How to Return to Running

This video today is going to be a quick synopsis on why a return to run is important. And how to get back into running if you’ve been off for a long time, maybe because you took some time off of running. Or maybe you’re coming back from an injury.

So often, when I work with people in the clinic, when they try to get back into running, maybe they’re able to run for a little bit, and then their injury will pop up again. Or something new happens. And it’s often because we get back into running too fast. Our mind thinks we can do a lot more than physically we’re able to tolerate.

When I’m having somebody get back into running, if it’s been more than six weeks, we always start with some sort of return to run program.

1. First of all, having a plan is a good idea. So if you are coming back from an injury, you want to start with some sort of rehab. That’s number one.
2. Then you’re going to work into a Walk-Run interval.
3. And then third would be adding intensity in the form of speed or hills.
4. The last part is going to be performance. So that’s if you are training for some sort of race, or maybe just increasing your intensity.

So a walk-run interval is important because it allows our body to adapt to the stress of running. When we haven’t run for a long time, we lose that run-specific fitness. And then we’re going to fatigue a lot quicker. This is going to put more load, especially through our bones when we’re fatigued. And so we want to have that walking interval to allow us to fully recover.

How do you know if you’re ready to start a Walk-Run?

If you can tolerate some single like hopping. I typically will have people do three sets of 15. If you don’t have any pain during or the next day, and you’re able to tolerate about 45 minutes of a brisk walk, you know you’re ready to start that return to run.

So there are a whole bunch of different run-walk interval plans out there. I typically start people on like a one minute walk, four minute jog. We’ll repeat that four to six times, And then we’ll gradually take away the
walking, and we’ll add more running in.

Once we have made it through those walk around intervals, the next step is to add some intensity. Intensity can come in the form of either adding in speed or adding in hill work. Then once you get to that point, you can get back into whatever you are training for. Or maybe just some consistent running.

If along the way you do have some pain that pops up during a run, what I have people do is take one to three days off of running. We’ll do cross training. And then they’ll go back a step and repeat that step until they’re pain free, and then start to work their way up again.

So hopefully this video will be helpful for anyone out there that is looking to get back into running after being off for a long period of time.