Recovering from a torn muscle in my shin.

BeccaAnderton

This evening I got diagnosed with a torn muscle in my shin (major relief as I was concerned that it was a stress fracture), I've been training for the Great North Run which is in September, but the doctor told me to not run for a week, which is fine, albeit frustrating.

What I was wondering was what exercises can I do in order to keep my fitness and endurance levels up while I'm waiting for it to heal, and then while I ease back into running once I've healed? I don't want to cause the injury again, so obviously I don't want to rush back into where I was (I was up to running 7 miles before I injured myself) and just take it easy, but I would still like to be able to run the full 13.1 miles in 6 and a half weeks time.

I would swim, as I know that's good for when you're recovering from injuries, but I have a chlorine allergy and while I can get away with the odd dip into a pool, if I do it regularly it destroys my skin completely, so, yeah, a very long winded way of asking if anyone knows of any good exercises I can do while I'm healing? Haha

DrMAvDPhD

Walking? Biking? I would say you should ask your doctor what is okay.

I did this in high school, but it didn't cause me any pain or prevent me from normal activity (I only knew about it because I had a tennis ball sized knot on the top of my shin).