First run coming off a 1/2 and an injury

summertime_girl

Damn! I did a 1/2 marathon four weeks ago. I had some bad knee pain after the race, so I took some time off running for bit. The only running I've done in the interim was a 5k trail run (very slow, with my 7 year old), and a 15k obstacle race (again slow, because of obstacles). Did a lot of CrossFit. But no road running.

Fell off my horse and landed on my knee about a week and half ago, and have done nothing since then, just letting that heal.

Went for a 3.5 mile run this morning, and I thought I was going to die. Sucking wind, and had to walk a couple times. It was pathetic! How did I go from a half marathon to struggling with a 5k in a matter of weeks?

I haven't taken any time off running since I started running a year and a half ago. If you've taken time off, how long did it take you to build back up? I feel so demoralized that I lost all endurance in such a short time frame.

schmenge55

I suspect it was both mental and physical. Just ease yourself back into things. The fitness comes back pretty fast. Btw, if you are not already you might want to add some glute medius work into your training. Lots of knee problems are from a weak or inactivating glute muscle.

jturnerx

I had a significant injury a few years ago where I couldn't run or do any extensive walking for 6 weeks. When I was cleared I spent about two weeks building up to 30 minutes continuous running through run/walk intervals. Then spent 6 weeks building that 30 minutes into 60 minutes continuous. Three weeks after that I did a trail half marathon. Three weeks after that I did a trail full marathon. I considered myself "back" at that point. I haven't had any setbacks of that magnitude since.

I had a solid base before the injury and I kept my fitness level up as much as I could doing any activity that didn't cause pain. This was mostly water running and spin. After that layoff my first land session was 1 min run / 4 min walk x 6. I was a 50+ mile per week runner before and here I was running for 1 minute. But I let that go, put my head down and followed my rehab protocol to the letter. I knew it would come back and it did. Anyway, that's my story. Your mileage may vary.

KWKY

I have been out for six weeks after the last HM from an ITB injury plus piriformis syndrome. Just got the all clear from physio last week with the proviso that runs last no longer than 20 mins and definitely at slow speed.

Have done a couple now at 7min km's on the treadmill, feel fantastic and would like to push on more but definitely taking is very slowly as I don't want to aggravate anything again.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

mlb929

I'm in the same boat. I had an injury after my marathon and didn't run for 6 weeks. I did other cross training that was low impact and lots of upper body weight lifting. My first run out, I timed, just to see where I was. By my third run, I was actually only 20 seconds per mile slower than race pace. I'm also ready to increase my miles slowly. I was amazed at how fast I've gotten it back on track.