Coming back after injury and illness, would ... - Bridge to 10K

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Coming back after injury and illness, would appreciate some advice

Gwenllian1 profile image
Gwenllian1Graduate10
11 Replies

I’ve had five weeks off running, first of all with a knee injury and then, just as that was recovering, a fortnight laid low with a chest infection. For the last couple of days I’ve been feeling a lot better and thought I might try a run tomorrow. I’m really not sure what to aim for. I’d been regularly running 5k and was half way through the magic plan but I was taking a couple of weeks for each week of the plan and am generally old and slow (old, slow and really love running though so that’s ok!). I’ve been a bit wedded to having a plan since c25k but I’ve no idea whether I can slot back into the magic plan, should go back to somewhere on c25k or should just go out tentatively and see how it goes. Any thoughts? I’m sure I’ve lost loads of fitness but I’ve got to get back to it sometime!

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Gwenllian1 profile image
Gwenllian1
Graduate10
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11 Replies
Buddy34 profile image
Buddy34Graduate10

Why not just go out for a nice slow gentle jog. No pressure on distance or time , just see what you can manage and take it from there. Great you're feeling better😊

Gwenllian1 profile image
Gwenllian1Graduate10 in reply toBuddy34

I think you are probably right. If I do it that way I’m not setting myself up to fail! Feels quite an odd idea though. So far I’ve always gone out with a clear aim, first from c25k and then with the magic plan. I don’t think I’ve ever just gone out to see how it feels!

Buddy34 profile image
Buddy34Graduate10 in reply toGwenllian1

From what I've read on here it's just something we have to do after injury or time away from running for any reason. Good luck 😊

Coddfish profile image
CoddfishGraduate10

I had a knee injury a few years ago that took me out for a few weeks and hampered me a while longer. I found just going out, taking it slowly, taking walking breaks when I needed to, worked fine. Aerobic fitness hadn’t reduced a lot, but my stamina had, and also pace.

Gwenllian1 profile image
Gwenllian1Graduate10 in reply toCoddfish

That sounds like the approach I should try. Thank you! I’m going to go out today and just take it easy and see what happens. That will be a first! Just letting it warm up a bit. There’s a hard frost out there.

ForbiddenPlanet profile image
ForbiddenPlanetGraduate10

Sound advice from others I think. I had a knee injury in November, and was out for three weeks. My way back was to walk my usual running route and gradually began running more and more of the time, beginning where the ground was easy (noticeably flat and even and straight) until I felt comfortable running all of the route once more.

Gwenllian1 profile image
Gwenllian1Graduate10 in reply toForbiddenPlanet

Thank you. That sounds a really good way of getting back into it. I’m going to walk up our hill and try gently running/walking back I think. I can tell I’ve lost stamina while I’ve been ill because I’ve just been out in the garden and haven’t worked at anything like the pace I usually do, so gently does it!

ForbiddenPlanet profile image
ForbiddenPlanetGraduate10 in reply toGwenllian1

Good luck. Hope it goes well.

Gwenllian1 profile image
Gwenllian1Graduate10 in reply toForbiddenPlanet

It did! I only did twenty minutes or so but I felt fine and will have a go at a slightly longer run in a day or so! Thanks for the advice.

ForbiddenPlanet profile image
ForbiddenPlanetGraduate10 in reply toGwenllian1

Excellent - it's such a great feeling when you have started running again as you have successfully done!

Runningfit profile image
RunningfitGraduate10

The c25k nhs+ podcasts are good for getting back after a break. Stamina is 35 mins running and gives 3 paces... building up to fastest.

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