The Long Road Back to Running!
- rickdmoore
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
May 2, 2026.
Leaving earlier than any sane person on a Saturday morning and armed with a playlist of musical gems from 1976, I braved a morning chill to run not one, not two, but … five miles!
Huh? Just five miles?
I know. That’s nothing to most other runners. A year ago, it was nothing to me. But now, it's the longest distance I've ran since September 27, 2025.
On that note, I’m also up to running five days a week and scheduled to return to workouts with my coach - both for the first time in eight months.
All of which is a long way of saying that I’m finally back to running!
And trust me, you’ve no idea how wonderful that all feels.
Is my knee fully healed? Not completely. I’ll still experience the occasional twinge in my meniscus - although more typically if I sit down too long.
There was a point where I wondered if I'd ever run again without my knee hurting.
As I don't know what my running will look like in terms of speed, pace and overall distance, that'll be a topic for a future post. Today’s we're looking at the long and meandering journey back.
Quick Recap:
After tearing my meniscus last July, a sports medicine doctor misdiagnosed my pain as arthritis, leading to a Platelet-Rich Plasma injection. When that failed to provide relief and a subsequent MRI revealed a torn meniscus, I went under the knife on January 26 with six to eight weeks off from running afterwards.
My pathway back started the second I awoke from surgery.
Well, maybe two seconds. My first request was for some good drugs!
Making a Plan & Sticking to It!
For whatever reason that I truly appreciate, I was able to ditch the crutches and pain meds the morning after the surgery. Instead, with the following four days off from work, I focused on recovery.
That commenced with three stretches performed three times a day with minimal walking in my neighborhood until PT commenced ten days later. Those sessions proved the perfect outlet for my therapist to unleash long years of pent up frustrations up on my poor left knee who just wanted to bend a little bit at a time.
As if that wasn’t enough, that same therapist assigned a number of stretches and exercises to further stress that left knee and surrounding muscles groups and tendons. Nonetheless, determined to torture myself once more by pounding Nikes during lonely mornings, I steadfastedly adhered to his harsh guidance.
By the third week, that included step one of my “Return to Running”
February 11 - March 12
3 consecutive days of walking for 15 minutes
3 consecutive days of walking for 20 minutes
3 consecutive days of walking for 25 minutes
3 consecutive days of walking for 30 minutes
3 consecutive days of walking for 35 minutes
3 consecutive days of walking for 45 minutes
3 consecutive days of walking for 50 minutes
Moved to 3 miles every day
Somewhere towards the end of this, my therapist assigned a "not-as-easy-as-it-sounds" task of walking at 15 minute per mile pace for 30 minutes for three consecutive days. Being an over-achiever, I did them at thirteen or fourteen minutes per mile pace.
As no surprise, I showed up early as well for that long-awaited six-week surgical follow up on Tuesday March 10 where I received the all-important “thumbs up” to resume running with PT scheduled for the next morning so I could be given my new running schedule!
Back to Running! Sort of.
My “Return to Running” schedule didn’t exactly have me rocketing back to double-digit workouts. Knowing that six weeks was long enough for my conditioning to wane, but short of the time for my meniscus to fully heal, my therapist prescribed the following routine to address both.
March 11 - 31
Two sessions of 5 x (1 minute running & 5 minutes walking) every other day
Two sessions of 5 x (2 minutes running & 4 minutes walking) every other day
Two sessions of 5 x (3 minutes running & 3 minutes walking) every other day
Two sessions of 5 x (4 minutes running & 2 minutes walking) every other day
Two sessions of 5 x (5 minutes running & 1 minutes walking) every other day
Three-miles of walking made up the workout for "non-running" days - seven days a week.
Was I back to full running yet?
Not quite.
April presented the following schedule:
Two sessions of 15 minutes running every day
Two sessions of 20 minutes running every day
Two sessions of 25 minutes running every day
Two sessions of 30 minutes running every day
Two sessions of 35 minutes running every day
Two sessions of 40 minutes running every day
Once that was under my belt, my legs got to step it up to running on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
As tedious as that may sound, I shamefully confess that after six weeks away, those first few short runs felt incredibly awkward. It really wasn’t until I got up thirty minutes that I felt as though I were actually running again - although my conditioning ain’t close to where I want it.
Key Takeaways
Throughout that arduous process, I appreciated each of the following:
Being Patient! The hardest and in many ways, most important piece of all this. Had I pushed too hard or disregarded PT’s guidance, the outcome would have been a setback that would have only put me further behind.
Keep the Faith! Having the PRP injection fail hit me pretty hard. I’d wondered if I’d been able to even run again. That experience set up more than one irrational mental barrier where an the slightest twinge in my knee had me fearing that I was right back where I’d started. I had to continually remind myself that this should and would work out.
Be Grateful for Each Day! Following up on that, part of every walk, workout and run was simply offering a nonverbal “thank you” to whomever was listening for every opportunity I had to resume the part of my life that I so greatly missed.
Appreciate the Little Gains. A good example was being able to kneel down to tie my shoes without pain. Another was working in the yard without noticing the knee. Likewise, the first time I went downstairs like normal. All seem trivial but each served as a separate milestone.
What’s Next?
Although I'm thrilled to be where I am now, I know I’ve a great deal of work ahead in the coming months. First and foremost, I need to regain my conditioning. I also need to strengthen my hips to address that annoying IT band. Then there’s tending to my hamstrings. Not to mention amping up my strength workouts.
Each a challenge that I cannot wait to address!
A Final Round of Thanks!
No way I can conclude this post without thanking several key individuals for their guidance, patience and support throughout all of this. First off, my heartfelt appreciation to James Laughlin and Ty Kloft at the Kinetic Edge. James served as the leading specialist throughout all of my recovery with solid support from Ty. No way I’d have made it without both of them!
Big props as well to Tim and Mandy Ives. My longtime running coach from The Body Project, Tim’s guidance and advice helped me through some of the roughest moments in all of this. Likewise, his wife Mandy’s advice had my focus on foods that certainly aided my recovery.
Another key person is Sarah Messengarb whose biweekly massage therapy sessions at Plankt addressed any rough spots on my body throughout these long months.
Most important is my wife, Amy. Without her encouragement, I may have simply given up in lieu of self-advocacy that ultimately put the road to recovery. (Yeah, I guess that earns you the right to decide what we plant in the raised beds.)
Lastly, a heartfelt thanks to all of you for your support! Looks like this blog is going to focus much more on running in the coming weeks and months!