We—Carrie and Cindy—also operate a Facebook group that’s also called The Injured Athletes Club. It’s a thriving, positive community of other people who just plain get it. This week, in our final episode of season 3, we asked members for their questions about the psychological and emotional aspects of the journey. Here, Carrie responds to concerns about fears, doubts, and understanding what makes you tick, among other things.

From cancer to health. Back to the hospital with a heart attack—and home with a new heart. And finally, across the country on a bike, twice. Mike Cohen’s life has taken him to places he never could have imagined. In this week’s episode, the San Diego-based athlete—who calls himself a professional cyclist riding for a cause—takes us through some of the highs and lows of his travels.

On most days, British runner Anji Andrews lives the athlete’s dream, working in the running industry in several capacities. But this summer, a foot injury that had begun to develop earlier this year worsened just as the country locked down due to the pandemic. Anji found the constant reminders of what she couldn’t do difficult to bear. In this week’s episode, she talks openly and honestly about the raw emotions of this combination, and how underfueling and overtraining played a role.

Lex Gillette—a world record holder and national champion in the long jump—has had to navigate change before. At age 8, doctors diagnosed him with detached retinas, and couldn’t save his sight despite multiple surgeries. Though the transition wasn’t easy, Lex credits his support system—and the confidence they inspired in him—with getting him through. The same ability to adapt to change has also powered him through injuries and other setbacks.

Your physical being occupies space in the present moment. But often, our thoughts are a million miles away, fretting over the past or fearful of the future: Will I ever run again? What if I hadn’t gone on that last ride or collided with that other player? These thoughts can hook us, leaving us unable to move on. We describe how to catch yourself taking these less-than-productive trips. From there, you can recenter your mind, adapt to the existing reality, and act to create a better future.

Mechelle Lewis Freeman had put everything on the line to achieve her Olympic dream. She’d walked away from a successful career in advertising, moved to a full-time training facility, and calculated everything from the grams of protein she ingested to the positive mantras running through her head. Injury threatened to derail her, but because she’d invested in training her body and also her mind, Mechelle was able to see opportunity in the obstacle—a mindset she maintains as a coach and non-profit leade

Chris Mosier has made history before, as the first transgender athlete to represent the United States in international competition, appear in the ESPN Body Issue, and be sponsored by Nike. In January, he once again blazed a trail at the Olympic Trials for the 50K racewalk, becoming the first transgender athlete to qualify and compete in the Trials in the gender with which they identify. However, injury nearly robbed him of the chance to make it to the starting line. Chris shares more on this episode.

Basketball, ski racing, sprint kayaking, surfing—Alana Nichols’ athletic career has brought her to the highest levels of a wide range of sports. Still, she tells us on this week’s show, as a Paralympian she often struggled to get the same care for her injuries as her able-bodied peers. Alana’s advocacy has carried over into her newer roles as president of the Women’s Sports Foundation and mother of baby Gunnar,

The second time Amanda Ferranti tore her ACL, she had a feeling her soccer career was over. Even as she coped with the challenges of recovery and retirement, she was working on another project: a system to help other injured athletes manage their emotions and thrive through, and beyond, their rehab process. In this episode, Amanda—now a soccer coach and certified mental performance consultant at Ferranti Empowerment—outlines the process by which she journaled and planned her way to a successful future.