Top 5 Tips for Getting Back to Running After a Long Break

Getting back to running after a long break can seem quite daunting, but if you take your time, follow a return to running plan, and listen to your body, you’ll be back in full training in no time.

In this video, I’m going to share five of my favourite tips to help you start running again after a break, whether the break was due to injury, illness or other lifestyle factors like a change in working hours.

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RETURN TO RUNNING PLAN: https://www.kinetic-revolution.com/return-to-running-after-injury/

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The five tips for getting back to running after a long break are as follow:

1 - START SLOW & FOCUS ON EASY PACED MILEAGE

Keep your pace EASY. When you return to running after a break, there’s often a mismatch between how fit and fast your brain thinks you are, versus the reality of what your body can handle with your current level of fitness.

Consider leaving your running watch at home, or perhaps setting it up so that you can’t see your pace! That way you won’t judge yourself while running. Instead focus on your breathing and aim to maintain control of your breathing pattern, so that you could talk in uninterrupted sentences.

Trying to run too fast too soon will only place more stress and strain on your body, and make it more likely that you sustain a running injury in the first few weeks of your return to running.

2 - FOLLOW A RETURN TO RUNNING PLAN

You’ll be more likely to have a successful reintroduction to running if you follow a return to running plan. The free training plan linked above is a great option that, although developed for runners retuning from injury, will help you in your chapter of your running journey.

3 - RUN WITH OTHER PEOPLE

Maintain running motivation by arranging to run with friends, family or even colleagues. Running with other people is a great way of distracting your mind, and allowing the miles to fly past quickly! You can find more running motivation tips here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjNObvsoLw0

4 - SET YOURSELF LONG AND SHORT TERM GOALS

Having a running goal to focus on can be another great motivator when it comes to returning to running after a break. Consider entering a 5K event, a 10K or even half marathon depending on your previous running experience. Be sure however to give yourself long enough to train or this longer term goal. During the process of training for this longer term goal, set yourself short term goals which could be less time or distance focused, and more about consistency. You could say that for the next month you want to run 3 times per week. This would be perfect in this return to running phase of your training.

5 - CROSS-TRAIN & STRENGTHEN TO PREVENT INJURIES

You really can’t ignore this cross-training and strength (injury prevention) aspect of and running plan. Particularly during this return to running phase, you may be carrying a little more weight than you would ideally like to run with. If you do feel a little overweight, and know that you are injury prone, consider swapping one of your running sessions per week with a non-weight bearing cardio alternative (like swimming or cycling). This is particularly relevant for runners who have suffered with injuries such as shin splints and plantar fasciitis in the past, where weight does unfortunately plan a role.

Check out this strength routine for runners to get some inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eFweoFgFf4

Good luck with your return to running. With the correct approach to returning to running after a long break, you can rebuild your fitness very quickly and find yourself running better than ever.

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions…

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ABOUT ME: I'm a runner, sports rehabilitation specialist and coach based in the UK (Norwich and London).

Since 2007 I've been working with athletes focusing specifically on helping distance runners and triathletes overcome injury and improve performance through developing their individual running technique.

Running biomechanics has become a geeky little passion of mine!

WEBSITE: https://kinetic-revolution.com

#Running #JamesDunne #KineticRevolution