Can I get fit enough to run 5K by doing exercise other than (much) running?

[workatemylife]

This probably wins the award for the daftest question of the decade, but.... can I train for a 5K without doing much running?

When I was younger, I used to run 3 times a week or so. I let myself get out of shape, especially when the DCs were babies / toddlers. But I did the C25k programme again in the autumn, and got to the point that I could join the family at Park Run again. Felt great.

But I've had to stop. After giving birth my pelvic floor was a wreck, and I had a small anterior prolapse. I had some help from my GP initially, then a physio, and managed to kegel myself back to pretty much normal. It has all been feeling fine for a few years, but I think my prolapse has come back, and the only obvious cause is the running. I was doing 3 x 30-35 minutes a week, which was maybe too much? All the reading I've done suggests that running with a prolapse is not a good idea.

So I've stopped running, and I'm making a concerted effort to do proper and regular pelvic floor exercises (thank you gussiegrips on here) and hope that I can improve things again. But I would love to be doing ParkRun with the family . So, hence the question, is there another form of less 'impact' based exercise that I could do which would keep up my fitness levels to the point where I could do, say, a fortnightly Park Run without wrecking my undercarriage?

Water running? I've used rtst during injury and it's worked well. Some workouts available on Google .

I did not being able to run for a bus to 5k in ten weeks with just 40-60 mins running a week.

Am interested in the pelvic floor exercise you've been doing. I'm having some issues in that department.

I did (5km was my first run in years). But no prolapse.
I think you need to respect that running is not safe for you, find other things to do with the family.

I don't know whether this will be any good but I rarely ran but instead did a lot on the rowing machine and then weight training. This hugely improved both my stamina and my leg strength. Very surprisingly this enabled me to run and I can run 10k comfortably with little actual running practise.

Really helpful advice here, thank you.

Some kind of aerobic / cardio sounds sensible. I'm not a member of a gym, but there is one at work so rowing might work. Maybe elliptical trainer too?

I've never heard of water running! I'm not a great swimmer, but the running in water idea is quite appealing. I can't see any classes locally, or groups, but looking online it seems to be fine as a solo activity, and part of the reason I like running is the free mental space that it provides, so that could be good.

user1471426611 I'm putting that thought to the back of my mind! You may well be right (there's a bit of my that knows that you are right) but I might try to make things work for a little longer. If nothing else, I might discover a new satisfaction in the pool / rowing machine / trainer etc. At some point I need to accept the need to live with what I have, and yours is a sensible comment to make.

Notso my pelvic floor was pretty disastrous after forceps, episiotomy and tear. I was incontinent when I left the ward. I was referred to a hospital physio by my GP, and she was pretty negative about chances of recovery. But one of my NCT group recommended a specialist women's health physio and she was really good. It was a bit embarrassing to start with - she hooked me up to a machine (like a TENS machine) with a probe up the fanjo, and it sent an electrical current that made my pelvic floor muscles contract. I hadn't been able to work out how to 'find' them and do the exercises, but after 2-3 sessions I could contract them myself as the machine kicked in, and after another couple I was able to do the exercises without support. I kept at the exercises for about 4 months, 3 times a day, and then started to feel much better.

The exercises were, three times per day:

1. lift and tighten pelvic floor muscles and try to hold for count of ten (I could only manage about 3 the first time I tried). Relax, repeat ten times
2. lift and tighten muscles in quick 'snaps' ten times (good for bladder control, I think)
3. lift and tighten in stages - as if you are pulling a lift up to the first floor, second floor, and third floor. Relax and repeat ten times.

It doesn't take long, but it really helped me. The physio used the probe to check the strength of my muscles and printed out a bar chart showing progress. Not one for the photo album! I found that a well angled mirror helped so I could see what was going on.