Help! I cant jog. What can i do to stay fit? Not what you think. More after the jump!

May 15, 2009 12:37 AM

Help! I cant jog. What can i do to stay fit? Not what you think. More after the jump!

I jog 6 days a week. My schedule is: 2 hour jog, 30-60 minute jog, 30-60 minute jog, rest, 2 hour jog, 30-60 minute jog, 30-60 minute jog.

The problem is, i sprained my foot (or so i think) while jogging in the woods , which doesnt hurt much, but enough to make it impossible to jog.
What can i do to stay in my routine, and what can i do to stay fit while my foot heals (presumably a few days/a week)?


(by the way, is my running schedule any good at all? or is there a more efficient one?)

posted by freddymetz to health & fitness (10 comments total)

If you would like to continue exercising outside, you will find that bicycling has much less of an impact on joints, especially knees and ankles.

If you do not have a bike, or if you would like to do something even less impactful on your joints, swimming is a great workout.
posted by koeselitz at 12:47 AM on May 15

I'd highly recommend Run Less Run Faster both for a training schedule that will be far better for you in the long term (6 days / week running is too much) and for a fairly comprehensive overview of what cross-training exercises you can be doing. Rowing, running, and swimming are the main candidates here.
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:06 AM on May 15 [3 favorites]

I think you are running way too much. 6 days a week is huge.. even for an elite runner. You need more than 1 rest day a week to allow your body to recover.

It is very possible you have an over training injury such as plantar fasciitis.

Check out Runners World or Hal Higdon for a wide range of running plans to suit your goals, even if just for fitness.
posted by TheOtherGuy at 1:39 AM on May 15

In cross-country we ran about 40-50 miles a week, which I consider a lot, and yet we spent less than an hour running each day. And nowadays my knees are messed up. Running for 2 hours at a time regularly is a lot of impact on your knees and ankles. If your goal is just to stay in shape, and not to run marathons, then yeah I would run a lot less and faster, or just do something else like swimming.

You could try jogging for 10 minutes, and then do a series of 100m sprints, and then do some stretching, and go home...and rest every other day. When your foot heals. Until then, seriously, why don't you go swimming? It's a lot better for you. I just injured my own self lifting weights, and I think if I'd been doing more swimming and less lifting I wouldn't be in this position.
posted by creasy boy at 1:44 AM on May 15

google "no excuse workout" there's all kinds of stuff on there that will complement jogging. I bought the guys book, Never Gymless. It's pretty helpful. Ross Enemait is his name I think.
posted by sully75 at 2:17 AM on May 15

thank you for your replies! to clear things up, i do actually want to run marathons soon-ish!
posted by freddymetz at 3:02 AM on May 15

In that case, maybe you should do some pool-jogging. I don't remember what it's called. But basically you wear something that keeps you afloat and then you make a jogging motion in the pool to propel yourself forward. My brother's college track coach had him doing this when he was injured.
posted by creasy boy at 3:19 AM on May 15

Do a search for "marathon training schedule" and have a look at some of those on offer. Most schedules offer different options according to the level of running you are aspiring towards - you will find they tend to differ from your program in two ways:

1. Even at elite level it is normal to allow more than one day off per week.
2. The exercise program for each day tends to be more varied than what you are doing: some days are short and fast, some slower and long, some cross training.

Other points to notice: the plans taper down the activity as the marathon approaches - and they probably assume that having done a marathon there will be a gap of at least a few weeks before trying another one.
posted by rongorongo at 4:24 AM on May 15

Swim.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 6:03 AM on May 15

I think you are running way too much. 6 days a week is huge.. even for an elite runner.

I've known plenty of runners, elite and otherwise, who run as much (and much more than this). If the OP jumped into a schedule like this without ramping up, that's one thing, but a proper running schedule can definitely end up to be up to six days per week (especially if on 4 days, he or she is running only 30-60 minutes).

All that said: water jogging (if you have access to a pool).
posted by Pax at 6:16 AM on May 15