[PREVIEW] Triathlon Injuries and the Five Stages of Grief

[PREVIEW] Triathlon Injuries and the Five Stages of Grief

From The Lonely Triathlete - triathlon training and motivation for the masses by Todd Sauder

July 5, 2026 · 5 min

About this episode

The episode discusses how triathletes experience injuries through the lens of the Five Stages of Grief.

We all get injured and we all deal with it differently. It recently occurred to me that I seem to go through stages of grief when I am injured. And I don't make the best decisions for my long term health until I reach the last stage. Join the fun at www.patreon.com/thelonelytriathlete TRANSCRIPT Triathlon Injuries and The 5 Stages of Grief Today I want to use the 5 Stages of Grief as a framework to talk about how we, as triathletes, often experience injuries. The Five Stages of Grief weren't actually created to explain sports injuries—or even the grief we feel after someone dies. They were originally observations of people facing their own mortality. Modern psychology tells us grief isn't nearly that tidy. But I've found those five emotions to be a surprisingly useful lens for understanding what happens in my own head every time an injury threatens a session or perhaps a season. As a quick recap, 3 weeks before my end of June race, I hurt my back. And I mean, I really hurt it. I had to take 8 complete days away from training and there were a few moments where I entertained the possibility that I might not be able to race in the World Championship qualifying race that I had been…

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