When you are a runner there are few things more annoying than an injury. Being sidelined from your marathon training plan takes a toll on both your physical and mental health.
Your return to running after injury requires patience, direction, and a willingness to accept you may need to back off for a bit.
It may not be fun, but it’s definitely worth it.
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Want to return to running after injury?
There are 8 important considerations to help you safely return to running after injury. While the length of your recovery will greatly depend on the severity of your injury, making sure that you think about all 8 of these recovery considerations is important:
- Call in the experts
- Set a realistic timeline
- Go at your body’s pace
- Recognize the difference between work, soreness, and pain
- Progress slowly and methodically
- Have a team of support
- Give your body the best inputs
- Honor your current state of ability
Call in the experts to help you return to running after injury
Depending on the severity of your injury, your rehabilitation team may be quite extensive. Making sure they are all on the same page about your rehab goals will get you where you want to be more quickly.
That means a little bit of work on your part. But quality healthcare professionals should want to set clear expectations as a way of managing your recovery.
Have a list of questions that you ask each care provider. Sample questions might include:
- What are your expectations for my recovery, both in terms of duration and return to my former capabilities?
- Do you foresee any challenges with this injury and my desire to run my planned race?
- How can I adjust my day-to-day life to heal myself most completely and in a safe but expedient timeline?
- Do you recommend any supplements or vitamins to support my rehab?
- Is there a difference in the timeline for when I can return to partial activity and full activity?
After you have asked these questions and recorded the answers, see if there are any discrepancies among your care team. If there are, ask for more information.
Remember that you are the patient, and it is your body that has been affected by this injury. So long as you are asking questions with a curious, positive tone, your care team should be happy to answer them for you.
While it should go without saying, following the directions that your physician has laid out for you. I know it can be tempting to push yourself. If you’re someone who loves to run, being sidelined is awful.
If you have a prescription for physical therapy, use it! Even if you think you know what you should be doing, having a professional guide your recovery is in your best interest. You are not an objective observer of your own body. Having an expert guide your recovery allows you to focus on executing the recovery plan rather than designing it.
If you don’t have access to PT or can’t afford it, at least use a professionally-designed strength training for runners guided workout after your injury has healed. Strength training is a great way to prevent running injuries.
Set a realistic timeline for your return to running after injury
Of course it is frustrating to be injured! But wishing yourself back to 100% does not make it so. Having a clear understanding of the timeline for returning to exercise after injury is essential.
Again, listen to the prognosis from your physician. Even if you think you are far more fit or capable than what your physician may understand, that does not mean that shaving a week or a month off your recovery timetable is realistic.
In fact, erring on the side of caution is a much better strategy. The sooner you can accept that this is not a time to fight, push, and prove yourself, the better your mental wellness will be as you recover.
Go at your own pace while recovering from injury
Just because someone else you may have read about on the internet was back to skiing two weeks after their ACL repair surgery doesn’t mean you should be. You have no idea what the full story of their recovery is. Maybe they’re in total pain and agony, but they get some sort of ego rush out of proving how fast they can recover.
As with most things in life, just because you CAN doesn’t mean you SHOULD. Powering through a workout with gritted teeth and questionable form just to say you did it is not productive. Even worse, you could aggravate your injury.
Getting back to running after injury is a long game. In most cases you will reach your goal more quickly if you take things slow in the beginning. Laying a solid foundation of strength and muscular coordination is essential for performing more challenging activity in a safe and sustainable way.
Yes, it may be boring. Yes, it may seem that progress is taking forever. But if you don’t rehab your injury correctly now, you may have lingering issues 10, 20, or 30 years later. Or, worse, you may never get back to where you want to be.
Remember that recovery is not a race. Rehabbing an injury is a great time to remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. And just in case I’m not being clear, you are the tortoise!
Recognize the difference between work and pain
It is absolutely critical that you listen to your body. Depending on the length of downtime your injury has caused, you may feel fatigue when exercising much earlier than you would expect to.
While it is understandable that slow progress is frustrating, that is not a good reason to power through. Fatigue is a message from your body that it is nearing its work limit.
If you feel pain, stop what you are doing. Pain is also a message from your body, but rather than being a warning sign it is a full stop sign. There are several red flags that you should consider as you start exercising again.
Red flags:
- dizziness
- acute pain
- inflammation/swelling
If you experience any of the above, let your physician or physical therapist know immediately. Again, open communication with your care team is key to getting back to fitness after injury as quickly as possible.
Learn more about the difference between sore vs. pain here.
Progress your recovery slowly & methodically
No one wants to hear that injury rehab is going to take a long time. Nor do they want to hear that they exercises they are tasked to do are the same ones they have previously decided are boring or too easy. It’s mentally deflating.
One of the biggest mistakes people make when returning to exercise after injury is progressing the difficulty of workouts too quickly. Working with a physical therapist will ensure that you are making slow but steady progress.
It is likely that the exercises described by the PT seem easy at first. If you are used to running fast or long distance running, know that physical therapy moves at a different speed. Go with it.
When you graduate from physical therapy, enlisting the help of a personal trainer for a few sessions can help keep you moving forward in a safe and effective way. Ask your physical therapist if s/he has a recommendation of a trainer who can help you design a few workouts that are appropriate for your current fitness level. Personal training can really benefit your running, even after injury.
Have a team of support
In addition to your medical care team, ask for support from family, friends, and co-workers. Getting back into fitness after injury is a lot of work! Ask those people who are integral to your life for their help. They want to see you be your best self again.
Many women find it challenging to ask for help, even in times of physical need. We are conditioned to believe that we can (and should!) do everything ourselves. Nonsense!
Use this rehab period as a time to practice asking for help. I think you’ll find that there are plenty of people in your life who are happy to show their loyalty to you.
Give your body the best input for the best output
Sleep + Fuel + Water
While it can be tempting to fall into laziness when you’re out of the marathon training mindset, remember that your body’s recovery relies on quality sleep, food, and water. These inputs directly relate to the output of recovery.
To hasten the return to running after injury, ensure you are sleeping adequately. Your body does most of its repair work while you are asleep. Getting plenty of shut eye is a free and easy way to help your body work at its best.
You also want to keep fully hydrated. Adequate hydration means drinking enough water so that your urine is pale yellow. This optimal hydration level allows your body to work most efficiently.
Finally, feed your body fuel to help it repair. This means focus on eating real foods and limiting processed junk. Real foods that contain protein can support muscle rehab.
For a tendon or connective tissue injury, ask your physician about collagen supplementation. Collagen peptides like these may help your body rebuild these components more quickly.
- Bioavailable Collagen Peptides Powder: Sourced from grass-fed, pasture-raised bovine. Digested and absorbed by the body quickly for maximum benefits.
Foods with fiber will help fill you up, hopefully lessening the chance that you overeat. This is important when you are less active than normal. You need to adjust your daily caloric intake to meet your current caloric expenditure.
Finally, anti-inflammatory foods like citrus fruits and cold water fish will support the body’s repair process. They allow the body to put energy into the repair of your injury, where inflammation is a normal and necessary part of the healing process.
Honor your current ability level
Getting back to fitness after injury is a marathon, not a sprint. Being content with where you are in the recovery process will keep you from making a mistake that could send you back to the beginning.
Keeping a workout log can be a great way to remind yourself that you are, indeed, making progress. Being able to look back on your workouts and see them progressing can be just the motivation you need to take things one day at a time.
- Marni Sumbal, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN (Author)
Karen Shopoff Rooff is an ACE certified personal trainer and health coach with more than 20 years’ experience running marathons and ultramarathons. The Marathon Finish Line blog is for informational purposes. Please seek advice from a medical practitioner before engaging in a new fitness program.