Allen suffered injuries, mechanicals problems and a multitude of setbacks in Kona, that prevented him from winning there. It is hardly possible to remember all that, because what everyone remembers it's The Mark Allen Era. When twenty years have passed, it won't matter who got in first this year in Saint George. Everyone will remember The Lucy Charles-Barclay Era.

Stress fractures are apart of endurance sport. But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that six months ago you posted a video about all foods you were eliminating and now have a fracture. A dramatic change after such proven results.

Physios are the BEST! Glad you re getting better.We love filming you in Kona!!

Thanks Lucy, great video and very helpful. Wow such a lot of editing for a talking heads video, nice though! I wish you well on your recovery and I'm sure you'll be better than ever when the time is right. Dave.

Thank you for share this information , it's very helpful to us from age group understand better the scenarios and the signs to avoid injuries and I wish that you came back soon stronger

I had the exact same injury as well as tearing the cartilage in the joint. Fortunately I didn't have to have surgery to correct the cartilage issue. But you are so right - you don't know until it's too late. I also felt moderate pain in the area and kept doing running sessions until one day I came home from a run, sat down and then couldn't get up because of the pain. It's crazy how many people carry on training with stress fractures without realizing it! Not because they are overdoing it but because of the nature of the injury.

You are the best, take care we want to see you soon back on the start line!!

Great video. Thanks for the advice. It is good to see you in good spirit. Keep it up. Fuerza y ánimo💪💪

How excited was Lola when dad came home, the love of dogs, one day I’ll get one

My wife is just in the middle of her Nursing studies right now and I learn a lot about the human body by helping her study for her exams, being an age grouper (48 this year - 3 weeks till my first ever 70.3!!!) I understood that our body and mind are an amazing creation of nature, something really magical, but, almost everything in our bodies is connected to balance, balance is the key, and once in a while it gets fluctuated by on\off season, mental stress or everyday distractions (even for a super pro athlete like you Lucy and Reece) . so, different situations that changes our routine cause our body to immediately react, sometimes it's just enough for the transition and get back to balance , sometimes it reacts differently in order to defense itself - thus creating an injury, you just cant foresee it coming since this balance is so complex as you mentioned, and so subjective to conditions and a person's genetics, so I think you're spot on reasoning and taking the correct mindset to overcome it!!! what I am sure of is from what I learned is that our body also learns and memorizes even unbalanced situations that causes these injuries and usually it gets stronger to overcome it next time it happens, I wish you a full as quick as possible recovery and I just can't wait seeing you again on the start line strong and determined, you're a true inspiration Lucy even when injured.

Thanks for sharing these valuable advices.

Hang in there. You will be back on track soon and stronger. Be well.

Best of luck with recovery. I still see a blonde with battle braids winning Kona this year…

Great video thanks and hopefully u recover quickly

Sorry to hear about the stress fracture and great overview on how everything synergistically ties together... everything from how demanding training is on the body, repetitive load stressors, nutrition and seasonal lower levels of vit D. One thing that was missing and maybe it’s included but a good food source of vit A, taken with a D3, K2 supp will ensure the calcium is kept out of soft tissue and will end up in your bones. So if D and/or K2 bio-markers are low chronically it could result in a lower bone mass.

Thx for sharing, recover well 🙂

Now she is a world champ. With CR. Overcame a mountain. Although Chelsea Sodora coming from a running background has the smoothest running form ive ever seen and she is the fastest runner amongst women as well

Love your mindset about injury - no blame, it's unfortunately part of the job. Also THANK YOU for the respect for age groupers

Thanks for sharing it. I have just been diagnosed with a stress fracture on the femur and all the advises help a lot. It would have been great if I had seen this video earlier 🤦😂

Get well soonest champ!!!!

I feel like she is going like Sarah Rrue went through. She is young strong, she acomplished so much to soon and sometimes we don't know about our own phisical/genetics limits until injuries starting to happens. Sarah, was hiting limits almost a every single race and then she finally realized that recovery and limits were there. I hope Lucy can find a healthy and concious way to recover and be aware of LISTENING her mind and body!

Props to Lucy for showing respect to Age Groupers. I hope she heals fast and gets back to racing!

When things have fully mended, I wonder if doing deadlifts or farmer carries with heavy weight would strengthen bone mass? It seems like static weight to the bone would cause it to adapt without the risk of fracture caused by sudden dynamic forces. Good luck.

Please take care, lots of rest and nutrition! You have been forced to take rest so that you could achieve better results in future 💪

I’m currently injured with a hyper extended tibiofibular joint after falling while trail running, so no running but luckily can swim and bike. Not ideal as building to an Ironman but physio said 4 weeks off no running and it should get better! I hope ironman get you on to commentate that would be great!

Hey… thank you very much for the new video. You ask for suggestions last time… I will try it- maybe you know it because you are a pro. The LEVER Running System! It will not help you to heal this injury. But when you will start your training again- it could help you maybe?! It reduces you weight while running- for example high intensive Training on treadmille. I‘m not a seller or something like that. I saw it BY Laura Phillip. Keep on … stay positive! 😁👍and win again

all the best, pitty, really looking for a dominant year from you

5 minutes of ‘big placebo’ group thought at the beginning of this video before we get to the real nub of issue: a big ramp up of overload training early in the season. On the back of what was, by any measure a massive and diverse 2021. Boom!

This is the most common injuries for triathletes and im glad you get to talk about this. Thanks for the information and i hope every athlete can get some awareness.

Please check out Functional Patterns! Again I know it’s very different and sounds crazy, but I want you to win and this will get you there! This program has put all of their athletes at the top!

I hope you feel better soon. When you started the last video about the scare with your husband and then discussed your injury I thought of a book called Healing Back Pain by Dr. John Sarno, perhaps it may help. Wishing you the best and thanks for the videos.

Your honestie is greeat. Very down to earth you are. Heal well :)

Recover well Lucy ❤️❤️❤️

Hi Lucy, sounds like your progressing really well keep up the good work :) I was really interested when you were talking about supplements, more so in relation to your injury and I wonder if you could talk more about this? The main reason I'm asking is as an age group athlete, I developed a bad injury (one consultant told me I'd probably never run again). Thankfully I got a 2nd opinion and to cut a long story short, one knee operation later and I am now running again, not quick but I'm running. I wonder if certain supplements could have helped me to have recovered quicker etc. Thanks 😊

Good luck, Lucy :)

So hard to deal with injuries, can’t imagine how much harder it is for pros!!

Hope you heal soon Lucy! Just wondering how often do you have a day completely off of training during your hardest training cycles?

Go Lucy 👍

Did you see Tony Hawk's injury? While they were in surgery fixing his broken femur, the surgeon additionally repaired a leftover femoral neck injury that hadn't fully healed in the past!

The story of competitive AG athletes ... esp self employed ones. We have the permanent stresses of running our businesses, managing our families and putting in the 20 plus hours of training on seriously minimal recovery compared to the pros. Makes one realise just how tough us AG'ers actually are.

The demanding volume and intensity of a pro triathlete is the reason for all you guys injuries, sory i have to call it as i see it. I love you guys to me url are super human, but the game is very demanding

Yhnk u for ur information I have the same injury now and I want to know in how many weeks u get well and u start ur exercises and routines??

Thank you for tipping your hat to us age groupers, that means a lot. The world will miss you in Utah. But rest , sing a song or pull a pint and enjoy the race. Slainte!

Makes me wonder about how age and what you did in your formative years figures into all of this. I did a little swimming as a kid, but mostly did high school sports, though not track and field so much, but American football.... I have learned to pay attention to my body more as I get older, 71 now....

Good luck recovering

Had my share of this issue, slightly worse cause the femur neck broke on a very stupid slow fall and now I have 3 bolts on it. What I've learned, this is not caused by a couple of months not taking care of nutrition, it's been years in so much carbs that are now common for "high performance". The metabolism of the carbs is least protective of muscles and bones, no matter taking suplements btw, sadly. I am a hard gainer, but now I have muscles! And stronger bones. And not pre-diabetic anymore too.

Dealing with a hip issue like that not sure if it's the same but it's been hard for me to accept that I can't use my legs

Hi Lucy, what supplements do you take daily? You mentioned Vitamin D. What else do you find beneficial for your health? Thanks!

Dear Lucy (and Reece and Lola), Last October after finishing Ironman Cascais, just 3 weeks after I had a stress fracture, I broke the 2nd metatarsal of the right foot. At least 4 weeks without doing nothing. I had to call sick also for my job has I need my feet to work. The worst 4 weeks of my life in the last couple of years to be honest. Totally rested at home, with my family and baby and dog. And the time passed very quick, my foot healed, my body healed, and right now already running. Still not at my peak performance, but I want that by October, this time “only” for the half Ironman in Portugal. Enjoy the rest, you will miss it. Fingers crossed on this side for a fast recovery. Kind regards for all of you

Thank you Lucy! It is good to hear a pro athlete share their injury experience so honestly. Have you considered a knee scooter for getting around? They are fast and great for getting around, while giving your good leg some exercise!

Just one comment...I hadn't noticed before that your foot strike is different on you left side, somewhat more heel to toe, than on your right side. Just curious, was you stress fracture on the left horn of your pelvis?

My God keep you 😇🙏