If you have not run for two weeks or more, assume that you have lost all of your conditioning. The good news is that you can regain the fitness you had in less time than it took originally by conservatively increasing your running according to the following plan. If there are medical issues, get permission from a doctor who wants to help you return to running as soon as you can. When there are no issues, start with a 10- to 15-minute walk, and always walk or run with a relatively short stride, feet low to the ground. Every other day, extend the walk by three to five minutes until you reach 30 minutes. Then insert a 10-second jog every minute into your walk. If this is too much for you at first, walk continuously when needed. Only run every other day to rest the running muscles.
Your goal is to finish each run-walk feeling like you could continue for another 10 minutes or more without any huffing and puffing. When you feel comfortable at a 5- to 10-second run/60-second walk for 30 minutes, extend the time by 5 minutes one day a week (usually the weekend) every other weekend until you reach an hour. On the shorter weekend, stay at 30 to 40 minutes. Shift to doing two other runs a week (usually Tuesday and Thursday) and increase the amount of running. When 10/50 feels too easy on the shorter runs, move up to 10/40. After three to six of these workouts, shift to 10/30. You could either stay at one of those strategies or continue to gradually increase to 15-30, then 15/20, then 15/15, and so on—as long as there is no huffing and puffing.
There are a lot of individual issues in coming back from an extended layoff. Above all, find some joy in every run. Don’t push too far beyond current limits. Remember that your muscles, heart, blood system, and mind–body connections can all work as a team if you progress gradually and avoid setbacks. If you have any aches, pains, or lingering fatigue, drop back to a more comfortable ratio and treat the area if there is possible damage. If you suspect that there are medical issues during your comeback, check with your doctor.
Read the last situation on TMS if you have pains. Pain generated by TMS can be managed in most cases while you continue to train. You may need to get you doctor to evaluate whether there is damage in the area that could be aggravated by running. Stay below the threshold of irritation of a real damaged area. Most of these aches are temporary and are not cause for alarm.
Don’t allow your reflex brain to take control and stimulate negative hormones. These trigger thoughts such as, “You used to be in such great shape,” “This is baby stuff, you can push yourself today,” or “You’ll never get back to your former fitness level.”
Instead, talk back to the reflex brain to shift control to the frontal lobe:
“I’m getting back in shape.”
“I feel good about myself.”
“I have overcome an injury and am a smarter runner now.”
“Speed is not important—it’s the joy from each run that keeps me going.”
Quick strategies:
Put a date on a calendar—your mission is to finish a 5K, 10K, half, or full marathon.
Make a commitment to join a group that runs at your ability level.
Get a friend to stay in touch with you as you get in shape. Email, text, and call one another when needed.
Say to yourself when the motivation starts to drop, “I can do it, I can do it!”
Believe in yourself.
Positive affirmations at the start of a downturn keep you in the executive brain which can stimulate positive peptides locking into receptor molecules, sending positive messages toward an emotional comeback. For more information on positive affirmations, read the chapter, Mantras.