HOW FAST CAN I GET UP TO RUN SPEED RETURNING FROM INJURY?

Juan Vergara

I will end my 4 week run jail next week recovering from a very light stress fracture (left foot talus) and tendinitis (left fibularis longus)
If I listen 100% to my VERY CONSERVATIVE doctor, I will run IMLC (March 30th) with very insufficient run training ( as in start slow and increase 10% per week .... Hmmmmm not good!!! ).
Given I only have 12 weeks from that point until IMLC, I prefer the wisdom within EN to show me the way to "safely" get back to speed ASAP.
Recommendations?
PS: In the mean time I have been Deep Water Runing (hard and long!!!!) and PT every other day.

rlh2000

So yes, you might be able to increase by more than 10% per week, but that might put you right back in run jail. I'd really recommend the 10% rule for actual running, but you can supplement it in other ways by continuing the deep water running and elliptical.

Anu Rao

Pfitzinger has a nice seven week plan for return after sfx. Check it out. Err on the side of caution, especially if you took only 4 weeks off, bone take a while to heal. Everyone is different and some people bounce back after an sfx quicker. For the first few runs, ice the area around the sfx after every run to reduce any inflammation. Make sure you are getting enough calcium. Also presumably you have identified what may have led to the injuries and have a plan for addressing that as well.  Good luck.

Link to Pfitz return from injury plan

http://www.kemibe.com/distancecoach/labreports/stressfracture.shtml

MattAaronson

I'd play it conservative. If you re-injure you'll be kicking yourself.

Juan Vergara

Tks all for the input!!!

@Anu, I checked the link you sent, very helpful; FYI I went further to ask the writer (afternoon of dec. 24th):
"If I may ask you a question about your recommended 7 week plan: which should be the initial speed (day 1 week 1) vs speed at the time of injury?"
He very kindly and promptly (late afternoon Dec. 24th!!!!) responded:
"This would depend of course on whether you had been able to do any aerobic-cross-training during the injury and other factors, but I would suggests starting out by aiming for about 60 percent of your best 5K pace for everyday runs. That is, if your best time is 20:00, or 4:00 per km, you could try for 6:40 per km (4:00 = 240 seconds and 240/0.60 = 400 seconds or 6:40) on Week 1 Day 1. That should serve as a good starting point, at least.
Have a great Christmas, Juan!"

Paul Hough

Play it conservative is the right advice, but that means very different things for different people. The 10% rule is a worthless rule of thumb that only has limited applicability (e.g., you've been running 40 miles a week for 3 years straight and now want to take it up to 50 miles a week). When you haven't been running at all, whatever you do the first week will be a 100% increase. If you just did 10 miles the first week, then increased 10% a week, then you would only be at 23.6 miles by week 10. That's just stupid, unless you were only running 25 mpw before then. I am not suggesting you push it hard, but only you can define what is a conservative but realistic level of increase to regain where you were previously. With only 4 weeks off, provided your foot is healed, you could probably regain your previous mileage at 25% per week. But I would be cautious as to what caused the stress fracture. Consider running a lot of that on grass and trails, and starting back with new, well cushioned shoes. Then after you regain enough base, you can start transitioning to more of the running on hard surfaces. Good luck!

Anu Rao

@Juan you got a response from Pete Pfitzinger? That is so  very cool!

Just FYI in case you had not heard of him

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Pfitzinger

morpheus

There's a dangerous angle here.

R n P love to use the phrase 'Let your injury be your coach'. By putting a deadline/timeline on your Arrival to Full Speed Ahead date, you might be ignoring any signals from your injury that are trying to tell you to ....

shorten your work intervals, or
increase recovery in between work intervals, or
space an extra recovery day in between runs for that foot, or
stuff like this.

I'm not telling you to do these things. I'm just reminding you that you need to be constantly vigilant as to what your injury (rehab) is telling you as you move thru this. If you ignore signals for the sake of 'your' timeline, you could set yourself back. Right now, you have time to rehab in time for the IM. Do this again in 4-6 weeks from now and it might be a different story.

Good luck, Juan. I'm pulling for ya!

Coach Patrick

This is great advice everyone, thanks for helping Juan out! I agree that being conservative is important, and as Paul noted, the 10% rule isn't always applicable. Here's what I would do:

1 - We know that frequency trumps duration.
2 - We know that speed isn't really a limiter in Ironman training (overall progression of a season, yes, but not final 12 weeks for most).
3 - We need supplemental activity similar to running to complement your "beginner" run mentality....

Equipment:
* I would make sure I have access to an elliptical (ideally) or a stairmaster.
* A treadmill would be a nice option as the running progression continues.
* You could do intervals in the DWR if that helps you stay sane!

Location:
* If I could do my runs on a soft track or "friendly" area vs concrete sidewalk, I would do that first.

Training Focus:
* I suggest you drop the run intervals from Tuesday; allowing you to run / cross train on Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday -- Wed / Sat / Sun would be bike only to start.

Week One would have 4 "run sessions" with just one of them running (Friday perhaps), the others would focus on a steady HR zone 1 to Zone 2 effort. So Week 1 could be elliptical/stair on monday...tuesday DWR...thursday elliptical....friday outside for first test run (but keep it short!).

Each week after you can add a bit more running to this agenda.

Watch your HR drops as the fitness comes back, and the paces will improve..but I would worry more about getting into that fitness groove (HR of X yields PACE of Y) similar to what you had before vs saying "I have to run at Pace X in order to know I have regained my fitness".

Please keep the feedback coming!!!

rlh2000

One thing I'm disagreeing with that's been said is the grass/trails part. Yes, these are soft surfaces, but they are uneven, and will put more stress on the foot and potentially alter mechanics. A good track though is great.

The key thing to remember when coming back from a stress fracture is that typically putting stress on a bone is ok, the stress fracture just happened because you were stressing it more than its ability to recover. So whatever you do now, give ample time to recover. No back to back real running days, but again, supplement with water running/elliptical/what not.

Paul Hough

@ Rachel - I have come back from 3 separate metatarsal stress fractures when I used to be a competitive runner. In each case, I was just getting cheap and not changing out shoes as frequently as I should have. Trails and grass are superior surfaces but only if you choose the right paths. I am not suggesting running on some barely used trail in the Rocky Mountains. Well maintained running trails by definition are non uneven, and are vastly superior to any hard surface. A well maintained dirt road is also excellent. Of all the tracks I have run and raced on in my life, the best one was a grass track in England. The track lanes were shifted North-South/East-West about 20 yards every other week and rechalked so there were no ruts on the lanes. It put a putting green to shame. I agree that a tartan or other synthetic track is a fantastic surface, just stay in lane 6 or 8 if you are jogging for rehab, and reverse direction, if you can, about halfway through the run.

Jan Schorpion

Juan, I attached 3 return to running plans I have used successfully with my patients to get them back to running. I find the intermediate plan to be just right, not too aggressive and not too conservative. Check with your PT and MD if you are ready for this and if they think its appropriate for you to start. Remember, getting cleared by your doc to return to running doesn't mean you're always ready to take that step. PT often has a better idea of your status because they see you more often.