So you want to get back to running?
Things to look for when planning your return to running include:
1. Pathology and stage of condition - some things don’t respond well with continued running or early return to impact and often benefit from a period of rest prior to a gradual return.
2. Irritability
Knowing how irritable your symptoms are can go a long way in guiding your return to sport. As a simple guide if you have pain with low level day to day activities such as walking short distances, climbing the stairs etc. you may be too irritable for a return to running. Conversely, if you have minimal day to day symptoms you will often respond better.
3. Readiness to run
Testing your readiness to run with questions and physical tests can guide therapists with a suitable return to running programme for you.
4. Response to running and ‘run tolerance’
How do you respond if you run? What are your symptoms during running? How long do they last after? Is there a distance you can manage with minimal pain and without lasting reaction? If so this distance can often form the starting point to a return to running programme.
Severe pain during running, pain that lasts beyond 24 hours or significant increases in other symptoms (such as swelling) suggest excessive loading. Running should be decreased to a manageable level or stopped if a manageable level can’t be found.
5. Athlete’s goals
A runner who just wants to ‘get round’ a marathon will have very different training needs from one who wants finish it in under 3 hours. In many cases the process is less about working with pre-determined rules (such as increasing by 10% per week) and more about considering the best way to safely train to achieve your goals.
6. Stage of competitive season
There are points during the season when you and your therapist may be more prepared to take risks. For example, imagine developing an injury just before the key race of the year. We may be more inclined to manage that injury to allow you to compete than we would be in the off-season when there’s far less need to take such risks.
7. Address injury impairments
Alongside planning your return to running - key impairments in strength, range of motion, control, muscle mass, power and plyometric ability should be addressed. A lot can be achieved through careful selection of 3 or 4 key exercises tailored to your needs.
So there you have it! Some thoughts from the Running Physio, Tom Goom, based in Brighton, U.K. .