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Quick check of my plans -- semi-new runner (Read 167 times)

JLongRC


    Hello all,

     

    Hoping to check and see if my ideas look good.  I recently left my college baseball team after a shoulder injury.  I will be getting surgery in May.  I used to really love lifting weights as a primary physical activity, but that is more or less completely out of the question for the foreseeable future.  A work colleague of mine mentioned a marathon coming up in December, and that seemed a perfect goal to keep myself active and feed my competitive streak.

     

    This isn't the first running I've done, I ran cross country in high school (this was about 4 years ago now) for two years.  Obviously, training for a marathon and training for a 5k are completely different, but at least I can say I've been on 10+ mile runs before and I've run the gambit of speed work, interval and hill training, etc.  With that said, I'm not in that kind of shape anymore.

     

    Obviously, there is a big obstacle between now and my December marathon goal -- that surgery in May.  My plan has been to do a half-marathon training program up until my surgery and then beginning a full marathon program once I am cleared to start running again.  How does that sound to everyone?  I will likely be in a sling for 4-6 weeks which will keep me off the roads in between those programs, but after a week or so of inactivity I should start being able to do SOME cardio oriented work again.  I am two weeks into the Hal Higdon Novice 2 Half Marathon program now, not committing to which level of marathon program I'll go on in the end at this point.

     

    Does this seem like a good strategy to deal with the surgery in May?  I think I've given myself plenty of time to get myself in shape to run a marathon in December, but I'm happy to hear feedback on that front too.  Thanks for the help everybody!

      Sorry about your shoulder. As one of three college ball playing brothers, I'm the only one who escaped without a surgery - but I can sympathize. That sucks.

       

      Your prescribed course sounds entirely reasonable. As a 20-something college athlete with a running background, you will likely have close to no problems tackling this. In fact, your biggest issue will probably be pushing against whatever plan you picked, because I bet you find it easy - so you'll probably deal with wanting to do more, and toeing the line between doing too much and following the plan. Listen to your body, and you should be okay.

       

      Also, you'll probably heal fast. Maybe even faster than the doc's guess. You have so much time between May and December though, there is zero need to push to get going early. Let it heal completely.

       

      Good luck, dude. You'll be fine.

      Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
      We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes

        You should be able to do it. Twice I ran marathons in six months starting at zero. Don't expect to run it fast but you should be able to finish it.

         

        JLongRC


          Sorry about your shoulder. As one of three college ball playing brothers, I'm the only one who escaped without a surgery - but I can sympathize. That sucks.

           

          Your prescribed course sounds entirely reasonable. As a 20-something college athlete with a running background, you will likely have close to no problems tackling this. In fact, your biggest issue will probably be pushing against whatever plan you picked, because I bet you find it easy - so you'll probably deal with wanting to do more, and toeing the line between doing too much and following the plan. Listen to your body, and you should be okay.

           

          Also, you'll probably heal fast. Maybe even faster than the doc's guess. You have so much time between May and December though, there is zero need to push to get going early. Let it heal completely.

           

          Good luck, dude. You'll be fine.

           

          Thanks for the feedback!  You nailed it on the head, I've certainly been resisting the temptation to add and tweak.  A friend has been stressing that I slow down on my runs and not to try to outsmart the program.  The last thing I want is a new injury, so I'm taking the advice seriously.

           

          On another note, so far the switch from resistance and sport-related training has been really smooth.  I had a lot of trouble getting myself to run when it was just "cardio" but now that I have a concrete goal for each day I really look forward to it.  Getting out of my place and into the morning air for a run to start the day is like taking uppers or something.

           

          Thanks again for the feedback (both of you)!

          spinach


            I am sorry to hear about your shoulder.  I hope everything will go well from it.  Make sure you do whatever physical therapy that is prescribed afterwards to get the range of motion back in your shoulder.

             

            A couple years ago I had rotator cuff surgery on my shoulder and my arm was in an immobilizer for about a month afterwards and then in a sling for another month.  However, I asked my doctor about running and I was able to get back running ten days after the surgery. Ask your doctor about when you will be able to start up again.

            I ran in the immobilizer and it was a little strange and it did screw up my stride a bit so would recommend you work hard int he next couple months before your surgery to get a good stride and learn what it feels like, so you will be able to find it again.  The toughest part of running after the surgery was to find an appropriate shirt to wear.  I could not lift my arm and so all my running shirts were out.  And I couldn't find a good button up shirt that was a performance fabric and so I had to run  during the summer in a cotton shirt.

             

            Good luck, i think you should have plenty of time to prepare for the marathon after the surgery but you should try to get into as good running shape as possible before the surgery so you will be starting from a better condition.