injury recovery and introduction to speed....

shels4ever

Just wondered what most people on here do when introducing speed back into your program after injury. At the moment i'm just trotting around on easy runs but have done one or two sessions in the past few weeks.

The problem is once I get to do session of anything less then 1k-800m I run to fast and will feel some slight issue with the calf. This doesnt happen if the pace is above 6:40/7 min mile pace. Would it be an option to do more reps or shorter recovery at a slower pace to avoide injury. The last 2 session pace was closer to the 6:00/10 pace for 600's and felt easy apart from the sligh issue with the calf and 5X800's 3:23 ish yesterday and felt really easy but again have some tightness over the last few reps when the pace started to drive faster.

I was thinking of doing 2 session a week now, The first been a fast finish long run so 10-12 mile with 4 miles faster. the second one will be the problem if I'm on the track its hard to hold back and keep the pace slower. So this one is open i'm looking for something that will get similar results to a 10X400m session with out stressing the calf too much. I was playing with the idea of doing 1500's with 45/60 recovery.

The planned face distance for the summer is 2 mile to 5k and will be doing aprox 45/50 miles a week. I know for 2mile to 5k longer session are not ideal but the key for me is not to be injured.

Krusty_Clown

Trying to remember, was the injury related to the calf? If so, you may be returning to speed-work too soon and should probably stick to aerobic runs, until you can do speed-work/fartleks without any calf pain. Just my 2c.

shels4ever

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Trying to remember, was the injury related to the calf? If so, you may be returning to speed-work too soon and should probably stick to aerobic runs, until you can do speed-work/fartleks without any calf pain. Just my 2c.

Yep, the calf is the problem point and has been for a while now. Think your right need to walk before I run. So longer aerobic runs seem to be the best bet.

tunguska

Sounds normal enough shels. I mean when you return after injury your body just isnt used to fast running. You gotta give it time, your body will adapt. Look after your calfs in the meantime, dry needling is seriously good for calf problems. But also be conscious of your gait when you run. Make sure you're solid and have a rigid upper body, and keep your stride length short. Keep at the speedwork, but make sure to rehab afterwards. Stretch the calfs, ice them, wear calf guards(compress sport are the best) drink plenty of water.

BeepBeep67

Agree with the above, also I'm reintroducing speed work for the first time since my injury and I'm doing fewer reps at a slower pace to allow by body to adapt.

shels4ever

tunguska wrote: »

Sounds normal enough shels. I mean when you return after injury your body just isnt used to fast running. You gotta give it time, your body will adapt. Look after your calfs in the meantime, dry needling is seriously good for calf problems. But also be conscious of your gait when you run. Make sure you're solid and have a rigid upper body, and keep your stride length short. Keep at the speedwork, but make sure to rehab afterwards. Stretch the calfs, ice them, wear calf guards(compress sport are the best) drink plenty of water.

Yep thanks, I tried the dry needling for the first time a few weeks ago and was suprised how good it was to be honest. How often would you have it done yourself?

YFlyer

Do something like 1 minute pick ups every 10 minutes or so, or light fartlek.

tunguska

shels4ever wrote: »

Yep thanks, I tried the dry needling for the first time a few weeks ago and was suprised how good it was to be honest. How often would you have it done yourself?

For the past few weeks I've been getting it done every week, but thats because I've been racing every week. Under normal circumstances I'd get it every 2 -3 weeks. But I've found ice/heat very good aswell.

Krusty_Clown

tunguska wrote: »

For the past few weeks I've been getting it done every week, but thats because I've been racing every week. Under normal circumstances I'd get it every 2 -3 weeks. But I've found ice/heat very good aswell.

Hope the prize money is covering your dry needling bills!

BeepBeep67

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Hope the prize money is covering your dry needling bills!

My wallet and I got filled with holes for 8 weeks earlier in the year - but it did work.

dna_leri

shels4ever wrote: »

Just wondered what most people on here do when introducing speed back into your program after injury. At the moment i'm just trotting around on easy runs but have done one or two sessions in the past few weeks.

.

Shels,

I don't know how long you were out or when you started your comeback - that will make a difference. You will know yourself when you are ready and you really need to listen to your body as you start the faster stuff and pull back if need be.

After my knee injury in 2010, I took 3 months of easy running and built my long run back up to 90 mins, did a few tempos and hill-work before I started speed work. Even then it was at a level below what I had previously been at. But after that the gains came quickly and in another month was where I wanted to be.

Take it slow and cautious.

tunguska

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Hope the prize money is covering your dry needling bills!

Not much fun but unfortunately thats where its all gone. Reinvestment is the way I look at it.

shels4ever

dna_leri wrote: »

Shels,

I don't know how long you were out or when you started your comeback - that will make a difference. You will know yourself when you are ready and you really need to listen to your body as you start the faster stuff and pull back if need be.

After my knee injury in 2010, I took 3 months of easy running and built my long run back up to 90 mins, did a few tempos and hill-work before I started speed work. Even then it was at a level below what I had previously been at. But after that the gains came quickly and in another month was where I wanted to be.

Take it slow and cautious.

Basically have been out since last summer, but only out of action for faster running have been running 40-50 miles a week since last october so have an good base, problem is that I can run faster than the calf can take and its gone 3-4 times over the last few years. So doing logs or rehab work at the moment.

shels4ever

tunguska wrote: »

Not much fun but unfortunately thats where its all gone. Reinvestment is the way I look at it.

Yep but its good that there is something coming back, you'd prob be still paying for it even if you were finishing a little furhter down the feild.
(I'd still like to see your training logs )

dna_leri

shels4ever wrote: »

Basically have been out since last summer, but only out of action for faster running have been running 40-50 miles a week since last october so have an good base, problem is that I can run faster than the calf can take and its gone 3-4 times over the last few years. So doing logs or rehab work at the moment.

How are you on hill work, can your calf take them? It might be the way to transition from base work into speed.

shels4ever

dna_leri wrote: »

How are you on hill work, can your calf take them? It might be the way to transition from base work into speed.

Yes that maybe an option, but would need to be longer reps I think, its something I may try.

ecoli

Rarely been out for too long with injury so normally stick to a few weeks of easy running then throw in strides or diagonals (on football pitch or if you want to transition back to track jog the bends stride the straights)

After this I would say if you are not feeling it try lower intensity sessions with very short recovery and high volume. These will work well for your endurance I do stuff like 20x400m with 30-45 secs @ 5k-10k pace (to give you idea of the volume of sessions this is off say 70mpw so adjust accordingly). The idea is that you get rhythm running but intensity is low enough it shouldnt aggravate the injury. If it does though cut back