Tell us about a time when you took extended break from running and came back to set PRs...

rowingg - I imagine that there are some out there who can handle boozing in an otherwise healthy lifestyle, and keep everything on the rails. I know that there are many out there who cannot, despite their best intentions and efforts at keeping up appearances.

Thanks for the well wishes.

I had some severe health problems that caused me to miss about two years of training. About 5 months after I started regularly running again, I PR'd by several minutes in a 5k and subsequently PR'd in every distance up to a 1/2 that summer. HOWEVER, because I tried to do too much too quickly, I ended up getting injured twice in a row that Fall and Winter. Three months after getting diagnosed with Achilles Tendonitis (which included one month of no running) I PR'd in a 5k again and subsequently PR'd in every distance through the marathon.

The nice thing about a break, particularly a significant one, is you get to start fresh physically, but you still have all of that experience so you can be more mindful of form, cadence, etc. The risk is that you do as I did and try to rush the process. Another good thing is that you're also more grateful, which for me has really improved my mental strength. Every opportunity to race feels like a privilege so I try to make the most of it.

With so many stories of people coming back to run PRs after long breaks and lower post-break mileage, it sure seems like a lot of people were overtraining prior to those breaks...

I'm slow, but I came back from 8 months of injury-induced reduced mileage (sporadic and very low mileage, then one zero month and then starting again at 20 miles/week and increasing slowly), and within a few months I was back in better shape than I had ever been.

I thought it would take me a year to get back to where I was, but it took about 2-3 months.

Stay active and flexible - walking regularly is like 1000x better than doing nothing - and you'll be fine. Good luck with everything!

I ran 14:53 on the track the spring of my senior year in college (2001). After school, I felt burnt out and wanted to focus on my career and stopped running entirely that summer. Ended up lifting weights for the next few years (no running) and added 30lbs going up to 175.

Didn't really miss running till 2007 (six years off) and got back into it that August. Took a few years to drop the weight and build mileage but in 2010 I broke my college pr and ran 14:41 indoors. In the spring of 2011, I ran the the race of my life (1:07:48 half marathon). Coming back was awful as I felt fat and slow. Luckily, I had some very fast guys to train, fantastic coaching, and a supportive wife.

Late 20's quit competitive running due to burn out. Came back three months later and started running for fun, and actually enjoyed myself. Dropped over 7 min in HM from 71 to 64, in only a 10 month span.

Thanks- great advice. Glad to hear you're able to come back strongly now. 1 min off the PR is great! Check back here again once you smash it. :)

I am definitely someone who will be inclined to take the "too much too fast" route so I especially appreciate the stories with loooooong periods of no running and the explicit advice to come back slowly.

dcloafer wrote:

With so many stories of people coming back to run PRs after long breaks and lower post-break mileage, it sure seems like a lot of people were overtraining prior to those breaks...

I'm slow, but I came back from 8 months of injury-induced reduced mileage (sporadic and very low mileage, then one zero month and then starting again at 20 miles/week and increasing slowly), and within a few months I was back in better shape than I had ever been.

I thought it would take me a year to get back to where I was, but it took about 2-3 months.

Stay active and flexible - walking regularly is like 1000x better than doing nothing - and you'll be fine. Good luck with everything!

8 months off, 3 months to get back--- nice!! The human body is amazing.

Fortunately I was able to run consistently through 28 weeks and even ran a couple races, decent times if you consider I was hauling around an extra 15-20 lbs. Did some good walking for a few weeks after that but unfortunately now I'm having hip pain that limits walking (I even turned down a social event last night because I wasnt sure I could have walked to/from the parking lot, ugh). So my second biggest concern, after delivering this healthy baby, is making sure the hip is healthy.

Bumping this, as I need to hear some motivating stories. I re-dedicated myself to running over the past 1.5 years, running 70mpw consistently and dropping my PRs significantly during that time. Had goals of sub 1:10 half this spring and under 2:30 in the fall, but I've recently suffered an injury that will require a considerable amount of time off.

Gimme some good stuff to realize that a 1-2 month break could be a good thing!

I slipped and fell on ice in December of 2013 and have been dealing with a herniated L5-S1 ever since with very limited running. Finally took the past 4 or 5 months completely off from running. So, I'm in the beginning phase of my comeback! I'll be battling the time off, plus the fact I've gone from 41 years of age to 43 as well... I was a decent hobby jogger 17:23 5k PR and 1:24:35 Half PR and an above average triathlete. I've been running again for about 3 weeks. Raced a 5k last weekend in 21:17 and yesterday did a timed mile in 6:17. My goals are to go under 5 again for the mile (did this last in 2011), sub 17 for 5k, and sub 1:20 for the half... Tempering my pace, both on runs/races and just how fast I expect to regain fitness is going to be key. If I re-injure myself I can kiss my PR dreams good-bye! This is my one/last shot at some bucket list PRs...

After college I totally dropped out of running. Mentally I was kinda done with it. I got married, bought a house, spent my time doing other stuff. Also I had a job that had a very wild schedule, so it was extremely difficult to be consistent. . And like most competitive runners, I found the idea of going to run a 18+ min 5k abhorrent.

I didn't really get back at it until around age 35. Since then I've run a number of marathons (which I had never run before) lots of 1/2's, and got my 5k down to the 17:20's and a sub60 10M at age 47.

It's been a blast. Love the Masters scene and running against other old guys.

0000atmeal wrote:

Gimme some good stuff to realize that a 1-2 month break could be a good thing!

1-2 months? Try 18 months of zero activity due to traumatic injury, 6 months light biking only, 6 months building from 1mpw to 25mpw. Finally after 2.5 years I was able to train a bit and after 8 months came within 10s of 5k PR. Admittedly the PR was soft for me, but I wasn't training like in college either.

0000atmeal wrote:

Bumping this, as I need to hear some motivating stories. I re-dedicated myself to running over the past 1.5 years, running 70mpw consistently and dropping my PRs significantly during that time. Had goals of sub 1:10 half this spring and under 2:30 in the fall, but I've recently suffered an injury that will require a considerable amount of time off.

Gimme some good stuff to realize that a 1-2 month break could be a good thing!

A one or two month break is nothing. Well at the time it seems like an eternity, but overall it's a blink in time.

In my early 30s I decided it would be smart to try a steeple comeback. Had a pretty good spring, with 15:45 5K and 32:27 10K. I ran the steeple once and ended up with PF the next day. I was out for six weeks. Wore boots and biked like a maniac to keep fit, but my hours/volume was still pretty low. I took two weeks to build up running again and started racing earlier than planned. Opened with a 15:50 5K, and over the next month or two did 32:24 for 10K, 25:35 8K, and 15:31 5K.

I understand that a few months off isn't a big deal (except for the $200 I've spent on registering for races later this spring). But I'm now 30 and had big plans for this year, as I finally understand that my time to set PRs is dwindling. I appreciate the responses.

I once served a four year doping ban and then came back and as a 34 year old broke my pr's.

Not Justin gaitlin wrote:

I once served a four year doping ban and then came back and as a 34 year old broke my pr's.

I was about to post exactly this....

I quit running after college when I was 23. Got married, had a kid and step-kids. Started smoking two packs a day and the drinking really ramped up (over a 12-pack a day on average).

Fast forward three years. Finally got divorced, quit smoking, backed off of the boozing some, and started running again. The progression went something like this (mileage per week): 25, 33, 40, 45, 52, 60...you get the point. Three months after I started I ran a 5k in 15:5x. Three years later in P.R.-ed in every distance from 5k to 50 miles.

I took 6 years off after college. In college I started out as an 800m runner, then switched to the 400 as a junior.

After that 6 year layoff, I decided to become a decathlete.

Within a year of training I was within about a second of my 400m PR from college (50.04 versus 51.2) and had PRed in the 100m (11.7 to 11.5)

Obviously as a decathlete, I didn't PR in the 800 or 1500.

I also set PRs in every other event, since obviously I hadn't done them before, but I'm still counting them!

Key PRs;

LJ: 21-4

PV: 14-4

shot: 40'

Point is that you can come back from a very long layoff and improve.

The masters scene is a curious thing. I totally use it to motivate myself, but it is kind of silly on some level, isn't it? I think the whole thing was a clever way to keep folks involved in the sport and paying race entry fees once they no longer can compete.

I hope that doesn't come across as insulting, because I don't mean it to be. Like I said, at 44, I use competing at the masters level to motivate myself. On top of that, I use the even goofier concept of age grading to compare my times at this age to my times when I was at my best. So I am in the same boat as you (even had to go through the divorce, weight loss and some degree of drying out).

As to the underlying issue - a few months won't be a big deal. If you've been training consistently, you will get a bunch of your fitness back quickly. Planned breaks are an important part of training. Sucks that this one is unplanned and longer than you would like, but you can limit the damage some by cross training.

Smoove wrote:

The masters scene is a curious thing. I totally use it to motivate myself, but it is kind of silly on some level, isn't it? I think the whole thing was a clever way to keep folks involved in the sport and paying race entry fees once they no longer can compete..

Well yes and no. Yes in that it is a contrived number, BUT it is a way to keep guys running. I'm sure you are like me, when the gun goes off I try to race hard vs who ever is there whether they are 25 or 45, whatever. BUT... it does recognize that there's a profound difference between competing when you are in your 20's.

But then I don't think any of the guys I know go home sick because they lost to me on some random Sat. in some road race. I know I don't worry about it. It's no different than guys competing vs their peers on a golf course. It's just a fun, healthy form of entertainment.

I don't really pay attention to the age grading at all. Again, just too contrived.