Managing Injuries & Setbacks - Gillian Cooke's Story

"I'll do what I can do where I can while there's something I can't"

Gillian Cooke's advice on managing injuries and setbacks

Gillian Cooke’s story isn’t one just of two halves; it’s one of two sports (and two types of track).

Plus injures. Lots, and lots, of injuries.

“The lower level, niggly ones have a less obvious short-term effect but can be incredibly frustrating. But, the big injuries have required a complete mindset change”, she begins.

Having been persuaded by a friend to give the pole vault a go at age 16, Gillian enjoyed almost instant success in athletics. She went to the Commonwealth Youth Games and finished fourth just a year after taking up the sport (albeit for triple jump – the pole vault wasn’t contested at the youth games).

And it was only a few short years before she made headway in the international ranks – she competed in the pole vault at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester aged just 19. Four years later, Gillian made a final in her second Commonwealth Games, this time in the long jump, where she experienced Melbourne Cricket Ground quite literally vibrating under the rhymical clapping of 100,000 spectators willing each athlete down the runway.

Gillian became a stalwart of Scottish athletics, breaking records in the long jump, triple jump, and pole vault, and came within hundredths of a second of breaking the National indoor 60m record.

But the training started to take its toll on her body. The long jump was proving particularly troublesome, and she had to either regularly miss competitions or would turn up already expecting to perform badly because she’d not been able to train consistently.

“Setting myself a new challenge when I can’t do what I want to is something I’ve always done”, she explains, looking back on her now extensive experience of managing injuries and setbacks. “When I first injured my ankle long jumping, I did the summer season jumping off the other leg – a huge challenge in coordination. I ended up just 20cm from my PB, and it probably made me a more balanced athlete!”.

Despite finding a way to work around her persistent injury, Gillian was frustrated with her performance.

It’s often said that the universe works in mysterious ways, and that’s definitely the case here.

In 2008, at a time when she was feeling particularly low, Gillian received an unexpected invitation to try out for the British bobsleigh team. Her trial was successful, and she joined the two-woman bobsleigh crew as a brakewoman. Just like she’d experienced in athletics, Gillian’s success in her new sport was almost instant.

Five months later, she was part of the first British team in 44 years to win the World Championships (alongside Nicola Minichiello) in a season that also included European Championships bronze and four World Cup medals.

Gillian made such a mark on the British team that she was selected to compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, less than 18 months after taking up the sport.

But her first Olympic experience ended in disaster, with a horrific 90mph crash on the Whistler Track leaving her with significant trauma to her hip.

“That hip injury is probably the hardest thing I’ve had to get through”, she says. “I had to learn to walk again. It was 18 months before I could go up even small steps on that side. And for months and months, there was uncertainty as to whether I would ever get full function back”.

Gillian found solace in small signs of improvement. She kept a detailed daily diary so that when she felt “hopeless”, she could look back on the preceding few months and see that while her day-to-day recovery was up and down, the overall picture was improving. Like many athletes working through long-term rehabilitation programmes, the support of her coaches, physiotherapists, family and friends was crucial.

Two gruelling years of rehabilitation ensued, but somehow, Gillian managed to compete and train throughout this period, moving to the role of driver. She returned to the same track she had crashed in during the Olympics for the 2011/2012 World Cup Race. And the same thing happened again – thankfully, this time, without injury.

So, when Gillian headed to Whistler once again for the 2012/2013 World Cup, she was understandably nervous after experiencing two terrifying crashes, the earlier of which she was still suffering the effects of.

However, it was a case of third time lucky for Cooke as she completed two clean runs and walked away unscathed with a podium finish for her efforts. Gillian says she is even more proud of this than becoming the World Champion three years earlier.

Going into 2013, Gillian was on a high. She had rehabbed, was back to full fitness, and had returned to brakewoman duties. Heading out to the Altenberg World Cup in January, things were looking up.

But because this is a story of setbacks and recoveries, you can probably predict what happened next.

Gillian was involved in another serious crash. Whilst she was in a lot of pain, it looked like she had had a narrow escape, and initial investigations showed no major injuries.

So, she took ten days off to recover – during which time she admits she “couldn’t really move” – before returning to training and competition. She picked up fourth place at the European Championships in the following weeks and competed in the World Championships and Olympic test event soon after.

But the pain wasn’t subsiding, so Gillian went for another scan. It was discovered that she had fractured her spine in the Altenberg crash.

The damage was, once again, permanent. Despite an intense rehabilitation programme and dogged determination, Gillian couldn’t get herself back to full fitness in time to be selected for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. She retired from bobsleigh in early 2014.

“There’ll always be a grieving period for ‘what could have been’”, she says, looking back on the end of her bobsleigh career. “But getting focused on the reality of a situation and what you can do to help yourself is key. Adaptability – being able to pivot and quickly refocus –  is a truly useful skill”, she adds.

And so it was, with a carefully managed programme which focused on protecting her injuries, that Gillian adapted, pivoted, and refocused, turning her attention back to athletics.

She joined the masters ranks as a V35 in 2018 and picked up a silver in the long jump at the World Masters Championships in Torun in 2019.

But – of course – her return to the track didn’t go as smoothly as planned. She’s struggled with Achilles injuries and various other niggles, which have meant she hasn’t been able to train or compete as often as she’d like.

As with her bobsleigh and senior track and field careers, Gillian has found that the key to coping mentally with these further setbacks is to do something.

“I’ve always had the mentality that I’ll do what I can do while there’s something I can’t.

“If an injury is stopping me from running, I’ll be in the pool, “running” in the air between dip bars, or working on things like mobility and core strength. I like to be able to keep my fitness up and the running movement patterns going as best I can”.

In March this year, Gillian picked up a wrist injury which meant she had to take a break from pole vaulting – a break which is still ongoing.

However, with her trademark resilience, Gillian sees this latest setback as another opportunity.

“I think I’m fortunate in that I compete in several different events. So, just now, while I’m disappointed I cannot pole vault, I’ve reset my goals to focus more on the long jump and triple jump.

“I also enjoy the throws, even though they’re not my strong suit, so I’m challenging myself to improve my shot and javelin!”

Despite her injuries, in recent years Gillian has only narrowly missed the podium at a number of championships. She’s now set herself the goal of winning a medal at a major championship as a V40, and is as meticulous in her goal-setting as she is in her approach to rehabilitation and recovery.

“I’ve always been a goal-setter”, she admits. “When I was a senior track athlete, I’d sit down at the start of every season and write down not only the aims for each event, or the results I wanted to achieve, but also a breakdown of what I thought I needed to do to get there.

“I’d ask myself if I needed to improve my strength, speed, technique, or nutrition. And what did I need to work on to reach those desired improvements?

“I’m not quite so analytical these days, but I still find setting lots of small goals leading up to a bigger one is the most useful way of getting where I want to be”.

And, given her previous history of injuries – mixed with a very hefty dose of bad luck – Gillian is now doing everything she can to ensure that “getting where she wants to be” is possible.

“I’m trying to learn to be smart about training and competing, and doing ‘just enough’”, she explains. “More and more, I’m learning that if 10 of something is good, 20 isn’t necessarily better!”.

So, with her intentions to continue to compete in the masters ranks not showing any signs of slowing, what other advice does Gillian have for the 35+ athletics community for dealing with injury setbacks?

Unsurprisingly, her advice is very much focused on finding an alternative way to chase your goals:

• Keep a positive attitude and immediately set a new goal to work toward.
• There's almost always something you can still do, even if it does get monotonous.
• If you can, keep going to training – the routine and social interaction with a training group can really help.
• And, really importantly, be consistent with your rehab!

By Becki Hall