One question that I have is how much conditioning did I lose with my 3 weeks off and how quick will it come back. I searched Coach Deans blog and found this article Time Off and Deconditioning. My stomach dropped when I read the first sentence "The research seems to indicate that with TOTAL inactivity you lose almost all conditioning within a few weeks (3 or so). " I continued reading "ANY activity maintains some conditioning and any high quality activity even as infrequent as twice a week with otherwise total inactivity seems to maintain conditioning quite well for many weeks (15 plus)." So that means that I lost quite a bit but I did start up activity again after 1.5 weeks.
Coach Dean adds "My personal experience as an athlete as well as in coaching others is that you do NOT lose total conditioning in a few weeks. From what I’ve seen, runners come back far faster than a non-runner trying to run the first time. My theory for this is simple. It is because we (experienced athletes) have the physiology, anatomical adaptations and mentality as a foundation even though reduced or dulled from a layoff; that remains elevated above Mr. Couch Potato." This is good news but it still doesn't tell me how quick I'll be where I was at before the sprain. Coach Dean answers my question later in the blog with "My PERSONAL rule of thumb was always two weeks of comeback for every week off. I’m evaluating how accurate it might or might not be. But I still use it for now. I would love to hear from others who have had to “detrain” for one reason or another and how long it took them to return to full condition" Using that logic, I'm about a month out of being where I was at. Not really what I wanted to hear, I was hoping for something quicker. Tucson Marathon is 7 weeks out and PF Changs is another month after that. Can I be ready for Tucson (either full or half)? Can I be ready for PF Changs if I run the half at Tucson?
Anyone have stories of running layoffs and then coming back? How long did it take you before you were back?
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