Return To Running From Injury.

Let’s be honest, as we get older and our bodies start to “feel it” more, there’s always the potential chance of injuries becoming more frequent, serious and at worst, stopping you from reaching your new-found health and fitness goals.

I can vouch for this. I’ve had lots of strains, nerve pain, neck pain, issues with hamstrings and calf muscles and during many stages over the last 4-5 years, have felt that perhaps I should be surrendering my body to the inevitable ageing process and just give up.

Well, I am very thankful that I never did quit. In fact, I can 100% guarantee you that it’s not all doom and gloom. Far from it.

But strategies you employ should be designed to suit your current health and fitness status with the view of building from there. And it will always need or should involve the consultation of professionals – be it your GP, your physiotherapist, personal trainer or other Allied Health Professional you think is needed. And hopefully a dose of motivation from my blog 😊

Here’s how I did it.

About 5 years ago, at 105kgs, unfit, unhealthy and on my way to goodness knows what sort of health issues, I decided to take charge, lose weight and get fit again. Sounded easy.

And whilst losing weight was my first goal, I knew being a healthy weight would and should be an ongoing part of my life (maintaining a healthy weight and eating well) so I also dabbled in gym training and about 18 months ago, ventured back outdoors to try running.

But this is where it all went pair shaped.

You see, at 40 years of age (when I started this journey) I still thought I was 20 and naturally set about running and training in the gym as if this was still the case.

So I lifted heavy and tried to run at the pace I remembered running at when I was younger. I had loved running in my 20s and even at school thoroughly enjoyed middle distance running (3-5km). But when I was carrying 26kg more than I used to and had been mostly sedentary since my 30s, I was in for a world of frustration and pain.

As I started running again, I experienced the following injuries:

1. Calf strain

2. Hamstring strain

3. Quad strain

4. Achilles tendonitis pain – which I still have – read my post about the benefits of collagen

5. Heart string pain - this according to my mates was the biggest problem I had! :)

At one stage, I literally would run no more than 100 metres or possibly 1km and would break down. It was demoralising and seriously frustrating, particularly if I was running with some friends or would be overtaken by someone I deemed bigger, or older!

Add to this, by lifting too heavy too soon at the gym, I found myself with a persistent neck injury that ultimately lead to limited ability to turn my head to the left.

But that’s not all! Oh no, I then began developing pain in my left elbow and it was at this point I started to really believe it was time to take up lawn bowls or something far less taxing on my body!

And yet I persisted and I most importantly I got help. I went to, what I believe, is Melbourne's best physiotherapy clinic, South Yarra Sports & Spinal. Here I met Kylie Takarangi who through a combination of take home exercises, massage, manipulation and dry needling (see Kylie's article on this here) I began to make inroads into overcoming some really limiting injuries.

To date, I'm now running nearly as fast as I did (injury free/niggle free) when I was in my 20s, hit the gym 4 days a week and have become thoroughly addicted to participating in the 2XU Triathlon Series

This is how I started, maybe it can work for you?

Go slow and build from there

Go slow!! Easier said than done for us blokes. But it works.

So I decided to face the ultimate humiliation and go back to the absolute basics and walk. DUH! you might say, but the blokes I know and this includes me do not think like this. Everything is a competition and win at all costs. So whilst it is stupidly obvious to most, this was a revelation.

Since I'm a competitive bloke and to make it worth my while, I absolutely made sure I would be the fastest walker out there, so long as I didn't look like Cal from Kath and Kim!

It proved the perfect motivatation for me. I put aside my frustration with being unable to run and focused purely on catching any person in front of me who was a walker and to walk faster than the previous day. So I broke down my goals to be:

1. Walk every day

2. Pass all the people in front of me (a popular walking track like the tan in Melbourne is perfect for this - can you find a similar park, garden, track near you?)

3. Be faster than the day before to ensure progression in my fitness.

The beauty with this strategy was my exercise became fun and almost like a game. I wasn't relying on anyone but my own motivation. And little did I know but I was also building some fitness and conditioning that was good for me but would soon allow me to be ready to tackle running.

How I progressed from walking to running

I was acutely aware of my track record with spontaneous injuries and so rather than make the same mistake and jump straight back into running, I took a staggered approach that looked like this:

It's not a perfect plan and you should always consult your specialist (which I did) but I found this to be absolutely bullet proof for me and whilst I have had a few set-backs (from some moments when I over trained & some terrible run coaches I tried!) it's my go-to plan if I ever start to worry about niggles.

The way it works, is to run for the specified time, then walk for the specified time and do so for the number of sets suggested.

You don't progress to the next level until you can do the stage you are at pain free.

You can change it, alter it and see what works for you but it really is a useful strategy to get back to running.

I'm now, more than ever, completely addicted to training at the right volume for myself and if I ever feel a twinge, pinch or pain, I stop and go back to walking. The same is for my gym training and I'll post soon about how I overcame those issues too.

So if you are contemplating dusting off the old runners and gym gear, do it. But do it slowly and build towards it at a pace that won't lead you down a path of injuries.

Get back to healthy living.