An update on my journey of starting to run again after 8 months off
Hello everyone!
I’m Craig, and this is Running Cafe. For the first time ever, I’m publishing a blog post without having an accompanying video to relate it to (I’ll explain why shortly…).
To summarise this article, I’ll be sharing an update on my return to running after 8 months off and my journey of rebuilding my fitness from 0 including the challenges, learning so far, and my stats in terms of my performance.
If you’re currently in a similar situation, or know someone who is, or worry that you may find yourself in a similiar position one day, then hopefully it provides some inspiration and assurance that you’re not alone and it is certainly possible to get back into running after extended time off.
Without further ado, let’s get into the post.
My return to running in December 2024
On the 6th December, I published my first video since June titled ‘my plan to start running again after 8 months off.’ In this video, I explained how I’d been absent on my channel and on Strava because I didn’t feel up to running for about 8 months due to focusing my attention on resolving mental health issues with some help.
In that December video, I then set out a plan of loose principles for how I intended to get back into running since I was feeling much better and ready to get back into the sport properly.
Running has, for about 8 years, been an instrumental, special and important part of my life and I was finally, after ages, buzzing to get back into the swing of things. Training, attending club runs, entering races, exploring new trails and places, and making new content for my YouTube channel.
Unfortunately, shortly after making that video I got injured. I was too enthusiastic to get back on track with running and I ran too much too quickly. Lesson learnt. I then resorted to mainly walking for the next few weeks, and I started my second attempt at returning to running late December/early January once my leg injury healed.
The second attempt, which I’m currently in the midst of, has been much more successful and I’ve been making solid progress (which I’ll share shortly).
On a side note, if you’re struggling with mental health issues then please don’t hesitate to reach out to a medical professional (for example, a GP). There’s plenty of support out there, and whilst I feel there’s some stigma around mental health (especially for men, though it can affect women to) I would highly recommended it. To be open, therapy and medication on recommendation from my GP helped me tremendously but there’s lots of different options out there and everyone’s different so it doesn’t hurt to book an appointment with a medical professional and talk about it. This isn’t medical advice, and I’m just some guy on the internet without any medical training, but if you’re struggling then there is help out there.
Why I haven’t published a new video for a while
Since my December video, I made two more videos (both in December) but I’ve since had a month break from making new content.
To be honest, I have filmed new videos at least three times but whilst editing I’ve felt uncomfortable about my current appearance so I pulled the plug on editing these videos each time. A few people rightfully noted in the comments of my plan to start running again video that I had gained substantial weight during my time off, and this was absolutely correct. In fact, it's probably the 'heaviest' I have ever been.
Whist I’ve now made substantial progress in my physical fitness, and am now following a healthy and balanced diet again like I did before my break, the excess weight is proving harder to shift than I anticipated. It is certainly coming off and I’m noticing this each day, but it is steady and slow progress unfortunately (a marathon, not a sprint).
Whilst editing the new videos I filmed, my weight constantly reminded me of how far my fitness went downhill and I simply didn’t feel good about editing the footage or publishing a video. Especially considering how athletic and physically fit I was before.
Though I could view it as a positive in the sense that, one day, I'll be able to look back on this time and be proud of the progress I've made in my come back, it's causing me to be demotivated at the moment when I really need to stay positive so I'm putting the videos on hold for now.
I intend to make and publish new video content (one of my passions) as soon as I’m fitter and have shifted this excess weight. But, I still wanted to share some content and an update so I decided to write this blog post instead of publishing a video.
An update on my progress (as of 5 February 2025)
Since I started my second attempt at running again in late December/early January, things have been much better and positive.
Taking learning from my failed first attempt in early December, when I got injured, I’ve followed these basic principles and they've been serving me well so far:
Patience: I knew starting to run again with 0 fitness was going to be hard, but I didn’t know it would be this hard. Prior to my break from running, I had run consistently for about 8 years with only a few 1 month breaks to let injuries heal. So, the break I had was the longest I’d had out of running in almost a decade. That, paired with the fact that I wasn’t doing much other exercise like walking or cycling, meant I was not only starting to run after a break but it meant I was also starting with minimal physical fitness. I had entirely forgotten what it felt like to start running from scratch, and it's been an incredibly humbling and eye opening experience. I certainly took my fitness from before for granted, and when I get back to better fitness I'll be more grateful. So, rather than beating myself up during walks and training runs which have felt really hard (whereas I’d previously have found them much smoother), I’ve been kind to myself and have embraced the fact it will be a slow and lengthy process which requires patience.
Not comparing my current performance to my past performance: As I mentioned in my video in early December, it would be easy for me to constantly think about some of my achievements from before like running 100km ultramarathons, a sub 3 hour marathon, running a sub 1:23 half-marathon, a 17:44 5km, and regularly running consistently without too much trouble in terms of physical effort. But, that would be completely unrealistic and unfair on myself. The fact is, I don’t currently have the fitness levels to do some of the things I did before in my running and I’ve been regularly reminding myself of that. I’ve adopted a ‘growth’ mindset, and have been taking this as a learning experience and as a gradual journey. It’s cliché, but getting back into running is a marathon and not a sprint.
A throwback to fitter, faster times :') Walking as an initial priority: I’ve done much more walking than I’ve done running. Simply put, this has been a game changer for me and re-building my fitness. Since I was in a position where, when I re-started, I was doing no walking or running whatsoever over a long-time period, my cardiovascular and muscular fitness were virtually non-existent. Walking has allowed me to steadily build both of these aspects of fitness, so that I minimise the risk of re-injuring myself. In particular, it’s been helpful to condition and strengthen my leg muscles which were weak and undeveloped at the start of the re-building journey. As we know, decent leg strength is key for successful running and staying injury free.
Taking runs chilled: I’ve done all of my runs extremely relaxed and at a very leisurely pace. I don’t think I’ve yet done a sub-9 minute mile since I started running again, and several of my miles have been above 10 minutes. This has helped tremendously because it means I’m gradually building fitness, minimising the risk of injury, and focusing simply on enjoying the running rather than performance. Slow and steady wins the race.
Keeping runs short: To minimise the risk of overtraining and injury, I’ve kept my runs relatively short and the furthest I’ve run so far is 6 miles in a single session. I’m excited to eventually increase this to my ‘standard’ distances from before like 9-10 miles, and also incorporating some long runs in, but for now I’m just keeping the runs short and regular.
Flat and easy terrain: I’ve stuck exclusively to the roads and, where possible, have kept these flat. Whilst the trail is where my heart lies in running, I simply don’t have the skills, confidence or endurance to navigate technical hills and trails at present. That said, I also forgot my running poles in Madeira during my trip in April which absolutely sucked! Once my fitness and confidence increase, then I’ll be jumping on some trails ASAP but for now I’m sticking to what feels comfortable and right.
My prized running poles which I forgot and left in Madeira in April...... Not venturing too far: I’ve been very careful not to run too far away from my home during my initial training runs. Throughout the first few months back, I’ve been extremely cautious and hypervigilant of contracting another injury. So, I’ve cut a few runs short here and there. Not wanting to have to walk a significant distance back to my house if I need to stop mid-run, or not wanting to risk being ‘stuck’ somewhere far away with a pain, I’ve kept my runs relatively close to my home. Eventually, when I get more strength, confidence and endurance, I’ll start doing longer runs further away without this worry.
My progress in numbers
Whilst tracking training statistics isn’t the most important thing when it comes to running, they don’t lie and can provide you with a motivating insight into the work you’ve put in. Even if I feel like I’ve had a bad training week in terms of physical sensations and recovery, I’ve found reviewing my stats helpful and motivating.
Miles covered per month:
Type | June | July | August | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan |
Running | 46.6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.2 | 8.1 | 28.1 | 66.8 |
Walking | 6.9 | 6.4 | 4.9 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 35 | 83 | 237.9 |
Total miles | 53.5 | 6.4 | 4.9 | 2.4 | 8.4 | 43.1 | 111.1 | 304.7 |
Some things to note:
These are purely activities logged on Strava using my Garmin watch to record them, and it doesn’t take into account my day to day miles like walking around the house, going to the shops etc.
If I felt like I’d be covering more than a mile in an activity, then I decided it was worth recording on my Garmin (and subsequently Strava), otherwise I didn’t bother recording the activity. My step counts for the months of July to October certainly reflect this lack of physical activity on my Garmin watch mobile app.
The month of June had quite high running compared to the immediate following months. This was largely due to completing the 3 Castles 50km race which I had pre-booked the year before. This was really hard, and I was using my pre-established fitness to get me through the race despite the fact I had done little training.
There was an extreme jump in walking miles in January (237.9) and in running miles (66.8). It might seem a bit extreme to increase the distance so rapidly, but I was very careful to listen to my body and if any part of these training activities didn’t feel right then I never hesitated to cut the session short.
At the moment, walking is certainly the dominant exercise for me and this feels right as I rebuild my fitness. Eventually and gradually, I intend to reverse the two so that I walk less and run more – Just like I did when I was at better fitness levels.
Before my break, I was comfortably able to run 40-60 miles a week with no issues and this was something I enjoyed, so I have a long way to go before I get back to this comfortable weekly distance.
Just from a quick glance at the above chart, I’ve made a substantial improvement in terms of miles covered month on month from November onwards. Whilst, at the time of writing this post, I’m still feeling sluggish and nowhere near my fitness from before, it’s reassuring and motivating to see that I have been putting in the work and I am on track to getting my fitness and ability to run comfortably back again.
Strava fitness score
The Strava Fitness Score is a metric designed to help you track your training progress over time, available to premium users of the app. It measures your total training load based on your heart rate and pace during activities.
It makes the calculation based on your relative effort from each activity, which is derived from your heart rate data or perceived exertion.
Whilst it isn’t a perfect method for calculating your ‘actual’ fitness, it’s another indicator which can be used to track fitness and improvement over time.
I’ve found it particularly motivating to see my Strava fitness score increase significantly from November onwards. In November, it went down to a 6 which is the lowest it has ever been and as of today (5 February 2025), it’s currently sitting at a 101.
Whilst it’s still relatively far away from my all-time peak fitness score of 162 in January 2024, it’s a massive improvement in a short amount of time and its giving me assurance that I’m on track to getting fit and running properly again soon.
Just to note, I am taking extreme care to not over exert myself or over train and I’ve been listening to my body and adjusting my training accordingly.
Summary
There you have it. A quick update on my progress in my fitness rebuilding journey, and on the road to getting back to what I love which is running regularly and comfortably, doing races, and making fun content for the YouTube channel.
If you’re currently in a position where you’re struggling to get back into running, and you’re finding it a huge and overwhelming undertaking, then I hope this blog post provides some inspiration. It may seem hard now, and it will take time, but I believe that we can all bounce back from an extended break from running. It just needs patience, time, commitment, and motivation, and of course being in the right head space and injury free.
I’m excited to carry on with this journey and I intend to make a video sharing what I’ve learnt on this humbling journey once I’m back to decent fitness.
Thanks very much for reading. I’ve been Craig, this is Running Cafe, and I wish you the very best in your running.
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