Getting injured is no fun, especially as a runner. For many of us, our identity is tied to running. It fills our free time, leads to new experiences, and gives us opportunities to feel gratitude in places we never expected…like spotting a public port-a-potty on a morning run after a spicy burrito the night before. A big thank you to the workers who provide those heavenly roadside attractions.

Outside of those times, sometimes we lose the chance to run. This might be from a multitude of reasons but the most common barrier is an injury.

Whenever I get injured and am unable to run, I certainly daydream about it much more often. I’m not thinking about all the hard hill workouts that I am missing out on or the intervals that douse me in that lovely(?) Texas sweat. I simply miss the open air and the joy to shut my mind off for a chunk of time while the miles go by. Ahh, the bliss of running…

Anyways, once an injury heals up, many of us runners are scampering to put the miles back into our legs and start chasing the next personal record. Unfortunately, there are good ways to return to running and bad ways. Let’s look at some advice below!

Return to workouts ASAP – Test your baseline

Advice…Terrible. There is a time and place to test your athletic ability. Immediately after injury is not one of those times. As for the place, you are probably running on the same route either way so the place isn’t as important.

During an injury phase, your body is potentially losing a lot of muscle and aerobic base that had been built up pre injury. Assume your baseline endurance went down. It happens. It can go back up though!

It may be fun to sprint hard again but the body may not be ready for that. It takes some time to get back and it’s better to build up slowly. This is because if you are out for an injury a second time, it may take even longer to recovery. Keep reminding yourself that you will get back to it and that your running base is just as important to develop before going back to workouts.

Take it sloooow – Slowly building up mileage

Advice…Fantastic! Now, it may not always be fun to go from running at your latest fast pace back to turtle mode. The priority right now isn’t too run fast though, it is to get back to speed. You may even bounce back quicker than expected but it’s best to let the body get used to running again.

Less mileage lets the body get used to being on its feet again and you can take the time to figure out if the injury has healed or not. Generally a good rule of thumb is increasing your distance each week and not each run. I was at 30 miles per week before my injury and my weekly mileage return looked something like this:

5 miles, 6 miles, then 10 and on from there. It took me about a month before I even got to 30 miles total. Slow and steady wins the race.

Does your injury hurt when running? – Keep on Truckin’

Advice…Terrible. There will be a little stiffness when returning but do not run if your injury is hurting. Some stiffness when returning is normal. Actual pain is not. You can figure out what will happen if you keep on truckin’…more time off once it gets bad again.

No more RICE – Time for CARBS!

Advice…Also terrible. What does this even mean? Well, RICE in the recovery world stands for Rest-Ice-Compression-Elevation. It is a handy strategy to help with injury prevention and reducing down inflammation in the legs and shins and pretty much any body part. You can also keep doing this after an injury to help your body recover faster from tough workouts or your easy runs too.

Why are CARBS a bad thing? Well, this acronym means Can’t-Actually-Run-But-Snack. If you go into full blown workouts without much injury prevention, you may be on the CARBS side again. Best be careful returning (but still enjoy a snack or two).

Summary

Overall, most of this advice is terrible, what did you expect? The wisdom I can share is to just take it one step at a time. Pun intended. It is okay to have a slow return to running because it’s all about coming back and continuing to run.

Hope you are able to recover quickly from an injury if something is persisting in your life and if you aren’t injured, enjoy those miles!