Starting Back Running Before the Injury Has Healed
With most running injuries, you can continue to run even while the injury is healing. But first, you must have some time off to get the healing started. If you do this at the beginning of an injury, you will usually only need 2-5 days off. The longer you try to push through the problem, the more damage you produce, and the longer it will take to heal. Stay in touch with the doctor at any stage of this healing/running process, and use your best judgement.
To allow for healing, once you have returned to running stay below the threshold of further irritation. In other words, if the injury feels a little irritated when running at 2.5 miles and starts hurting a little at 3 miles, you should run no more than 2 miles. And if your run-walk ratio is 30 seconds run/1 minute walk, you should drop back to 15 seconds run and 90 seconds walk.
Always allow a day of rest between running days. With most injuries you can cross train to maintain conditioning but make sure that your injury will allow this. Again, your doctor can usually advise on this.
Jeff Galloway Resources: www.jeffgalloway.com Visit the E-Shop where you will find “Running – Getting Started” and other books for your running library.
