Don't stretch cold muscles!!

I've always done a longish, for me, warmup before run workouts, then do the workout and THEN stretch!! This helps avoid stretching injuries.

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Paul

A year off is a long time. You should approach it as though you're starting from scratch. This isn't as discouraging as it sounds, because it will take a lot less time to get back what you had than it did to get it in the first place. But there will be a learning curve for your muscles and connective tissues and you have to respect it. You should expect your proprioception to be off, your gait to be awkward, sour muscles to be sore, etc., for a little while. It will come back. Don't worry. Mix running and walking, stay off hard surfaces, make sure your shoes are in good shape. Mainly, take your time.

my best suggestion for you is to get a yoga DVD, one that is short in length (like 15 or 30 minutes). do that once a week-the whole thing, and then the rest of the week so shorter bouts of stretching. get up from your desk, softly stretch, do this through the day. you'll get more limber this way and it will hopefully prevent your injury from returning.

Check out Power Yoga for Runners. This is a great dvd and should really help you out.


http://shopping.yahoo.com/...MGNhBGx0AzQEc2VjA3Ny

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Don't hold back

Irondad,

I was in a similar situation last year and had to take about a year off due to a knee injury. Well, one lateral release later and I am back out on the road. I am on my way back to my pre-injury fitness with alot of newfound knowledge. I have the following pieces of advice:

1. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! If you get a pain similar to your injury, stop what you are doing, don't push through it.

2. Talk to your new doc and try to determine why you developed the shin splints. Was it a training error? Muscle Imbalance? Technique problem? You need to address the reason you developed the problem so you can reduce the likelihood of it coming back.

3. Understand that alot has changed in a year (I personally put on about 10 lbs) and especially with your strength and flexibility. You need to prepare your muscles and body for the stress and wear of running again. My recommendation would be to get your new Doc to prescribe some Physical Therapy sessions with someone with sports experience. I had a really great PT experience and It really helped me get back. After you get back your strength and correct any imbalances, then slowly start returning to running.

4. It might not be a bad idea to get yourself video taped (a good PT will do this) and see if you are a heel striker. Reducing Heel striking is the best way to reducing stress on the limbs. Better than running on soft surfaces! As you slowly make your way back into running, it would be a great time to correct any improper running technique you have. For more info, check out Explosive Running by Yessis for some ideas.



Just my thoughts having already been through a similar situation recently.

Brent

I had similar situation only with AT. My formula for coming back was:

start very slow. 1/4 mile run, then 1/2 mile, hold that for a while then 1 mile, hold that etc. I'm now back up to 10K after easing into it in this way over 2-3 months.

Wear Asics shoes. I'm convinced they are the best right now.

Stretch and Ice after and take a dose of motrin or celebrex for inflamation

I only run every third day.

So far pain free!

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

Ditto to that. Start slowly and work it up. If it starts to hurt, give it a few days rest and back off a little.

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Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

I was wondering how short and how slow... I ran 1 then walked 1/4 (repeat) but maybe I should back it off some. This is going to suck :-(

Regarding how I got injured: bad heel striker and ramped up my speed and distance way too fast and when it started to hurt I just ran through it until I couldn't walk in dress shoes anymore. Not a brilliant move on my part.

And already signed up for Yoga.

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http://irondad06.blogspot.com/

http://irondad.blogspot.com/

to get back into running shape fairly quickly and hopefully pain free, frequency rather than duration for the first few weeks. You'll improve faster by running more often then by running longer as well as reducing the soreness. 6-9x10min is better than 4x20min to start.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Do you mean 6-9 10 minute runs per week instead of 4 20 minute runs per week?

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http://irondad06.blogspot.com/

http://irondad.blogspot.com/

yes

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

It does suck but if you jump back in too fast you might makes the splints come back. I ran a little and walked a lot and slowly increased the running duration at a slow pace. If it hurts, stop and lay off.

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...to%20running;#503908

Listen to dd. I stuck to what he recommended and it is working out very well - thanks Brian! As lame as a 10 minute run sounds - you will get good adaptions like he said and the time will fly by. I'm at 30-35 min now after about a month or so, which still sounds pathetic when the long run was 2-2.5 last year. The hard part will be staying away from the local running races until the muscles and tendons can properly handle the intensity.