Easing Back Into Running

I was in such a groove with my running before my vacation. While I was ready for that planned week off, I wasn’t ready for the extra time off forced by my ITB flare-up and ingrown toenail procedure. Now that both of those injuries are resolving, I need to figure out how to ease back into my running program and get ready for the Army 10 Miler without doing too much too soon again.

This week I started off with an easy 3 miles on the treadmill.  I hedged my bets by warming up on the elliptical for a few minutes before I warmed up by walking on the treadmill.  Then I ran for 1 mile at 5.7 mph, 1 mile at 6.0 mph, and 1 mile at 6.3 mph.  I walked for 5 minutes to cool down, and took plenty of time to stretch and use the foam roller.

On Tuesday I was back to my elliptical and weights routine, which I mixed up a bit to include some burpees, mountain climbers, and jumping jacks, based on last Saturday’s kick-ass workout.

On Wednesday I went for a 4 mile “test run” outside. My injuries didn’t bother me, but my legs felt heavy and my average pace was about 10 min/mile. I decided the burpees were too much and dropped them from my weight routine on Thursday, although I kept the mountain climbers and jumping jacks.

On Friday I went for another 4 mile run outside. My legs felt better and my average pace was back to “normal” at about 9:35 min/mile.

I planned a 6 mile run for Saturday, but wasn’t sure if I would run outside or on the treadmill. Running outside meant doing the same loop that caused my ITB issue two weeks ago, but I decided that I couldn’t let that fear build and intimidate me.  Plus, it’s a good training course with a mix of flat sections and hills. So, I headed out for that loop, but decided on a slightly different route that ended up being 7 miles.

With hurricane Irene making her way up the east coast, it was very humid and the run never felt easy. Although my recent ITB injury (along the outside of my left knee) was fine, my chronic, nagging ITB issue (along the outside of my left thigh) made its presence known. I decided during my run that I’ve GOT to get that fixed or the Army 10 Miler will be in jeopardy.  I spent lots of time stretching and foam rolling, and am going to look into getting a sports massage this week. (Thanks, Carly, for the tip!)

I hope to resume my usual running routine this week, with 4-ish miles Tuesday and Thursday and 8 miles on Saturday. If all goes well with those runs, I will start planning speed and hill workouts to get ready for the Army 10 Miler on October 9.

How do you get back to your training program after an injury?