A triathlete friend just emailed me asking for some advice after spending 5 months out after a knee op.
I thought it worth sharing so here’s what I told him:
It’s really important to keep fitness going in some form or other, esp. after an Ironman, as being active then inactive is worse than never having exercised in terms of potential heart problems!
His question was all about mileage with respect to now building back up to 10 mile runs.
The thing is it’s not just about mileage …
There are other factors that must be considered:
Blood flow through the knee and joints (proper warmup + cooldown)
Restrictions (flexibility – how tight are the surrounding muscles)
Terrain (stick to flat and grass versus concrete)
Weather (Sheltered versus windy)
Impact (the use of high mileage trainers or sorpothane inserts)
Time of day (pm better than am as body stiffens overnight in bed!)
Current body fat % (how overweight are you?)
Generally we talk about a 5-10% increase in training volume every 2-3 wks (eg starting with say 3 x 10-15 min runs per week nice + easy)
Mixing it up perhaps with rowing/swimming/stationary bike turbos etc to max cardio benefit but minimise joint impact.
It’s a question then of just monitoring any swelling as you go … because ultimately you know your body best!
Noel Lyons
Ironman + GB (Agegrouper)
