Too injured to workout? Freaking out? Good news!

Hi everyone.

I started the Couch to 5K program on June 19 and just completed a 15K run this week.

Unfortunately, my chronic peroneal tendonitis has flared up again. I seriously messed up my tendon about 20 years ago playing pick-up basketball with my brothers. I went up for a rebound and came down on my brother's foot and rolled my ankle -- complete with a snap that sounded like a gunshot. Ruptured the tendon and was on crutches for a month. If I overwork it, it can flare up. I can also feel it when it gets really cold.

Obviously, the 15K on Sunday was too much -- my body's way of saying slow down a bit. 5-7 days of ice therapy and compression and it should be good to go.

However, I started freaking out that if I couldn't run for a week, I'd lose all the conditioning I'd gained over the last two months. It felt like getting to the top of a very steep hill only to roll back down to the bottom.

I started some research into how long it takes to lose conditioning and the news is reassuring.

This is a good article for anyone freaking out that they have to take some time off running because of an injury: http://runnersconnect.net/running-injury-prevention/losing-running-fitness/

Basically, assuming you have 2 - 4 months of good condition to start with, you don't lose much, if any of it, if you take some time off to heal.

The results are:

*1-7 days off leads to no appreciable loss of fitness level or muscle power.

*10-14 days off leads to a 6% reduction in V02 max, which roughly equates to running a 5K in 21 minutes as opposed to 20 minutes, along with a minimal loss in muscle power.

*14 - 30 days off leads to a 12% reduction in V02 max, which roughly equates to running a 5K in 23 minutes as opposed to 20 minutes, along with some loss of muscle power.

*30 - 63 days off leads to a 19% reduction in V02 max, which roughly equates to running a 5K in 24 minutes as opposed to 20 minutes, along with a significant loss of muscle power.

So, as you can see, even with a significant amount of time off, the result is a very small reduction in your overall conditioning. And this is assuming you can't do ANY working out during your time off to heal. Many people can continue to do less stressful activities like swimming or using a stationary bike.

Moral of the story -- if you're hurt and need to take time off to heal, don't freak out.

Although it is mentally hard to go from a new very active lifestyle to semi-sedentary. I feel like climbing the walls! :laugh: