Running is a great form of exercise, but it's also quite strenuous and heavy on our bodies at times and I've experienced that first hand, unfortunately. During the last week of October, I ended up stretching the ligament in my ankle and let me tell you, THAT was painful. It's taken nearly three weeks for it to properly heal and in that time, I've been trying everything to strengthen the ankle back up again.
But after a lot of rest and some gentle exercises, I've managed to get back into running and I thought I'd share some tips with you about how to get back into the sport after a moderate injury. But before we begin, I have to get the boring bit out of the way first...
DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical expert, nor am I an expert in sports or sports science. I am not qualified to give any medical advice regarding any of your injuries. All of the tips outlined in this blog post have been acquired from my own experience of running after a light-moderate injury. You are not obliged to follow any of these hints and tips. If you do follow these hints and tips, you do so at your own risk. I am not responsible for any worsening of injuries nor am I responsible for any new injuries you acquire after reading this blog post. Please seek medical advice from a GP or qualified equivalent before running after an injury.
Go for a walk
One of the best ways in which you can prepare your body for running is walking. Walking is the perfect intermediate step if you're looking to get back into running after suffering an injury. It allows your muscles to build up strength, gradually, in preparation for more intense exercise.
Start with a stroll and then once you no longer feel somewhat challenged, start to get some power walking in. Once you can do that without struggle or pain, then you're ready to fire up your running programme again.
Try running in intervals
As tempting as it might be, you shouldn't set out on a continuous run. Mixing running with walking will ease the pressure on your body and your injury. While you're doing this, your body is adapting to impact felt whilst running but the walking in between gives it time to recover from any effects felt. This will also help to strengthen your muscles up over time, ensuring you can get back to your original running schedule in no time at all.
Focus on strengthening your muscles
There's a lot you can do before actually going out and running again and a lot of it can be done without even stepping outside of your home. There are plenty of exercises on YouTube you can follow depending on your injury and the level of running you're at, so my advice would be to definitely look into doing a few of those exercises because I did and they really helped in terms of recovery.
Run frequently for shorter distances
Little and often is the perfect way to get back into the swing of things when it comes to running. Instead of going out three or four times a week and running a 5K, go out four or five times a week and do a 1.5/2K run instead. If you're worried about total kilometres run at the end of the week, those short runs will soon add up, don't worry!
Add in some hills
This was a little more tricky for me as when I was recovering, there weren't actually any hills around where we lived, but there are more than enough now which makes for the perfect ankle strengthening remedy. I don't like running up hills - who does? - but I actually found it to be incredibly beneficial in more ways than one.
See how you feel
Don't return back to your normal running routine until you feel like it. Listen to your body and take things easy until you think it's time to go up a gear. If your injury is giving out, take a break or go for a walk but make sure you rest and give things a go another day. Just see how you're feeling before you decide to go out and do a longer run.
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I hope you enjoyed this blog post! Do you have any tips for those recovering from a running injury? How did you get back into the swing of things after your sports injury? Let me know in the comments below :) I'll see you again really soon with a brand new blog post.
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