Time Flies When You’re Busy – How to Recover from a Running Injury

If you are a keen runner but you have suffered an injury, you may be feeling a little lost. That is a natural response and one that is completely understandable. What do you do to fill the time while you’re recovering? You can’t run, so what are the options? Well, there are lots of ways to create space for yourself if you sit down and think about what you want while you recover. Taking time to recover is the only way to get back to running, after all, so you have to do it right. Here are some ways to heal and ideas to fill the time while you do it.

Take a Break

It might sound obvious, but the first thing you should be doing is resting. Your injury won’t get better if you don’t give it your everything when it comes to supporting proper healing. Take a break and listen to the advice of your health professional because this is the only way you can move to get better.

Find an Interim Hobby like Online Gaming

You have to pass the time somehow while you’re waiting for the injury to heal. There are thousands to sift through, so it’s going to be a process before you find the one that clicks. Online gaming, for instance, is great because there are so many options to pick from. Even if you have never considered this hobby before, there is a game out there for everyone from strategy to casino, and here are some great first steps that will help you get started if you want to explore the latter.

Invest In Professional Physical Therapy

Your doctor may discuss physical therapy options with you like a calf scan. Depending on the type of injury, there is a lot a professional therapist can do to help you get better properly and facilitate your return to running. This will be money well spent because, when you lean on the experts, there is a decreased risk of sustaining the same injury in the future and an increased probability that you will return to normality more quickly.

Read and Explore Online Sports Content

If you are missing the void that running provides in terms of exercise and connection to the world of sport, you could try diving into the online world to see what’s happening. There are loads of websites that blog about sports fixtures in all varieties, and you could easily spend an hour here and there catching up with this world while you can’t be an active participant.

Pace Your Return

You won’t be able to get back into running without first figuring out your new pace. A part of healing from an injury is figuring out what your new boundaries are. While you might have managed an easy 10K at pace before your runner’s injury, it could take you a while to get back to that reality. So, you have to listen to what you’re body is telling you and respond accordingly. There is very little point in pushing yourself too far and running the risk of reigniting the pain or damage. Take things slow and build up to your old running habits carefully, and always take advice from your doctor where appropriate.

Recovering from a running injury means taking time to adapt to your new limitations. While some people fully recover and return to running as normal, others might find their runs have to change in order to protect their recovery process. Wherever you land, there are plenty of activities to be getting on with in the meantime from gaming to bird watching and everything in between. You never know, you might find a whole new passion!