Restart after injury (Read 724 times)

OK I DON’T want to get ahead of myself! The last visit to the Doc seems to be doing the trick!! My range of motion is greatly improved in my back to the point I can put on socks and shoes without help and I DID NOT take pain meds or muscle relaxants today and actually worked a full day at work!! Mondays are my rest days. But I won’t push by running tomorrow. I am planning on waiting until NEXT Tuesday to start back running. So far this month I have run just one very short mile, when my plan was to be running 5 days at 2 miles/day with a 3 mile being my long run on Sundays. Then the back went south. Being I will have not run for a full month, I am sure I can’t just pick up where I left off (Much as I WISH I could!!!). What should I be planning for as a realistic injury FREE restart?

Glad to hear you're feeling a bit better! Two things come into my mind ('just my $0.02' as Mile Collector likes to say, so take it or leave it): 1) In my humble opinion, you probably don't want to go back to running when you're AT ALL needing to take serious pain meds (anything more than tylenol) to get through any day in the last week. If you're experiencing that kind of pain in the last 7 days then your body is probably not totally recovered. Plus, you don't want to mask any actual pain you might encounter during a run with some residual effect of the meds. 2) You are completely correct in assuming you can't pick up where you left off... after a full month AND still recovering from an injury, you're back to 'square one' or even less! If you must run, don't throw in anything crazy (hills, speed) or I'm afraid you'll reinjure and end up right back where you were. Start conservative and stay there until you are positive you won't hurt yourself again. The only thing worse than injury is repeated re-injury! Be careful!

Can you *walk* without injuring yourself? Can you do other types of exercise? Is it only the impact that hurts your back? If all of the above is true ... come next Tuesday, I'd go for a brisk little walk - with a little jogging thrown in. Come back. Wait until the next morning. See how you feel. The one thing you have to be careful of is the fact that once you get your body warmed up, you may feel fine WHILE you're running ... only to discover later that you've injured yourself worse. That's why I'd suggest starting really carefully, and evaluating the next day - instead of during your run. If you feel good, take a day off, go for another walk ... and maybe toss a little more running in. Rinse, lather, repeat, adding in more running slowly and carefully, always evaluating how you feel the next morning. You'll be running marathons in no time at all. Really trust me on that bit about the fact that your body can fool you once your warmed-up and sweating. I knew that perfectly well, but ignored it during my recent toe problems. And sure enough, exactly what I just described happened: I ran on the injury, it hurt a little the first couple miles ... and then magically there was no pain. I - of course - decided the injury had vanished, and ran harder. 12 hours later I couldn't walk. Listen to your body, and give it time to talk to you. But at the same time, don't lay around too much, either. Maybe it's a twisted runner's mentality, but I tend to think most problems are made better with (moderate) exercise rather than worse. Good luck!

C'mon over to "On the Bench" http://www.runningahead.com/groups/benched and share your woes!

Me, carefull? Rational? Whatever gave you that idea? I am a Federal Emplyoee, that makes me certified as insane. That and I am married to a Postal Employee.

Mantra for government employees: I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers-I-will-not-kill-my-coworkers ... Be good. Maybe a nice, gentle walk?

Ran yesterday and today and feel good. I think the stiffness in my back may just be something I'll need to learn to live with and I am ok with that

Ran yesterday and today and feel good. I think the stiffness in my back may just be something I'll need to learn to live with and I am ok with that

Gregg, just my two cents about this ... I am curreently benched with a back injury as well. Here my quick story. I lifted a very heavy patient mid September (I am a nurse). My back was stiff and achy, but I could bend down and such. Was put on light duty, muscle relaxers, pain meds and physical therapy. Only needed one Vicodin the first night. Since then Tylenol is fine. Made progress in physical therapy. Went back to running and felt strong and great after PT. Lifted something lighter at work - started to have numbness and tingling down my right leg. Had an MRI and have a tear and herniation in one of my lumbar discs. NO running at the moment, only swimming and walking. Still physical therapy. The sports doc said it takes 3 months for the tear to heal. NO impact ... did I mention NO running? I am only having minor pain, some muscle spasms every now and then, an achy lower back and occasional numbness. However, I am still following the no running rule. I do not ever want to have surgery on my back. I have seen these surgeries in my job. Patients seem to come back for more a lot ... and often end up with metal rods and screws in their backs. That pretty much ends the running career ... Morale - I don't want to scare you. But please be careful with your back! It is a very fragile thing and you need to take good care of it if you want to run many more years. Make sure you get the opinion of a sports doctor if possible. Let a good physical therapist evaluate you, they are amazing in assessing your status! I had already muscle weakness in my right foot and didn't realize it. I do want to run many more races - that's why I am following the no running rule. As hard as it is. I have to be on weight watchers to not get fat and I have to be very disciplined to not go nuts .... I totally understand where you're coming from. Take care!