Returning to Running
I run a fair bit. Not huge mileage, but until May 23, 2023, I had been running every single day of the week. I had done that since September 20, 2022 for a total of 246 days in a row. In 2022 I ran every single day (rain or shine, freezing or roasting) and ended my run streak at 481 days.
But a couple of months back I went out for my usual run on a Tuesday at lunch time and discovered that my left leg was messed up and I literally couldn't run. It was too painful. This was the worst injury I've had in over 16 years of running now and it had me down and out for a couple of months.
Some x-rays and a bone scan later, and I had not much of a diagnosis, other than "shin splints" but nothing structurally wrong with my leg. So I plotted a return to running with the knowledge that it wouldn't be causing any damage or leading to a fracture or worse.
Slow and Steady
The road back has been fairly slow and measured. I started with some short periods of running interspersed with brisk pace walking. I would run 500m or a kilometre, and then walk for the same distance. It was going reasonably well and I was up to about 6-8km on my daily walks.
This morning I returned to my usual Sunday run crew downtown and ran for a bit with the guys. I did the first kilometre with them, and then dropped back to a walk to take away the temptation to do too much, too soon.
Over the next hour and ten minutes, I covered 10.3km of which 6.3km was running and 4km was walking. The last 2.3km was all running which is the longest distance I've run without a stop to walk since late May.
Encouraging Progress
Suffice to say, this was very encouraging and I think I'm ready to start doing a bit more running now to see if I can continue to get things back to normal both in terms of how my leg feels and how much I'm running. I don't plan to run every day anymore but I will hopefully get to running five days a week again soon.
The plan is to take Mondays and Fridays off and do longer fast-paced walks on those days to keep building strength and fitness. Then on the other five days, I want to get back to 5-6km runs and see how that goes. Combined with a good bit of stretching, rolling and other rehab, I'm confident that things are finally heading in the right direction again.