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Which Running Program to Do After a One Year Absence from Running?

Hi Love your site!

I broke my toe 1 year ago. It was a bone defect and very slow to heal, so I've not run more than sporadically over this past year.

However, I've done martial arts, elliptical machine, and I bike commute. I can easily bike for 2-3 hours, walk 5K in about 40 mins, etc, etc.

Recently I started back to running and can easily run 2 miles in 30 mins without being sore the next day.

I got bold and signed up for a 5K, planning to walk it, but ended up running almost the entire thing (2 small walk breaks for water), in 48 mins.

Due to the holidays and weather, I've only been able to run three times in the last three weeks (but put in 12 hours on the bike, though).

I feel like I should just jump in to the 10K program...is that the right program for me? I feel like I can do the time, but I've not been consistent since coming back to running. :(

Answer by Dom: Hi there, thanks for your running training question. The 10k Running Program is good for anyone who can run 30 minutes non-stop comfortably. Your 2 miles in 30 minutes and that almost non-stop 5K tell me you are there, so yes — start it. But your heart and lungs are ahead of your bones and tendons, so I'd treat the first three weeks as a trial.

1. Start the 10K program, but treat weeks 1–3 as a trial
2. Let your toe, feet and calves catch up with your fitness
3. Give the bike a clear job on non-running days
4. Make three runs a week happen, whatever the weather

Start the 10K program, but treat weeks 1–3 as a trial

Your fitness is not the question. Twelve hours on the bike in three weeks proves that. The real question is whether you can string together three runs a week, week after week. So here is my rule: miss more than one run in a week and you repeat that week instead of moving on. Miss one? Carry on. Repeating a week is not failure — it is consolidation, and it protects you.

Keep every run at an easy pace. Use the talk-test: you should be able to speak in full sentences while running. Your 5K in 48 minutes works out at roughly 9:36 per kilometre (15:30 per mile). That is a perfectly good pace to build on. Don't chase anything faster yet. Speed can wait until the base building is done.

Let your toe, feet and calves catch up with your fitness

Cycling and the elliptical machine are low impact. Running isn't. Every foot strike sends several times your body weight through your foot, and bones, tendons and calves adapt much more slowly than your heart and lungs do. That gap is where returning runners get hurt. Your 12 hours on the bike do not replace three runs a week — they build your engine, not your running durability.

My advice: increase your total weekly running time by no more than about 10%. Add no speed work and no hills for now. Then let the toe be your early-warning system. Tired, heavy legs are normal. Sharp or very localised pain at the old break, pain that gets worse as you run, or pain that is still there the next morning? Stop, rest for a few days, and have it checked by your doctor or a physiotherapist. I'm a running coach, not a doctor, and a slow-healing bone defect deserves a proper opinion.

Check your shoes too. You want room to wiggle your toes, with nothing pressing on the front of the foot.

Give the bike a clear job on non-running days

Don't stop cycling — it's a gift to your fitness. Just give it a role. On days between runs, an easy spin works as recovery: relaxed legs, light effort, 30–60 minutes. Keep the long 2–3 hour rides and any hard efforts away from the day before your longest run, because heavy legs make for sloppy, injury-prone running.

Don't stack intensity on top of the bike hours either. If your legs feel flat in the first few weeks, trim an hour or two from the riding rather than skipping a run. The same applies to martial arts sessions and the elliptical. Run first, fill in around it.

Make three runs a week happen, whatever the weather

You said it yourself: consistency is the worry. With any running program, consistency is just really, really important. Skipping the occasional workout is not a huge issue, but in order to see some improvements running at least three days / week every week, week after week, is key.

Three tactics make that easier. First, fix your three days in advance — say Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday — and treat them like appointments. Second, set a 20-minute minimum for busy days. A short run beats no run, every time. Third, have a bad-weather and holiday backup, such as a treadmill at a gym or hotel, so a rainy week doesn't cost you a whole week.

Do that, and this 10k running program will build up your endurance over time such that at the end you should be ready for a 10k race. After that program the real fun begins with my favorite distance, the half marathon... :)

See my half marathon running program for more details.

Apologies again for the delay in getting back to you. Enjoy the build-up, and let me know how the first three weeks go.

Kind regards,
Dom

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