Be Patient, right?
Started Jan OS and was de-railed at end of week 1 with an insane bout of Piriformis Syndrome that left me unable to walk for days due to the pain in my leg. Major sequale was extreme left calf weakness (could not do even 1 calf raise with that leg) probably due to nerve damage. No running but intermittent biking (enough that power did not change) through month of February along with weekly ART therapy and compliance with home stretching. Piriformis feels better and calf stronger.
Fast forward to March 1. I picked up the Jan OS on week 2, upon Coach R's suggestion, following the bike plan and "just punching the clock" and running 15-30 min at my own pace for the next 4 weeks. All is going well except the running fitness is starting to mentally take its toll. I know I took 7 weeks off, had a intense neuromuscular injury and fitness is in the muscles. But, I'm getting frustrated because I feel like I'm treading water. 
I can barely hold a 10 min pace (TP was around 8 min) with a high PE for 3 miles...uggh! I really want to be patient because my "A" race is a 70.3 and isn't until September, so I don't feel much pressure. I just want to get "going" again.
I know plenty of my EN brothers and sisters have dealt with injuries throughout their seasons. Its the mental part that is the hardest, huh? Just be patient!
Ahh...thanks for listening....I feel better already 
Comments
George - It sounds like there may be two different issues at play here. First, there is the question of lost fitness due to not exercising. And second, there is the question of recovery from nerve damage. The recovery from the former - down time not exercising - is a lot quicker than the latter. Regaining fitness from down time is indeed simply a matter of punching the clock - your body and muscles are fine and they will respond. Neurological issues, though, are much more complex, and there may be no timetable, or a very prolonged one.
I am currently learning about both of these myself. Although I was out of commission for only 6 weeks, during that time I was in the ICU for ten days and wore a neck collar for the rest of the time. During the first two weeks, I had lost 10% of my muscle mass, so the first step was to re-build that muscle and work it out to get it strong while it came back. That took 3 months. The last 6 weeks of that, I started running and biking again, and it took a total of about 10-12 weeks of training - 4 weeks of prep work and 8 weeks of OS - to return to my previous form in those two disciplines. So this was my response to rebuilding muscle fitness, it took about 6-8 weeks once I had the muscle mass back.
But I also had/have neuro issues which just involves both arms. So my swimming went klapooey overnight, and while I am slowly returning to the ability to do a one hour workout (up to 46 minutes today), the strength and swimming speed has NOT come back like it did with the biking and running. Apparently the muscles are there, but they are not functioning cause the signal is not getting thru to some of the fibers. (I'll be seeing a Physical Medicine specialist - a Physiatrist - for help with this soon.)
I'm not trying to diagnose you, just sharing my experience that if nerve damage is at play, I've learned that nerve function can take months to YEARS to return, if ever, and I've had to re-set my expectations based on that. Your MD should be able to sort these two issues out for you.
@Al, thanks for the thoughts. I totally agree with your assessment of the healing of a neuromuscular injury and for both our sakes I hope we recover fully. I know it has been a long haul for you and I applaude and I am impressed by your fortitude and positive outlook. I'm sure there were and still are some tough days but I am glad you are here to be a "voice of reason" to most of us.