I took a 7 week break from running and did lots of crosstraining on the bike, elliptical, and in the pool to maintain fitness. I obviously lost some running economy, but I can still keep up with the team and didn't lose any fitness I couldn't regain in like a month tops.
I did a 6 mile easy run with the team, around 7:45-8/mi pace. No pain at all, didn't feel any fatigue whatsoever.
If I'm not feeling any pain at all in the previously injured area, could I hypothetically just go back to what I was doing before? Or do I really need to ease back into it so slowly? What if I slowed down and stayed on grass and on the track instead of concrete? If I shot back up to at least 40-45mpw, would it be too quick and cause reinjury?
I don't plan on racing my events for outdoor, and am waiting for cross country. I plan on just building a REALLY strong base. Basically coaching myself until XC summer training starts in 13 weeks, June 20th. Was seriously considering something like Summer of Malmo w/ doing doubles often and incorporating a tempo workout once I feel I'm recovered enough to do so.
I'm kind of in a rush to get back because I want to start improving fitness instead of just maintaining it. I've only been running since school started (little over 6 months) and got 19:30 in the 5K with no summer base building and a 5:25 indoor, which i got running on a stress fracture at the beginning of the season. I want to drop to at least 18:30 next year. Preferably sub 18. And maybe 5:15-5:10 next indoor season, down to sub 5:10 by outdoor next year?