I made it through my pre-running plyometrics week and I am on to the next phase of return to running! The pace of progression in this return to running program is slow, but it is meant to really get you started in a healthy way, allowing your body to adapt to the load of running. As I have been doing a great deal of cardio up to this point, I still finish my workout with other low impact cardio and strengthening exercises so as to maintain my fitness while getting used to the actual motion and impact of running. I opted to start with the advanced return to running program, but you can choose from a variety of other levels as well in my ebook, which you can get here.
If you are interested in the advanced program, which progresses to 5-6 days/week of running 40+miles, here is how I am getting started:
Advanced Phase II: Walk to Run Progression
Rules for this phase:
1. Athlete must take one rest day in between each workout, low-impact cross training is acceptable on off days.
2. Take at least one complete rest day a week (not even cross training).
3. Only complete one stage/day.
4. If athlete develops a return of symptoms or other pain or cannot complete the stage, they should rest until pain free and remain at that stage until they are able to complete it without symptoms.
5. Do not progress to the next phase until this phase can be completed without pain.
| Advanced Walk to Run Progression | Walk | Run | Repetitions | Days at this Stage |
| Stage 1 | 5 minutes | 1 minute | 3 | 2 |
| Stage 2 | 5 minutes | 3 minutes | 3 | 2 |
| Stage 3 | 5 minutes | 5 minutes | 3 | 2 |
| Stage 4 | 5 minutes | 8 minutes | 3 | 2 |
| Stage 5 | 5 minutes | 10 minutes | 3 | 2 |
As tempting as it might be to start that running minute off at your fastest 400 meter pace, hold back. This phase is just for getting the body used to the impact, so keep the jogging pace to an easy, “could go much harder than this” kind of pace- not any pace that you would use in a race of any distance, but rather the pace you would use for an easy recovery run.
Note that the run days are every other day and repeated, so this program should take 17 days to complete. If you are getting back to your running journey, let me know what it looks like for you!
Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or comments! Thanks for reading!
