Ramping Up Your Running
Happy New Year!
Early January is a typical time to ramp up training — after the busy-ness of the holidays and (if you’re like me) the inevitable post-Christmas cold or flu to navigate as well.
Here are my tips to make your first few runs back the best they can be, plus my top caution for your return.
Hacks for a Smooth Ramp Up
Do Some Mobility BEFORE your run
The reason mobility exercises are so helpful is because they make our bodies move in much bigger movements than we do in normal living.
Think about leg swings or eagles and scorpions — those moves require big range of motion! If you do those first, running is going to feel smooth in comparison.
Alternatively, if you try running after a few days of just walking around and lots of sitting, running will feel harder because your stride will require more range of motion than anything you’ve done recently.
2. Leave Your Watch at Home
I’m very adamant that fitness doesn’t go away in a few days or even a week. (And fitness can be maintained over weeks and even months with minimal training, as long as it’s done right.) But we definitely can lose our sense of momentum and feeling of sharpness and responsiveness after as little as 2-3 days off consecutively, especially if we are sedentary during that time. Even if we remain active, our bodies may feel out of sorts from the loss of stimulus of our normal running routine.
So give yourself a break and don’t track your paces or any running data in those first couple runs back. If (as expected) you’re moving a bit slower than normal, seeing those paces will just make you think you lost fitness when that probably isn’t the case.
Enjoy the act of running and focus on how you feel. Keep the effort comfortable and relaxed. Give yourself a couple data-free runs to adjust back to baseline.
3. Add Strides
Strides after your easy run will help you get back to baseline more quickly. They will help you shake off feeling flat or dull while running. They’ll bring back some sharpness and smooth out your movements. This is the normal purpose of strides after a run and there’s no reason not to take advantage immediately as you ramp back up.
Caution!
Very often, runners expect that time off will resolve or heal their injuries. Even if it’s a small injury, or just a little niggling pain, we tend to think that if we’re not running we don’t need to be treating. This is false. Your injury needs treatment!
A little pain or injury issue may not be noticeable while we’re not running, but it will (almost always) be right there waiting for us when we start running again.
It is also not uncommon to get a new injury or pain when returning to run after a prolonged break because our bodies (which have been accustomed to running) become sedentary for days or even weeks and we get tight and stiff. Then we ask our tight stiff body to jump right back into training and it says NO.
Prep Your Body to Run
The best way to avoid issues or setbacks when ramping back up is to:
Continue treating any existing issues even while not running
Do mobility exercises occasionally even on days you may not run, to avoid getting too stiff
Try to remain active even if not running
Do some easy runs and strides before attempting any more challenging workouts or sustained efforts
Nicole Sifuentes is a full-time Running Coach for adults of all ages and abilities. She is a former professional runner and 2-time Olympian, and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Read more about her services, and schedule your free coaching consultation.