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Easing back after injury?
lporter229
Posts: 4,907 Member
I am looking for any advice from experienced runners on easing back into running after an injury. At the beginning of April I started experiencing sharp, intense pains in the top of my foot when running. At this time, my weekly mileage was around 30-35 MPW. I saw an orthopedic doctor who thought I had a stress fracture in my metatarsal, but it was not confirmed by the MRI, which only showed inflammation in the bones. Treatment was to wear a boot for a month, ice therapy and no running. Last week I was given the green light from the doctor to begin running again. She told me to stick to runs of a mile (really?) at first and gradually increase. She also told me to avoid any elevation changes. I am still experiencing pain in the foot, only now it is dull rather than sharp. I can tolerate running on it fine, but I do not want to risk anything by over doing it too fast. Last week I ran 4 days, 1.5 miles each.
As I am sure any of you who have been there can agree, it is really hard to refrain from doing too much too soon. I am just trying to figure out the best plan of attack to get back in running shape and stay healthy. Am I better off doing more frequent short runs, or taking more rest days and doing slightly longer runs? What is a reasonable weekly mileage after a month off? Does pace make any difference at this point? If you have any suggestions or advice on getting back into the swing of things, I would appreciate it. I have been cycling a lot in the mean time.
As I am sure any of you who have been there can agree, it is really hard to refrain from doing too much too soon. I am just trying to figure out the best plan of attack to get back in running shape and stay healthy. Am I better off doing more frequent short runs, or taking more rest days and doing slightly longer runs? What is a reasonable weekly mileage after a month off? Does pace make any difference at this point? If you have any suggestions or advice on getting back into the swing of things, I would appreciate it. I have been cycling a lot in the mean time.
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I am looking for any advice from experienced runners on easing back into running after an injury. At the beginning of April I started experiencing sharp, intense pains in the top of my foot when running. At this time, my weekly mileage was around 30-35 MPW. I saw an orthopedic doctor who thought I had a stress fracture in my metatarsal, but it was not confirmed by the MRI, which only showed inflammation in the bones. Treatment was to wear a boot for a month, ice therapy and no running. Last week I was given the green light from the doctor to begin running again. She told me to stick to runs of a mile (really?) at first and gradually increase. She also told me to avoid any elevation changes. I am still experiencing pain in the foot, only now it is dull rather than sharp. I can tolerate running on it fine, but I do not want to risk anything by over doing it too fast. Last week I ran 4 days, 1.5 miles each.
As I am sure any of you who have been there can agree, it is really hard to refrain from doing too much too soon. I am just trying to figure out the best plan of attack to get back in running shape and stay healthy. Am I better off doing more frequent short runs, or taking more rest days and doing slightly longer runs? What is a reasonable weekly mileage after a month off? Does pace make any difference at this point? If you have any suggestions or advice on getting back into the swing of things, I would appreciate it. I have been cycling a lot in the mean time.
Were I in your situation, I would contact the doctor for the simple reason that, while there are some knowledgeable people here, the people who understand the situation best are you and your doctor.0 -
No real advice; just wanted to say welcome back and enjoy whatever miles you eventually decide to put in! Must be so great to be getting back after so much time off!0
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No real advice; just wanted to say welcome back and enjoy whatever miles you eventually decide to put in! Must be so great to be getting back after so much time off!
Thanks! It is, but kind of bitter sweet. Glad I can run, but I want to run more!!! Yesterday I went to cheer a friend on in the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon. It was really tough to be there and see all of those runners with their blood, sweat and tears, knowing that last year I was one of them and now I am trying to figure out if a two mile run is "too much"!0 -
I was on a 6 week no running, no extensive walking ban due to a hip stress fracture I sustain 3 years ago. My first and so far only major injury. My first "run" after I got the green light from my doctor (I had to have no pain while walking and pass her various tests without pain) was 1 minute run / 4 minute walk times 6. 30 minutes total. We increased the run / decreased the walk by 30 seconds every other day until I could run 30 minutes straight.
Then each week I could increase the time of the run by 10% still running every other day. So basically three 30 minute run sessions for one week, the following week 33 minutes, then 37 minutes the next week, etc until I got to a 60 minute run session. Zero to 60 minutes took me 8 weeks. I was on my own after that. In fact I did a trail half marathon two weeks later with no issues. And no significant issues ever since.
I had a very prescribed rehabilitation period. Did I feel like I could do more? Absolutely but I didn't, I followed my doctor's protocol to the letter. That's my experience coming back from a major injury so maybe yours, OP, doesn't warrant such rigidity but I am surprised your doctor would leave things so open ended as to just tell you to go run a mile.
Also, the fact that you are still feeling pain seems like something to pay attention to. Maybe you aren't fully healed in which case you still shouldn't be doing any running because that might aggravate it all over again and you'll be back to square one. I was feeling no pain whatsoever when I did my first 1 minute of running and continued to not have any pain as the minutes increased.
At the end of the day though, this is a discussion you should be having with your doctor. Good luck.0 -
Thanks for that info jturnerx. It sounds like you had a good doctor that was very involved. I'm not sure I can say the same for mine. I have not been very pleased with how the whole situation worked out (she initially wanted to put me in a cast for 6 weeks without doing the MRI). But as it stands, I have been released from her care, with directions to "ease back in to running slowly". I suppose seeking another opinion might not be the worst idea. I am still a bit concerned over the pain I am still experiencing. But it's definitely a lot better and tolerable. On one hand I really don't want to start this whole process over again, I just want to run. On the other hand, the practical side of me tells me that I do not want to risk doing any long term damage either.0
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I happen to be an expert on coming back after injury. I do it every week, Ha ha!
But, seriously, my experience tells me your doctor's advice is not bad.
I always come back too fast, and end up aggravating the injury before it is 100-percent healed.
Lately, I have gotten a little smarter and I have learned to pile up the shorter runs initially, rather than doing my normal longer ones.
That is, I do three-milers every day, or something like that, and then do something else too if I want some more exercise -- instead of doing my 6, 7, or 8-milers every other day.
Seems to work better. The longer distances early on are just asking for trouble.
Don't worry. Your conditioning suffers. But it returns quickly when you do ramp back up.
Good luck0 -
I've been thinking of starting a similar thread so might as well join in yours - I'm running just 1-3 miles a day most days with my 'long' run being just 4 at the moment to total about 10 a week (was up to about 15 and my mid-week runs were very comfortable 10k ish so nothing impressive here but I miss it)
because I kept running again before I was supposed to it not only aggravated the original injury but also caused compensatory injuries in the other leg and foot and effectively doubled my problems
ETA even the running I'm doing now is not proper running really, it's 4 minutes run and 1 minute walk, just one of my runs each week is continuous running and I'm doing that very slowly. I feel stupid doing it but I'm pain free for the first time in a few months and want to keep it that way!0 -
My husband fractured his kneecap last May and was on crutches for over 6 weeks. As running was pretty much the only exercise he did it was a bit stressful for him. What really helped him was a good physical therapist who works with runners and athletes a lot. I would recommend you go that route, especially as you are still experiencing pain when running, and if the pain worsens find a sports medicine doctor.0
This discussion has been closed.