How fast to increase mileage after 2 years out?

Training Advice/Discussion General
Reply
Moderation

  • RunningAgain

    Anonymous Poster

    3 years ago 06/06/2022 1:33am EDT

    I quit running before college and haven't trained in 2 years, aside from the odd steady 4-5 miler and some soccer. I'm not completely out of shape as far as general fitness goes, but I've put on quite a lot of muscle (and fat) which is not ideal for distance running. Still, I'm probably much healthier than when I quit due to being completely burnt out and weighing 125lbs at 5ft 10 (now 156lbs) because of an eating disorder.

    Since I decided to come back to running on Thursday, my runs have been:

    Thurs: 8mi at 7:50s / Fri: 5mi at 8:00s / Sat: 4mi at 7:30s + 10 x 60m strides / Sun: 11mi at 7:50s

    My legs don't feel too bad, but I'm cautious about doing too much too soon. Should I just keep trying to ramp up the mileage to 40 this week or be more conservative? Has anyone else successfully come back to competitive running after this kind of break?

  • registered

    track chick

    Member since 11/13/2006.

    6,612 posts. Last post 10 hours ago.
    3 years ago 06/06/2022 5:23am EDT
    re: RunningAgain

    I'd be more conservative. You're running 11 milers in your first week back after two years off. You want to prevent injury and there's not much to be lost by just taking it easy in the first four weeks or so back. Personally I wouldn't go from 0 mpw to 40 mpw

  • LongTimeOff

    Anonymous Poster

    3 years ago 06/06/2022 5:48am EDT
    re: RunningAgain

    When i come back from a long time off instead of doing the traditional 5-10% growth in volume each week, instead i do this:

    3x weeks at the same volume
    1x down-week (10-15% down volume, all easy runs, focus on cross-training/strength)

    Then repeat at 5-10% more volume. After 3 months you should be fit and ready to do a standard training block

    If 40 miles felt fine stay there, but maybe bring down the intensity even more on the LR with a ramp-up in the last 25% of the run.

    Strength train. Do it now and do it often.

What People Are Talking About On LetsRun
No top threads at the moment. Check back soon.
New Forum Moderation Information & Rules Search Troubleshooting

This thread has already been deleted.

Note: We review 100% of reports submitted. Visit our moderation dashboard to view statistics on our moderating activity. If you have a question or concern, email us at letsrun@letsrun.com or call us at our toll-free phone number:

1-844-LETSRUN (1-844-538-7786).

Author
Body
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?
What forum rule may this post have broken?

View our Terms Of Service for a complete description of our forum policies.

Provide context for this post report if relevant.

Reply Replying to

Leave the password field blank to post anonymously.

Post Preview
By posting you acknowledge that you have read and abide by our Terms and Conditions.

Message Board