My Plan To Start Running Again After 8 Months Off

Hello everyone,

I’m Craig, and this is Running Cafe.

For those who have followed the YouTube channel for a long time may have noticed that I haven’t for quite some time been particularly active in terms of making new content, nor have I been particularly active on the Strava fitness app.

The reason for that, is for about 8 months, I’ve been experiencing some mental health related personal issues. During that time, I felt like I couldn’t focus properly on running so I decided to take a break in order to focus on resolving them. Whilst this was absolutely the right decision for me to make, it meant that I lost a lot of fitness, gained weight and also lost some of my passion for running. I’m sure this is a position we have all been in at one point or another in our lives, and it’s important to remember that we are human and sometimes we need time out of things to focus on ourselves.

At the start of the 8 month period, I did 2 races. The Thames Path 100 miler in May, which I failed at and got to mile 50, followed by the Three Castles 50km which I surprisingly finished. As I wasn’t running or training actively before both races, they both felt really hard and I was banking on my pre-established fitness to get me through the races.

It worked for the 50km, but not for the beast which is the 100 miler and it once again reminded me that all 100 mile races should be given the respect that they deserve (the Thames Path 100 is the only race I’ve ever failed at, and I’ve failed it for 3 years in a row now).

Whilst it sucks to have lost lots of fitness and now be at a position where I’m effectively starting from 0, it’s a really good opportunity to go through that process of what it actually feels like to start running from scratch.

Since I started running about 8 years ago, I have been incredibly consistent and the longest I had taken out was 1 month on a few occasions in order to let injuries heal. So, the 8 months was the longest break I’ve had in my running for almost a decade and I have entirely forgotten what it feels like to start from 0 in terms of building fitness, stamina and endurance, and most importantly a love and a passion for this wonderful sport.

In this article, I’ll share my plan which I’ll be using in order to get back into running and get back to my previous fitness levels (and possibly even fitter). Hopefully, I’ll be training consistently again in no time and doing some fantastic races which is one of my favourite parts about running.

If you’re someone who is starting to run for the very first time, or – like me – you needed to take some time off, this article (and the YouTube version) may be of some help.

Without further ado, let’s get into my plan.

No pressure

First and foremost, I’m not going to put pressure on myself.

Whilst it would be easy to compare my current running and fitness to the past, where I was actively pulling out 60 mile training weeks, I was able to run 100KM ultramarathons, and I was able to comfortably run sub 1 hour 30 minute half marathons, this would be completely unfair on myself.

I’m going to make sure I constantly remind myself of the context and the fact that I haven’t been running for a longtime. This will help me to be kind to myself, keep me motivated, and it will help me not to be too disheartened when a run or training session which, before I would have found relatively easy, feels like the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest.

I think this is particularly important for keen runners who have had some time off because, whilst we know what we’re capable of, it can be easy to unfairly compare our current performance to our past performance at our peak.

Therefore, it’s important that I keep a growth mindset and remind myself that I can steadily build the fitness and endurance over time, and consistency is king when it comes to doing this sustainably.

Walking

I’m going to make extensive use of walking during the first few weeks (and possibly months) of my rebuilding journey.

Walking is a fantastic exercise and I feel like us runners don’t use too much during our training, but it’s actually really beneficial. It helps to get the mileage in, some low intensity exercise in, and it’s awesome for rest days.

Further, it’s good for keeping the option to do some activity whilst we’re at risk of an injury so we can keep moving, keep the fitness topped up, but at the same time allow our body the time and space it needs to fully recover.

Recently, I’ve been trying to walk at least 15,000 steps a day and I’ve often exceed 20,000 steps a day and I feel like it’s really helping to build my endurance and stamina back up.

Whilst I still can’t run anywhere near what I could before in terms of distance, comfort and ease, I feel that simply walking 15,000 steps a day as a consistent target is a good step in the right direction towards getting back on track.

Walking will be critical in my early stages of getting back into my running.

Taking the runs chilled

Next, I’m going to take all of my runs incredibly chilled and relaxed.

I’m a long-term advocate of the 80/20 principle which states that you should do 80% of your runs at a relaxed pace with the remainder of your runs (20%) in a higher heart rate zone.

However, for the purposes of starting from zero, I’m going to take 100% of my runs extremely chilled. By doing this, I’ll gradually adjust my body to higher workloads, build endurance and stamina gradually, and I’ll ensure to avoid an injury which would be unpleasant and demotivating.

Whilst I’m someone who is capable of running a 17:44 minute 5K (my personal best), I have no issue with lowering the pace for training as the research suggests that the most successful endurance athletes do the majority of their training in lower heart rate zones.

Taking it chilled will definitely be the way to go.

Increase distance gradually

Increasing weekly mileage or kilometres gradually will be a critical part of my reintroduction to running.

I aim to steadily increase my weekly mileage, with no significant jumps week on week.

This will ensure that I don’t overtrain, put my body through unnecessary pressure, and also it will mean I minimise the risk of another pesky injury.

As they say, slow and steady wins the race.

Keep the terrain flat and easy

By this, I mean that I’m going to be mainly sticking to paved roads and roads which aren’t too steep.

I’m not going to venture onto the trail or any steep trails at this point.

What I want to do is make sure I’m running on surfaces which are pretty easy and comfortable, and when I have the confidence back I’ll get back onto the trails.

Whilst the trail is where my heart lies when it comes to running, I now that at present I simply don’t have the confidence, skills or stamina to handle difficult and hilly terrain in woodlands, mountains or in forest.

So, it will be the roads in these early stages exclusively.

I will keep it fun

Finally, and one of the most important things, is that I’ll be prioritising keeping the running fun.

The main reason I run, and probably most people’s reason for running, is that it’s incredibly fun and enjoyable. There’s no point putting ridiculous amounts of pressure on myself, pushing myself beyond my limits, particularly in these early stages.

If I don’t find a particular run fun, due to things like just not being fit enough for it or if it’s not enjoyable, then I’ll pull the plug. This will ensure I don’t risk injury, I keep the recently re-ignited spark burning, and I’ll return to my next run with confidence, excitement and a genuine desire to get the miles in.

Conclusion

There you have it. My incredibly loose set of principles for how I plan to get back into running after 8 months off.

I hope you found this useful, and maybe you can resonate with some of this article.

Let me know what you thought in the comments in either this article or on my YouTube channel.

Thanks very much for reading. I’ve been Craig, this is Running Cafe, and I wish you the very best in your running.