Training for Half Marathon w/ minor injury

cannie55
cannie55 Posts: 74 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm hoping to do my first half marathon on July 8th. As a little background on me, I finished the C25k in mid-March and spent the next month logging about 12-15 hours a week. I'm not planning/hoping to be competitive at the half at all, I just want to survive it and hopefully have a good experience.
I was planning to follow this training plan- http://www.halfmarathons.net/training_tips_schedule_beginner_runners.html

The week before starting that program I got a new pair of running shoes, I did a couple short runs in them which went fine but on my first 4 mile run I strained the ligaments on the arch of my foot. I've attempted a couple short runs since then, but my foot has been too sore to do much. It is definitely improving, but still too sore to run. I saw a physical therapist today for a different issue (which *hopefully* won't negatively impact my training at all) and she stressed that I need to hold off on running until my foot doesn't hurt anymore so that I don't push this minor injury into a major one.

Right now, the plan is to take it easy for the rest of this week and ice/tape it as recommended and then attempt a short run on Monday depending how it's feeling.

My question is, how much is this going to mess up my training plan? Theoretically I should be on week 3 right now, but I haven't completed a single run. I wasn't too worried about missing the first two weeks since I was basically covering the same mileage before the program started, but the runs are starting to get longer and the more time I'm not running, the more out of shape I'll be.

Is there anything I can do to cross-train that'll be easy on my foot but will still benefit my running? Any suggestions on how to get back on track with the running plan once I can run?

Replies

  • tbernard
    tbernard Posts: 54 Member
    I've had a little experience running, having completed both half and full marathon distances. I also didn't rest enough at a time when my arches hurt and wound up with full blown plantar fasciitis in both of my feet. As a result I walked like an old man for around 18 months until I was finally 100 %. Plantar takes a long time to heal, so don't push it. This isn't something that you want.

    If your arches hurt one really good exercise is to plant your feet on the floor and roll our toes on the floor toward you using the floor as resistance.
  • cannie55
    cannie55 Posts: 74 Member
    Thanks for the advice, my PT warned me about this turning into full bowl plantar fasciitis too, and I definitely don't want that to happen! Maybe I'll try and wait a little longer before attempting to run again. It feels pretty good when I walk, so I'm really hoping it'll improve quickly
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
    If you're just taking a week off you won't lose any running fitness. However, after a week it will start to deteriorate and will be gone in a few months. You can cross train to minimize loss of running fitness. The best exercises would probably be cycling or eliptical. If you have access to a swimming pool then pool running would be the best of all.

    If you only miss a week then pick up training where you left off. Just take the first couple of runs real easy to get your legs moving again. If you miss more than that then the amount of crosstraining you do in the meantime will be important to how fast you can get back on the program.
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
    Also, don't let this minor setback discourage you. Everyone who runs battles an injury sometime. I had to heal a broken foot last summer and am dealing with plantar fasciitis right now.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    she stressed that I need to hold off on running until my foot doesn't hurt anymore so that I don't push this minor injury into a major one.

    Very sound advice.
    Also, don't let this minor setback discourage you. Everyone who runs battles an injury sometime.

    This too.


    If you've already been running a bit you're probably (was that right.....12 to 15 hrs running?) ok to accelerate the early stages of the training plan a bit too. (But don't try to catch up the distance you've missed by increasing your mid week runs, stick with the prescribed distances)
  • cannie55
    cannie55 Posts: 74 Member
    Thanks for the advice and encouragement everyone!

    I had a typo in my original post, prior to my injury I was doing about 12-15 MILES per week (not hours!) sorry about that!

    I'm still walking a fair bit, my dog and I go between 2.5-3 miles each day and my foot seems to be okay with that. I've also been using the elliptical at the gym too so I can try and not lose too much fitness. At this point, it's been 2 weeks since I've run (not including a few very short attempts to see how my foot was feeling).

    Thanks again for the encouragement, I was a little worried everyone would tell me to bail on my plan to do the half in July and I'd really like to do it if I can

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