Tips for returning after injury

[sje445]

So, I made it all the way to the end of w4 before injuring my ankle! At the advice of my physio, I'm not running for a few weeks but I'm already wondering how best to start back. I want a plan so that I keep motivated and don't just return to the couch. Do I start again from w1, pick up where I left off, or maybe just repeat w4? Any advice gratefully received.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done on your determination.

As stated in the guide to the plan, you lose no significant condition in the first two weeks of non running. After that loss of condition is gradual.

All any of us can do after a lay off is to go out for a gentle run and see what we can comfortably manage, then use C25k or something similar to rebuild stamina and resistance to injury.

My advice would be to start again, rebuilding your stamina and resistance to injury gradually.

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

and includes advice on minimising impact, stretching after every run, hydration and strengthening exercises, all of which will help.

Enjoy your journey.

[sje445 in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thanks for the advice, I'm not looking forward to starting again but I know it won't be too bad as I will have done it before. Just got to keep the motivation going 😀🏃‍♀️

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to sje445]

After injury and illness I have redone C25K in its entirety, several times and it always works.

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate]

Glad you've managed to see a physio, talk to them about your return although it probably will help your ankle to restart altogether too giving it chance to strengthen up on the way 👍🏻

[sje445 in reply to GoGo_JoJo]

Seeing the physio was the easy bit as I was already seeing them for a dodgy back 🙈. I'll continue to take their advice, and then start again when they think I'm ready. Thanks for the help.

[mrrun Graduate]

My ankle injury was epic, those things can really be bad. There will be other injuries as well (running is all about having fun and then recovering from injuries). I think the best is to simply start from scratch. You don't want to aggravate your ankle issue again, you want to rebuild your fitness. Also (and that's the good part), you are not burdened with chores of professional running so you have freedom to do what you want and when you want it. You call the shots when it comes to running. After my ankle injury I went to the beginning of C25K and when I graduated I simply repeated the whole thing again. Why not? That made me a better, stronger and more experienced runner and my progress to longer distances was much easier.

[nowster Graduate]

I sprained my ankle (two different ligaments on the left foot) this time last year (doing my graduation run). After a week the ankle had swollen and I couldn't even walk without pain. Two physio visits later and I was on the mend.

You absolutely must ask your physio for advice on how best to start back. Mine encouraged me to do lots of short walks to start with.

Then I was to do very short jog/walk intervals for a couple of weeks, starting with 20 seconds of gentle jogging and 40 seconds of walking, repeated. They were really frustrating to do as my legs remembered doing much longer runs than that.

This was in addition to all the other stretching and strength exercises she had me doing.

I gradually worked things up from there until I was able to do an appropriate run from C25K, and then I followed C25K again.

[hamit Graduate]

Over the last few years I have repeated c25k and it works after recovering from injury. Sometimes I do a week but faster as tempo training. C25k is the go-to-fix, good luck