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Improving Running Fitness and Endurance after Illness: A Staged Plan Back Towards 9-Minute Miles

I have been running for most of my adult life, with an occasional year off due to pregnancies and illness. In the last ten years or so, I've only managed 9 minute miles (over 6 miles) despite running almost every day and doing the usual combinations of slow,hill, fartlek etc, with weight training.

In December 2010 I had an accident which resulted in the development of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. I continue to take medication to this day (Butrans patches (an opioid), Pregabalin and Duloxetine).

Last summer I made a real effort to regain my general fitness, starting with walking, then walk-running and now can run for 3 miles. My problem is that my runs never get any faster or easier.

I run 5-6 times a week, over 1, 2 or 3 miles each session and have not yet improved upon about 12 minutes for one mile and 15 minute-miling over 3 miles.
My breathing is quite laboured and my stride does not have any "bounce". I am at my usual body weight of 10 st 7lbs (at which I look quite slim) and will be 46 this year. I am female and in in otherwise good general health apart from long-standing hypothyroidism.

Is it realistic to get back into nine minute miling this year and if so, how do I go about it? Are the medicines themselves creating difficulty? Or is it just age??

– Lorraine, Staffordshire, UK

Answer by Dom: Hi Lorraine, first the good news. You are running 5-6 days a week again after a hard few years, which is more than probably 95% of the population manage. Your problem is not effort — it is that every run sits at the same medium-hard effort, so your body never gets a proper easy day or a proper hard one. Fix that and the times should start to move.

1. Make most of your runs easy
2. Use a simple weekly structure
3. Add one longer run and one faster run
4. Set a realistic timeline for 9-minute miles
5. Talk to your doctor if the breathing stays laboured

Make most of your runs easy

You run 1, 2 or 3 miles at roughly the same effort every day, so your legs and lungs never get a break. That explains the missing "bounce" and the laboured breathing. Easy running means you can speak in full sentences while you run. If you can't, slow down — even if that means 14 or 15 minutes per mile.

If you can't hold that pace without gasping, go back to run/walks. Run for two minutes, walk for one, and repeat. Walking breaks are not failure. They let you cover the same distance at a truly easy effort, and that is where your endurance gets built.

You can also rate effort on the RPE scale (rate of perceived exertion: 1 is very easy, 10 is all-out). Your easy days should sit at 3 or 4. At the moment I suspect nearly every run is a 6 or 7.

I know I made my first big jumps back to previous fitness when I stopped aiming for previous training times, and just went with my heart rate and feel. Rather than pushing myself every single workout, what worked for me was basically "letting go" and having confidence in the process.

Don't make every run a race. Most of your runs should be at a low intensity, where the focus is not on time. Slow, easy running is the foundation everything else sits on.

Use a simple weekly structure

Five or six runs a week is very good, but I'd recommend you trade one or two of them for rest or cross-training. Swimming, cycling, yoga or pilates all work well. Pick whichever you enjoy most, because you will actually do it.

Here is a week I'd suggest:

• Monday: rest or cross-training (30 minutes, easy)
• Tuesday: easy run, 2 miles
• Wednesday: faster session (see below)
• Thursday: easy run, 2 miles
• Friday: rest or cross-training
• Saturday: longer run, starting at 3 miles
• Sunday: easy run or run/walk, 1-2 miles

That is three easy days, one longer run, one faster run and two days off the pavement. You do slightly fewer runs than now, but each one has a purpose. Your body adapts during the rest days, not while you are pounding the pavement. Keep this structure for the full 12 weeks before changing anything.

Add one longer run and one faster run

Make your Saturday run a little longer. Start at 3 miles and add a quarter to half a mile every week or two, aiming for 4 miles. Stay easy the whole way. Every fourth week, drop back to 3 miles as a consolidation week, so your legs can catch up.

Your Wednesday run is the one place for speed. I'd suggest fartlek workouts. Fartlek is Swedish for "speed play": relaxed surges mixed into an easy run. After a 10-minute easy jog, run 1 minute at a threshold effort (hard but controlled, an RPE of 7), then jog easily for 2 minutes. Repeat six times, then jog home. Over the weeks, build up to 8 repeats, or stretch the hard minutes to 90 seconds.

Run/walks can also work for speed. Run at a pace faster than you are used to for 1-2 minutes, then walk to recover. You get quality running without the breathing spiralling out of control.

This means most of your running is slower than now, and a little of it is faster than now. That is still the best recipe for improvement.

Set a realistic timeline for 9-minute miles

Let me be honest. You have run 9-minute miles over 6 miles before, so your body knows how. But going from 12:00 for one mile and 15:00 per mile over 3 miles to 9:00 this year is a big ask. I wouldn't aim for it in one jump.

Here is a staged target. After 12 weeks of the structure above, I'd hope to see your 1-mile time near 11:00 and your 3-mile pace near 13:30 per mile. Test yourself once every four weeks on the same route, on a fresh day, and write the results down. If you hit those, the next 12 weeks could take you towards 10:00 for a mile. Nine-minute miling over longer distances might then take another year or so. Progress is rarely smooth.

I had a knee injury a while back. Not caused by running I'd like to add. I lifted something heavy, stepped onto a high step and something in my knee cracked. Kept me entertained for a year.

After a year of not running I felt it was incredibly hard to get back into running. It was much harder this time round than it was 5-6 years prior when I experienced another longer period of non-running. I put it down to age, and I am 10 years younger than you, so I imagine that for you it might yet be a little bit harder to get back to previous fitness.

The positive is: at one point I did get back to previous levels of fitness. First I had a little bit of improvement, then suddenly a whole lot. The main lesson for me was that I just needed to persist and try to keep up the exercise, no matter how frustratingly slow I was in the beginning.

Talk to your doctor if the breathing stays laboured

You asked whether your medicines are making things harder. I'm not a doctor, so I can't tell you. How your medication and your medical condition affect your energy and breathing is a question for your doctor. What I can say is that age and time away from running definitely have an effect, and both are fixable with patience.

If your breathing is still laboured after four to six weeks of truly easy running, I'd ask your doctor to check your thyroid levels and review your medication. Tell them exactly what you told me: the pace, the distance, and how it feels. It is a quick conversation and worth having.

Until then, keep the easy days easy, and listen to your body. If something feels wrong, stop and get it checked.

Recommended further reading:

Base Running Drills
About the importance of base running. This explains why slow and easy running should be the cornerstone of your running.

Improve Your Running
General guidelines that will help you improve your running.

Lorraine, you've already done the hardest part — you started again, from walking. Give the new structure 12 weeks and tell yourself the clock doesn't matter yet. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised :)

Kind regards,
Dom

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