Forums >Running 101>Getting back to running after an injury/time off
I've been off of running since January, and had only been running for a month and a half before I got injured (stress fx due to increasing distance too quickly). I was at 5 miles on long runs before my injury. I'm having a hard time deciding what distance/how much a week i should run since I was able to tun 3-5 miles before and now I'm struggling even running one. I am looking to do a half in September and I need to be able to do 3-5 to start my training plan for that. Please help!
Honestly - if you were only running for 6 weeks before getting injured, and you've been off for 3 months, you're probably back to square one as far as running goes. You're going to need to start with what you can do, and increase gradually from there (at a slower rate than you did last time, so you don't end up with another sfx).
It is easier to come back from a long layoff if you have a bit more running history, but 3 months is a long time for anyone.
Have you been doing any cardio at all, or have you been completely laid up? That makes a difference as well, because the cardio would have to come back in addition to any muscular strength.
I feel your pain - I've been out since 2/9 with a broken ankle, and it will probably be another month before I'm thinking about running again. I don't anticipate having a whole hell of a lot of fitness left when I start running, considering I have spent most of the last few months on the sofa. And I have a 3.5 year running history and was running 40-50mpw for the three months before my injury. I think it is going to be frustratingly hard coming back and being out of shape, when I could go out and run 20 miles on a whim right before the injury and it feels like I should still be able to do that.
My wildly inconsistent PRs:
5k: 24:36 (10/20/12)
10k: 52:01 (4/28/12)
HM: 1:50:09 (10/27/12)
Marathon: 4:19:11 (10/2/2011)
Thanks! i was only resting from everything for 2 weeks initially, then i was able to swim so I've been swimming for an hour every day since I was injured, and now I just use it so I'm not running everyday. But i still feel like all of my fitness has pretty much gone away
You should try using an aqua jogger... I've seen a lot of people at the pool with injuries using them to keep up fitness
I probably will do some swimming/water running when I can walk again, but before my legs can handle the pounding of running. Cycling too, once the ankle is flexible enough for it.
I was fully immobilized, non-weight bearing for 6 weeks, so I did *nothing* for exercise. I thought about doing the hand bike to get some cardio, but quickly nixed that idea because the last thing I wanted to do was tire out my arms - my crutches were doing that well enough . I have started with a little bit of weight bearing now, so I have been pondering swimming, but I'm not sure how I'd get in/out of the pool in my current state.
Refurbished Hip
Honestly - if you were only running for 6 weeks before getting injured, and you've been off for 3 months, you're probably back to square one as far as running goes. You're going to need to start with what you can do, and increase gradually from there (at a slower rate than you did last time, so you don't end up with another sfx). It is easier to come back from a long layoff if you have a bit more running history, but 3 months is a long time for anyone.
+1
You're at square one. With only 6 weeks of running + 3 months off, I would just start with C25K or something similar. It sounds like you built up too quickly in the first place, anyway.
I've been running for 5 years and had to take 4 months off (Nov - Feb) for a serious injury. You can check my log to see that I've been doing a lot of 4-5 mile runs lately and I run ultras. I figure it's better to build back *very* slowly in order to avoid injury again.
Running is dumb.
I'll second the idea of going back to C25k or a similar program. I was off with a pelvic stress fracture. When I started running again, I followed a program I found online that was much too aggressive for me. By week two, all the pain was back and I had to rest an additional two months before starting up again. I learned my lesson and was much more conservative for the first couple of months.