Dealing with an injury: what to do when you can’t run

Most triathletes will get injured at some point and for many, it will be from running. The wear and tear on your body from the repetition of running can result in the need to take some time off from the run. If you find yourself in this familiar situation, don’t assume that your season is lost. There are several things you can do to keep up your training, maintain your fitness and hopefully make it to that starting line you’ve had your eye on for months.

1. Catch it early, get a diagnosis and figure out your recovery timeline

It’s important to get the right medical input and figure out exactly what is going on. You may feel pain in one part of your body and be surprised to learn that the root of the injury actually comes from somewhere else. Once you have a proper diagnosis, you’ll know your recovery timeline. A shorter amount of time off won’t have as much of an impact on your overall run training, but a few weeks or even months means putting together a new training plan.

2. Strength training

Why did your injury occur? Many triathletes neglect strength training, but this could be the key to preventing the same injury from recurring in the
future. Strength training doesn’t have to be complicated. There are several exercises like these that you can do at home with minimal equipment. Talk to a coach about what strength exercises will be best for you so that when you return to running there will be less risk of re-injury.

3. Get in the water

Did you know that water running is the best exercise for injured runners looking to maintain their running fitness during an off period? All you need is the deep end of a pool and a flotation device to get in some running mileage in the water. Despite how it looks, you can actually work up a sweat while water running.

Your time off from running is also a great opportunity to increase your swim workouts in a week. If you don’t already swim with a Master’s swim team, now might be the time to start. Besides building your cardiovascular fitness, swimming at a higher intensity will make you a stronger swimmer and therefore a faster triathlete. Take this time to increase your weekly swim mileage and get in some workouts with faster swimmers to challenge yourself.

4. Improve your cycling

This time off from running can also be treated as a cycling-intensive block of your training. Use this new window of time where you used to do your long runs to add some extra rides. Set a goal with your cycling. This could be increasing your Functional Threshold Power,  switching up your routes, or trying indoor riding as a way to get faster.

5. Try a swim-bike race

Can’t run but want to race anyway? Consider doing a swim-bike race (sometimes called an “AquaBike”). Many triathlon events with multiple distance races hold an swim-bike option and offer a great opportunity to push yourself in a different capacity. Even if you don’t consider yourself the strongest swimmer or cyclist, you might surprise yourself with your abilities when in a competitive atmosphere!