Have been recovering from an unexpected severe foot muscle strain for the past 4 weeks (ran too much / too fast on steep hills) so have been not able to run at all, but still trying to maintain run fitness. I’ve had similar problem with a bad calf strain in the past, so this is my 2nd go-around with run training without running.
For me -
POOL RUNNING - Really good for the initial injury phase where weight bearing is not recommended. I’ve found the best for me is to get into neck-deep water, and run with high knees and good strong armswing. I tend to move slightly down the pool when I do this. I actually don’t use a flotation device at all, I just touch my toes to the bottom - it’s typically so little weight that it won’t bother your injury. Intervals with high cadence and high knee lift are really good here. I tried to go as hard as possible on intervals here, was surprised that I got so fatigued after a few sessions that I had to dial it back! It helps a lot for me that I have access to a short-length pool (?15 yds) that is typically used for kids swim lessons, but which nobody uses at 7AM, and it’s constant depth. For sure, you may have to adapt if you have access to different types of pools, like a lap lane that changes depth, or a very deep pool where you will need a flotation device - you can make it work though, just focus on high cadence and high knees.
ELLIPTICAL - I used to think ellipticals were near-useless for good runners, but I’ve found that was because I was using them wrong and/or using the wrong elliptical. The key thing I’ve found is to find an elliptical where you can drive the cadence as high as you can running (or near it). This is SUPER important - if you’re doing low cadence stuff, it’s not going to translate to running when you comeback. I’ve found some fancy ellipticals it’s near impossible to do this on, even with zero resistance, which makes them not good for run training. The one I think is best for runners is the Cybex Arctrainer. It’s like a arc skimotion with some knee bend in it. You can go SUPER fast on cadence on the Arctrainer, you will not max it out! I actually went so fast my first time on it my hip flexors were sore for 2 days! But that’s the kind of stuff that you want as a runner - I actually think I’m going to try and keep some Arctrainer in my training regimen as it’s like training super fast leg turnover without the impact injury risk. The elliptical also complements the pool run, because there is weight bearing on the elliptical that helps you get back to running more quickly. And as you might imagine, I tried to go HARD on the elliptical, with intervals. You end up looking like a crazy monkey in the gym, and everyone else on the elliptical will be looking at you like “WTF?!” because you’re moving your arms/legs so fast and huffing so hard compared to all of them who are easy-strolling and never out of breath. I tried to go as hard on the elliptical as run workouts, but that was kinda impossible as I’m not as trained for the elliptical - but it was still very hard for me.
I’ve been back to very short rehab-type runs this week after 3 weeks of zero running (but ample cycling, swimming, and mostly pool running with a few elliptical sessions). It was a surprising comeback - in the past if I didn’t pool run/elliptical, the comeback pace is always really sad, like 10+ min/mile when I normally train at 8:30min/mile and below, but this time it’s been very different. I’ve been actually shocked with how fast my legs want to go - they seriously felt like the wanted to go 7:00/mile right away, naturally, but I’ve capped it out at 8:00min/mile (which is actually as fast or faster than my normal run training pace) so I don’t accidentally worsen my muscle strain. It’s very strange to come back from no running for weeks and feel like you want to run faster than you ever have before - I think my hip flexors are rearing to go from the x-training. (I’m sure I’ll hit some limiters though as the mileage goes up, nothing fully replaces running for running.)
On the letsrun forums there are quite a number of very fast people who have did this and came back shockingly fast to either 14-15min 5k speed or Olympic-level qualifying speed (!). And if you haven’t heard of it already, Parker Valby, a top collegiate female runner was winning races on 2 runs per week, and credits all her speed maintenance to x-training (including lots of Arctrainer).
Feel free to share your tips or anecdotes for injured runners making a comeback.