I just got cleared by my Ortho to begin running again after suffering from a stress fracture in my Second Metatarsal. Prior to that my long runs were at or over 10 miles weekly for about a year. I have been able to continue biking and swimming during the injury and didn’t run at all for about 7 weeks.
I am just curious what the general consensus is for getting back at it. I have only done 1 15 minute run so far and it was fine, well I felt slow but my foot was fine. I want to start ramping up my miles but more importantly I don’t want to jeopardize my race schedule for this year. I’m a big guy (over 200) and I plan on running mostly on treadmills, some asphalt paths, and a golf course.
I’d probably start back to about 50% of your previous long run/weekly totals MAX, then add 10% per week (in either distance or intensity/speed - tough correlation to %). Should be safe with that.
You will likely “feel” a little soreness at the 2nd met neck though - most do so … listen to your body. Golf course would be best at first of course.
Stress fractures in the foot generally heal in 6-8 weeks (because it’s a small bone) . Since its Jan. I would give it 10 weeks to be safe. You can start now with 20-30 min every other day. Next week build to 30 min everyother day. If no pain then you should be good to go, but progress slowly. This is not an injury to run through if you feel pain. It’s not like a muscle where it will loosen up. If you feel it stop. Good Luck!
After this, build mileage by no more than 10%/week.
Admittedly, this is very conservative, but since I’m prone to stress fractures, my doctor wanted to err on the side of caution. Here is a good, solid plan by Pete Pfitzinger that is a bit more aggressive: http://www.pfitzinger.com/labreports/stressfracture.shtml
If your not a strong runner Id start at 15-20 miles a week. Stay there for a week or two and move up 5 miles a week. You have to be your own judge. Know when you are just hurting from the running and when the running is hurting you. Don’t do anything fast yet, not important.