I got a hernia in August last year. I kept training until early October then stopped until mid-November when I had surgery. Slow running had become too painful and I didn't want to worsen things before surgery. Post-surgery, I did nothing beyond walking until late December.

I eased back into training in January then was back to full volume by February. I lost some fitness but by now I would say I've surpassed my peak fitness from last year right before the hernia.

For reference, I did a half-marathon in October and I can run the same pace/distance now at a lower HR.

In the last 10 years I have had a knee arthroscopy and an inguinal hernia repair.

I was very picky about what surgeon I wanted doing my surgery. I was completely up front with my surgeons that I wanted to return to activity ASAP postop, including negotiating that surgical glue was used on incisions for a quicker return to the pool. I actually swam the day after my hernia repair.... With some grumbling from my surgeon but his eventual blessing. After the hernia I was limited to no heavy lifting for six weeks but I was green lighted for endurance activities, limited only by my discomfort. It healed fabulously and has never been an issue since. You can barely see the scar. I want to say that I did a full IM approximately three months after surgery.

With the knee surgery, I rode the trainer, very gingerly, the same day as the surgery. I had arranged PT well in advance and was running on an Alter-G treadmill seven days after surgery. My surgeon was completely on board with an aggressive plan.

Obviously there all kinds of different operations. Some of which would not be amenable to results like I had with my surgeries. Choosing a surgeon who understands your activity goals is unbelievably important. Most patients don't care about returning to sports. Surgeons are often prescribing recovery plans for sedentary people (most Americans) and will have no idea how to deal with someone who is motivated to get back to sport.

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Jason
None of the secrets of success will work unless you do.

I’m sat here on the sofas post herina repair from last Thursday. Been told straight by the surgeon (who even delayed the surgery for me to get my last 70.3 done the weekend before) that I shouldn’t be doing anything training wise for at least 4 weeks if I want to get back to it with ease and strength and not incur any relapse or issues. So going to listen… zero point rushing

Back to work in 10-14 days. Going to spend the time watching my diet and get some weight off! So I can start training a bit trimmer!

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Regards, Richard
3D Bits and Pieces - https://www.printables.com/@thetrickster_793480

What kind of bone spur, pictures? Specifics?

Glad to hear you got your fitness back!

So I have an anterior ankle impingement (footballers ankle) with a collapsed arch so they’re going to fix those two things and release my calve.

I noticed the pain getting worse after runs. I ran a half marathon back to back weekends (Sunday long runs at the time). At mile 11.5 the pain became extreme. I was 2 streets from my house but I continued to run and pretty much stopped running completely a few months later.

I had a metal pin placed to heal a Jones fracture in my R foot 21 June 2021. Four weeks of no exercise except for some upper body lifting and core - stuff I could do without putting any weight at all on R foot. After four weeks I could swim so I did that. I think I was non weight bearing for 6 weeks, in a boot for another 4-6 weeks. Started running again mid sept .

Best wishes, keep us updated, and fight the urge to do miles on crutches, or one legged trainer stuff.IMO I probably prevented more injuries by just doing nothing for awhile (aside from the little bit of lifting and core)

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

In the past five years I have had both shoulders repaired, both hips replaced, prostrate surgery and two weeks ago a pacemaker implanted where they punctured my right lung during the procedure….hell getting old! Each time I have followed the doctors orders with the appropriate recovery and stayed active with walks building back to running, cycling and swimming slowly so as not to rush and cause more damage than good. When you are in the recovery period time seems slow, but once you are past it and training again that recovery period seems to be a blink of an eye and you will be glad you followed the recovery because the repaired part feels so normal…..good luck!

Recovery often takes longer than you think, especially with the foot and ankle given the weight bearing.

I had ankle surgery (hypertrophic peroneal tubercle) in 8/17, completely NWB for 3 weeks, then 6 weeks in a boot. Able to return to cycling and swimming (with pull buoy) in 8 weeks, running at 16 weeks. Let’s just say I ended up having to start from ground zero. It was humbling but 2018 was one of my best years. Forced me to train “where I was at” and all the PT helped my strength.

Rented the Game Ready cold compression therapy and it was a huge help. Good luck!!

I've had three different ankle surgeries, two on my left ankle and one on my right ankle.

For the right ankle, I had a "bone spur" at the distal end of my fibula. To get to it, the surgeon had to cut the retinaculum and then reattach it. He also debrided my peroneal brevis tendon.

For my left ankle, the first repair was for a tear in my peroneal brevis tendon and a Brostrom (repair the damaged ligaments on the outer part of my ankle). The second left ankle surgery was to saw down (for lack of a better non-medical term) an overgrown peroneal tubercle (bone) and debride a tendon.

I was in a splint (looks like a cast) for two weeks after each surgery with non weight bearing (NWB). After the splint was removed, I was allowed WBAT (weight bearing as tolerated) and was put in a boot for 4 weeks. Also started PT around this time. No running for at least three months after each surgery (but it was more like 3.5-4 months after surgery).

I've had a tibial stress fracture and a distal tibial fracture. Both were 12 week recoveries (I can still see my sports medicine doc wagging his finger at me..). In a boot, but cycling as tolerated without pain and all the water running I could enjoy. :/ but no 'real' running. 18 months ago, had a total prostecomy. Was mobile in a couple of days, walking after that and running about 2 weeks after surgery. Cycling was about w months after surgery.

But you don't care about my issues... Here is the advice...
Listen to your doctor
Listen to your body
Get moving asap, even if limited
Consider alternatives... water running, yoga, weights
Try not to hurt yourself and have a training setback
Everyone and every surgery is different...

well since my last real race in 2008 I have had the following:

brain tumor removed
both shoulders rebuilt from rotator cuff tears and labrum tears
foot surgery
right knee meniscus repair
left knee ACL repair

still not 100% but key is to keep moving in some way.

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Owner of a few Speed Concepts since 2011.

thread hijack. How are you doing?

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

So I am going to be the party pooper here.
Usual disclosure: I am an MD, highly self experienced in surgery and injury management having suffered a variety of minor through to very nasty, massive injuries.
I will be super blunt. If you have not been able to run since last summer then you have nothing to gain from hobbling around the run course in this sprint and you have the small potential to do yourself more damage. In the grander scheme of things it won't do much for you. I can, however, see some mental/psychological benefits from getting it done, but you need to weigh these up against whether you actually need to do the event.

You may be better off simply doing the swim and the ride and then DNF'ing and not doing the run portion.
I have been there myself and I know how hard it is to not push through things but I just want you to ask yourself the question seriously.

Thanks for asking! Feeling great and walking 5 to 6 miles per day…..sticking to the dr orders of nothing above the head, no lifts anything more than 5#, no swimming, biking or running for another two weeks. Can’t wait to get back to training and racing but certainly want those leads to stay in place once I do!

Super solid advice. Hobbling around is a way to incur another injury. Their is zero upside, even if one was to win their AG, who cares?
Even when our bodies are in a balanced and healthy state; injuries can occur. Unbalanced by definition asks other parts to work in ways that are unsustainable.
Repair, recover, then return to competition.
In the grand scheme, no one cares that we "proved how tough we were." That's a life "stupid trophy" you don't want/need. I'll be happy to send some of mine.

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I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________

Your question to the ST community is "How did recovery and comeback from surgery go?".

I've had two separate surgeries:
1)foot surgery to remove some bone fragment(s) after a double fracture
2)hip surgery to repair a labral tear

I was able to successfully come back to "full speed" after both surgeries after working my way back. What I learned in the journey was...

• If you are someone who has consistently been fit for years, it's amazing to me how quickly the body falls out of shape (relatively speaking), but it's even more amazing to me how quickly the body gets back into shape (at least to get to that 90% of the way back).
• I expected my recovery to have linear progression and was massively deflated when I had a setback. Not all recoveries are the same and some will have continuous forward progress and some will have peaks and valleys. My outlook improved when I recognized the big picture of overall forward progress over time with some wrinkles along the way.
• Don't accelerate the workouts too quickly when you start to feel good. That was one of my setbacks...trying to do too much, too soon and make up lost time so to speak. A consistent, careful build is what helped me put the surgeries and recoveries in the rear view mirror. In short, err on the side of caution and be conservative.
• Do what you can, don't do what you can't. If you can't put weight on on your foot, do other things that will help minimize fitness loss to the body. This helped me with my attitude on the recovery journey. Just doing "something" was a mental boost.

Good luck with your surgery and better luck on the recovery!!

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Tad

It took awhile, but I finally discovered that its not the destination that's important, but rather the journey.

Over the years I've had several surgeries and subsequent recovery periods. One thing I've learned is that I always come back too soon and never do all the PT recommended by the professionals.

Not this time though. I'm currently just over 6 weeks out from a lumbar microdisectomy (L5/S1). I did absolutely nothing (except walk the dog - a lot) for 3 weeks. Then started my PT program (2x per week for 12 weeks) plus daily at-home PT exercises. I don't run anymore but have been cleared to start riding again so I've done a few super easy rides of about an hour and will start with some longer rides in the next week or two. I've also been cleared to start doing light weight workouts on my Tonal this week so that's been good.

The important thing for me was to clear my calendar for the year of any competitive events, i.e. anything I felt I needed to train for. Just enjoy the year and focus on getting healthy. My only plans for the year are the FOCO Fondo short distance (30ish miles with my wife) in July, a 3 day bikepacking trip, and then a week long bike tour in October (40-60 miles a day) with my wife on the GAP and C&O trail.

Focusing on your health should be your priority. Any events you want to do will be there when you're ready. Good luck!