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Been awaty for too long, what now?
Hi Guys,
I have been out of running for almost 2 years, I have a few really horrid medical conditions that are directly affected by running and I am trying to get my medication corrected by my specialist.
I also have, what I believe to be, ITBS.
Am I better starting from scratch (e.g. walking and running) and then letting my injury on my knee resurface and then getting help or am I better off getting help first and then running?
Also, does anyone have any tried and tested ways of getting back into running.
Thanks,
Doug
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Comments
Yes, you walk, stretch, take a day or two off. Repeat.
No need to leave the house until 10 minutes of ex sofa work has been completed.
Good luck.
🙂
Thanks for that, can you please elaborate on 'ex sofa' ... sorry for appearing a daft lad here
Hi Doug - I presume you've heard of the "Couch to 5K" programme (the link is to an NHS site). Definitely something you should follow in my opinion - I've led quite a few dozen people through it and it works. Definitely 'tried and tested'.
As for the ITB issue, if you can, go and see a physio. In your situation, I'd hope you can get to see one on the NHS, but usually it's a lot quicker to find £30 or £40 to see a private physio... probably one session is all you need for him/her to check out your legs and suggest some strengthening and flexibility exercises that you can do (alongside your C25K programme) which helps you avoid that ITB issue coming back.
That C25K can be done by following the written programme, or by downloading the free app and, if possible, find a mate to do it with you, as this hugely improves motivation (if you're lucky, there might be a running club, a running group or Park Run that run such 'new to running' courses near you... do some Googling). The programme is based on 3 sessions a week, starting with run/walk/run building up over 9 weeks until you can run 5K. You can extend the 9 weeks if you need to build up a bit slower, but from where you are, you should resist the temptation to try to take a short cut and shave off a couple of weeks of it. One piece of advice is not to worry looking good and running quickly at least until you can easily run 5K non-stop... the biggest mistake is people running a bit quicker than they should and then struggling. Instead... just slow down - something that seems most difficult for people who are ex-runners with memories of how it used to be! Good luck.
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k.aspx
Thank you for that NorthEnder. Very much appreciated.