Hey Reader!

On Wednesday, I headed down to Shepparton to help Run Dais with a project for the Shepparton Running Festival. If you haven't heard of them, Run Dais is a relatively new company that began as a running calendar and is now evolving into a hub for vetted professionals in the running industry, as well as a valuable resource and running calendar.

After speaking with them yesterday, I am truly impressed and excited about what they plan to do for the professionalisation and legitimisation of running in Australia. This means there will be a place for runners to easily find coaches, run clubs, dieticians, sports psychologists and the like in one place, where their credentials and experience have been checked rather than a free-for-all of anybody and everybody.

It will be interesting to see what eventuates in the coming years, but for now, it's exciting. They will be launching a new website soon, but if you're interested, you can check out the current site ​here for your next running event!​

---

A template to return to running

As I navigate my return to running post-injury, there comes a time when my practitioner clears me. In my case, after four weeks, I have now returned to four days of continuous running.

The question then becomes, how do I safely return to where I want to be?

Now, the more straightforward, less stressful answer is: with the guidance of a knowledgeable and qualified running coach. However, that would make for a very short article today, and, sadly, not every coach fits this criteria. Therefore, having a level of understanding that may help you see the warning signs in your program is essential.

Let's start by reviewing some of the common mistakes I see people make. As you will see, this template can also serve as a base for returning after longer events, such as a marathon, or shortened for shorter races, depending on your running experience.

Common mistakes

1. Introduce intensity too soon

Running fast increases the amount of force your body is subjected to, which is referred to as the Ground Reaction Force (GRF) - Read this study for more​

But this doesn't just happen at sprint intensity. To go faster, you need to exert more force into the ground, so even running at a steady or moderate intensity can multiply the forces your body is feeling against the ground.

If your body doesn't have the foundations to tolerate this load, built through easy running, strength training, plyometrics, and recovery (we'll touch on this soon), the likelihood of re-injury is very high, or even a new injury, since you won't have been running as much as usual. Thus, the tissues that haven’t been loaded consistently during your layoff are now less conditioned to tolerate impact and force.

2. Rapid increase to pre-injury volume

Before increasing intensity, as I have mentioned, we need to rebuild our running volume - but not too fast. A common mistake I see is big increases, fast, especially on the long run.

Even if you were used to doing 2.5-hour long runs before the injury, the difference between 90 minutes and 105 minutes on the body is huge. The same goes for the difference between 60 minutes and 75 minutes if you were used to doing 75 to 90 minutes pre-injury.

Long runs increase tissue load disproportionately due to fatigue-induced form breakdown and fueling deficits. Not giving the body enough time to relearn how to tolerate volume and build back the conditioning will only slow your progress down.

3. Neglect rehab and/or strength

You've been injured. Hopefully, suppose you are working with a good practitioner and/or strength coach. In that case, you will have been putting a significant focus on rehabilitation and strength training to get you back to running in the first place, and in some cases, fix whatever happened so it doesn't occur again - this can be bone density related or soft tissue (tendons, muscle tears, etc).

But now you can run again, the focus on your rehab and/or strength plan starts to wane... What happens? Bang, right back to square one. As I mentioned last week regarding sickness, we must earn the right to run and continue to earn it. If you're confused about why an injury keeps happening, one common mistake I see (and a question I'll ask) is whether you're still doing your rehab.

4. Not focusing on recovery

It's easy to think of running as being in a silo, completely disconnecting from the rest of life. I'm sorry to burst your bubble, it's not.

When we get injured, the physical side is often the focus, but have you looked into why your body couldn't adapt and tolerate the running you were doing?

Areas that get neglected:

• Stress – we only have a limited capacity before our nervous system and endocrine system start to shut down, and this is when we experience burnout. If you haven't addressed the root cause, what difference can you expect?
• Diet – running is hard and requires a degree of conscious consideration for what we eat and drink, both in general and in terms of sports nutrition. Not eating enough and not fuelling the exercise you are doing limits adaptation and increases the risk of a myriad of adverse health consequences. Plus, the body needs carbs and protein to repair itself during rehab.
• Sleep – we all know the drill... sleep is where the body does its repair, improvements, and processing for all of life's "stuff". If you aren't getting 8 hours, or close to, on average, and your body is trying to repair and adapt, the likelihood of injury recurrence is high - read this study for more.

Okay, so this is one side of the coin, but what should you do to return to running long term without unneccessarily increasing your injury risk?

Checklist for long-term running health

Below, you'll find my thoughts, in order, on how to bring someone back from injury and racing, so that they feel strong, healthy, and can be consistent for years to come.

1. Health comes first

When I say health, I mean your overall well-being. As I mentioned earlier, we need to ensure that your life is in a position where you have the space and capacity to increase your running and respond positively to it. If you can't absorb the training, then:

More ≠ More

Critically reflect on your day-to-day and answer questions like these:

1. How much do I sleep each night, and how energised do I feel when I wake up? (not just in-bed time, sleep time)
2. How busy do I feel, with work, home, and social life, and how motivated am I to add more to my week?
3. How conscious am I about my food, and do I truly understand what my body needs?

Honestly, these questions can be confronting. I find this is best done with your partner or family, as what they see versus what you are willing to tell yourself can be decoupled.

When it comes to diet, ensuring a year-round focus on carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats, along with a diverse array of fruits and vegetables for their micronutrients, is imperative.

When it comes to exercise, we should fuel with simple carbs before a meal rich in carbs and protein within 60 minutes after, ideally less. For runs over 60 minutes, you also need to fuel them during.

For more information, check out the Australian Institute of Sport's guidelines here. Alternatively, please reach out, and I will help connect you with a sports dietitian who understands your specific needs.

2. Maintain and progress strength training

Honestly, even for an injury that isn't about exceeding the body's capacity, such as a rolled ankle, year-round targeted and periodized strength training is essentially beneficial for every runner.

Not only does strength and plyometrics training improve our running economy, meaning we use less energy (oxygen) to run a given pace, but it also minimises the areas of weakness that often lead to overload, either in that spot or in another area taking up the strain.

From a bone density perspective, plyometrics are vital, and they also serve to build skill acquisition of running, two topics we'll be covering in the coming weeks.

Yes, what your strength training will look like will and should vary across a year, but it should always be there. This is why I am Run & Strength, and most of my athletes are on this program – you are limiting your potential as a runner and increasing your injury risk by only running.

3. Build easy volume

If, like most return-to-run programmes, you are handed over to running for 3 days, with ~30-45 minutes of running each time, and you were previously running more, gradually build back to this point.

1. Start by increasing the frequency, adding an extra day of 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Then gradually increase the volume of each run. This could be anywhere from 20 to 25 minutes for the run and 45 to 50 minutes for the long run, but take into account the increase across the whole week.
   • The 10% rule is often too rigid; instead, use flexible guidelines, such as adding 5 minutes to shorter runs and 10 minutes to longer runs.
3. Once you are running 2.5 hours across the four days, including a 60-minute run, add a fifth day.
4. Don't get greedy. I find that a gradual increase early allows for a larger, more consistent improvement rate over time.
5. If you were a higher-volume athlete before, i.e., running 6+ hours per week and 2+ hours for a long run, getting back to 70-80% of your pre-injury volume with a 90-minute long run is a guide I think of before bringing back intensity.

4. Reintroduce intensity, gradually

This part depends on why you are building back – whether it's from a specific injury or a race.

However, initially, bring back low volume, short duration, faster work in one of two ways:

1. Fast strides – these are 10 to 20-second bursts of up to 95% maximum speed effort with a lot of recovery time. The stimulus here is more neuromuscular, meaning it focuses on becoming a smoother runner and improving peak output, rather than overall fitness. Ideally, these exercises are done on hills due to lower loading forces; however, if you have a reason not to load the calf-achilles region, then opt for a flat surface.
2. Short moderate effort – the other side to bringing things back is with 30 to 90-second moderate (threshold or slower) surges within an easy run. I find these particular helpful when we want a low neurological impact (such as when sick or stressed), or when injuries are related to the calf, hamstring, or glute that experience high reaction forces at speed during strides.

In both cases above, start with 4 to 5 reps and give yourself more rest than needed. This is beneficial for both injury prevention and rebuilding confidence in our bodies.

After 4 to 8 weeks of this, and as your volume and frequency have continued to increase (initially, hold or even reduce volume to bring strides or surges in), you can start to progress towards more structured sessions.

What this looks like will depend on your training history. That said, whatever you used to do time-wise, start at 50%. For example:

If you previously did a session like 8 x 3min Threshold | 1min Easy, this should start with four reps.

Other considerations are:

• Use slower intensities first to reduce reaction forces and develop aerobic running ability (we can run faster later, and need less of it, especially since you'll be doing strides throughout)
• Keep interval length shorter - for example, 3-minute threshold reps, not 8 to 10.
• Gradually build total session volume for the same intensity. There's no rush, especially early on.
• Fuel the living daylights out of your sessions, pre, during, and post. Give your body all the necessary "substrate" it needs to repair and adapt.

And again, just get a coach... and if your coach is scheduling your sessions in a manner that you don't feel is right, don't have the confidence for, or are scared to do, then talk to them immediately to learn why they're programming you in that way. Ultimately, if you're dissatisfied with the response and/or don't trust the training or their understanding of what your body and life context require, then consider making a change.

Closing Thoughts

Getting through the initial phase of a return to running is the easy part. We know we need to do and are painfully aware of how long we have been off and the pain we were in. In the long term, we tend to forget, and this is where the problems start to arise.

Be smart, diligent, and avoid rushing, even if an important event is approaching. And if you are navigating this phase and want expert support, don’t hesitate to reach out — this is where great coaching can make the most significant difference.

Past Newsletter Editions

---

Content of the week

I recently re-read David Epstein's book, "Range," and I feel it has some relevance to today's article. The concept that generalists outperform specialists in the long term is exactly what running requires: those who rigidly run may see short-term gains, but in the long term, they tend to suffer.

However, the runners who focus on the bigger picture, taking a broader view of running as it fits into their lives, are rarely the ones who force their old training onto a tired or recovering body. They’re the ones who zoom out — those who understand recovery isn’t just about logging miles, but about rebuilding range across sleep, stress, nutrition, strength, and mindset.

As the cover says, "an essential read for bosses, parents, coaches and anyone who cares about improving performance." Sums it up quite nicely!

​
You are receiving this email because you signed up at James Sieber Coaching. If you would like to stop receiving emails, you can unsubscribe at any time update your preferences.