Doctor has OK'd running - what now?

What exactly was your injury? 10% increase is a good rule of thumb, but could be too much too soon with that long a layoff. After my bout with ITBS last year, I came back in baby steps/slow and only increased distances/mileage 3-5%. Still doing ok.

Good luck-

I used this to build back up to my normal mileage after a metatarsal stress fracture bout and morton's neuroma.

http://pfitzinger.com/labreports/stressfracture.shtml

But listening to your doctor's advice and your body is what counts in the long run.

How much were you running prior to not running?  Why did you have to stop?  And was the former responsible for the latter?

I would go with an accelerated "Couch to Tri" program, starting with a run/walk program (easier indoors on a TM) and go from there.  Start at 3x/week @ 30 min per session and gradually increase the time spent running. 

The "Couch to 5K" program on BT is similar, but you probably could be a little more aggressive.  Once you've gone 8-10 weeks and are up to 10 mpw or so, add the 10%/week.  That'll get you 20 mpw by April and see how that works.

Following a BarryP approach as you suggest, and doing frequent but really short runs to start with, is probably a good bet. At the start things may seem trivially easy, but that's what you want, in order to prepare yourself for more serious running once you've prepped your body.

Thanks for the replies so far.  Over the summer I was averaging 20-25mpw.  I had a two week vacation then on my next long run ~10miles I had some foot pain toward the end of the run and lots the next day.

After a lot of research my self diagnosis was a metatarsal stress fracture.  *(Rant about our national health care system omitted - save it for CoJ)* My x-ray wasnt until 9-10 weeks post injury and nothing showed up.  Doc has referred me to physiotherapy but there is a 4-8 week wait and has said it is definitely ok to start running again, gently.

Great link, thank you!

OK, then I'd try the BarryP approach starting with x=1mile.  (I.e., three runs of 1 mile, 2 of 2 miles, and 1 of 3 miles.)  As Colin said, this will feel silly easy.  It's supposed to.

Should I be looking to add 10% increases from week 1?  Or hold that distance and gradually build up pace over a month or two?  Or just keep it easy and short for a solid month before trying anything else (obviously any increase in pace/distance would be if my foot is feeling good).

If it were me, then frankly, I'd probably start increasing right away.  But I don't always make the best training choices.

It would be much safer to repeat week 1 2 or 3 or 4 times before increasing.

Thanks for all the advice guys, think Ive got an idea of what Im going to do to get back into training now. 

How does this sound.  BarryP style short, medium, short, medium, short, long with x=1.  Run all the 1-milers.  Week 1 do all the medium and longs half mile run, half mile walk.  Week 2 0.75 mile run, 0.25 walk.  Week 3 all run (and by run I mean easy jogging).

How about you start at your goal mileage per week and work backwards?

You know your limits, though, the plan you just posted seems like a good starting point until you get the feel of where you're at then adjust from there after 6 weeks on the couch for me, though, I could barely run a mile without stopping. 11 weeks has gotta feel tough getting back to poundin'. Since you're coming off after so long I'd actually just take a test run, either 1 or 2 miles jog/walk and make a mid-week plan from that.