UKH

Right then UKC friends, I'm in need of some therapy.

From running quite regularly last year I have just gotten out of the habit this year, plus I have been blighted my niggles and injuries.

Ive kept my daily 5 mile walking, regular golf and weekly badminton so I am hoping that base level fitness is OK.

I want to get back on the wagon next year, need to lose some weight so will be kicking out the crap and getting back on the streets.

What do you guys do to get you back in the swing when you have become demotivated by general idleness and annoying injuries and niggles?

Get a running partner, go out with friends, colleagues. Mix up the different styles like getting out in the hills. Sign up to an event (can backfire) go to park runs.

to get out the door get the kit ready and if I can’t be arsed just tell myself I’ll go out for a couple of km and inevitably end up doing more. Getting out the door is half the problem with me. 

I'm in the same boat. I'm finding it helpful to have a manageable regular routine of runs, and running for time, rather than pace or distance is helping. Once I'm back in the habit I'll start 'training' again

Ignore the watch.
I'm a slave to data so struggle to take my own advice, but enjoy it for what it is - freedom and headspace and a breath of outdoors. 

Run slowly rather than fast. Do proper warm up exercises in particular. Have more rest days the older you are. And finally something I have learned myself rather than read it somewhere......do not try to run on the flattest most even ground each time you go out. Look for ground that keeps your foot moving at slightly different angles. This has helped build up strength in other muscles etc that would not be worked if you just keep on the flat. This in turn helps me avoid injury. Oh! and run on soft rather than hard sutfaces. I always run on grass verges rather than metalled surfaces. That's my two pennarth anyway. Good luck.

Injury is a proper b*gger, it’s made me stop a few times, now trying to get the soft skeleton tuned up again. 
Before the pandemic I used to enjoy my local Parkrun, which gives me a sense of occasion without the pressure of a proper race and it gave me the momentum to get out another couple of times a week. But this time I think I need to pay more attention to warm ups and warm downs and maybe introduce some gym sessions for my aging (and slowly vanishing) muscle mass.

Or you could look for a local running club as a source of ready made peer support.

Good luck with your returning strategy anyway.

Depending on fitness or lack of get into something structured like couch 2 5k app, or a 10k equivalent 

Amused at thinking the opposite of that.  Run fast rather than slow.  No warm up ever.  Hard flat surfaces give more encouragement.  But yes, I'm strange.

Running clubs, races, and Parkrun.  Wish they were in the afternoon.

I agree getting out of the door is half the battle. And while we don't want to be enslaved by data, I do like having a little chart where I fill in my runs, and I love getting kudos on strava. Little bits of encouragement go a long way.

After managing to get out the door (as posted by others) my running routine goes something like this.

I start out convinced that if I run I will die, at the very least.

However after half a k or so I am still alive, and heart rate / cv etc have started to settle down. Now it's time to worry about the various pains and aches that turn up - twitchy knee, wobbly ankle. Fortunately from experience I know the best plan is to keep going for a bit and see what happens, so after a while, those go away too.

At this point I start to believe I may survive, and start to enjoy myself. Then the run monitor announces my snail-like current progress, competitiveness kicks in and I'm good to go.

Well done with the base fitness

Go slowly at first. When I was recovering from a long-standing injury some years ago, the sports doctor I'd been seeing advised no more than 7 minutes at first. This seemed overkill - it's hardly worth getting changed for 7 minutes - but having paid for his advice, I stuck with it, and it did pay off.

So, take it easy, and don't think you'll be back to where you were anytime soon. Even with your current level of activity, you'll find the return to running quite tough. As someone else has said, the first steps are the hardest.

Don't be ashamed to run-walk.

Find other people to run with. Whether it's a formal club or a local C25k group, being accountable to other people does wonders for getting you out of the door.

Be kind to yourself. If you're slow, you're slow, but you're doing better than if were sitting at home.

The bad news is that you're the only person who can make it happen.

I need a programme or a goal or I just don’t bother.

Couch to 5k worked very well for me back in spring 2020, with the initial goal of running 5k without stopping.  

This morphed into running a very handy loop route round a loch near my house.  Managed that by late spring.  Then 10k, then distances, then Parkrun came back, so did that with goal of under 30 minutes which was achieved.

I choose a Garmin programme with an end goal and stick to it.  In addition to this, I set myself Strava distance goals (min 20k a week, 100k a month, 1000k a year).  If there’s a programme and a goal, I go out there and I do the run.  

Have dabbled in running on and off over the years, and due to some bucket list ambitions of the spine and C2C, I started properly getting back on it a few months ago. I have always been a good longer distance fast hiker, but wanted to increase my fitness and running ( in my case plodding ability) on the flats in the hills. 

For context I am closer to 50 than 40, potato shaped, and whilst I try to eat healthily I love a cake and a beer. I climb once or twice a week and try to run 3 / 4 times a week usually around 35 - 45 k a week. 
 

for me enjoying the downtime and headspace of being out running is great, I don’t run on the roads (well about 1k to the closest woods to my house). I love running in the hills, woods, trails as being in nature motivates me too.

Also having the right gear so I will be warm / dry/ not slipping everywhere in the mud and a good torch this time of year so I’m not constantly tripping over stuff helps. This stops me making excuses due to weather. 
I do a shorter faster 7k every week and try to beat my previous time. Then the other runs are all between 10 - 20k depending on time and how my niggles (knees / calves) are feeling. Theses runs I also run by heart rate not pace and I have found that to be a great way of not getting too carried away and pushing too hard. If you have a watch that can measure your heart rate or heart rate zones it can be quite a fun game, it’s surprising how slow you have to run sometimes to stay in the moderate zones, for data geeks I’ll do one of them as a tempo run and the others at moderate pace.

For me initially the goal of doing the spine was what got me back on it, but recently I heard an interesting point that changing from being goal orientated (I want to run the spine), to habit orientated (I want to be a runner). Was a much healthier way to make a change that would stick, and I would say I am now more in the latter camp. Even though the sight of my sweaty arse splashing through mud in my local woods would probably be a million miles from the normal insta runner!😂. I actually really enjoy being out plodding round my local trails. The goals are still there but running has now become part of my weekly routine like climbing. 
 

it’s hard at first but take it slow and enjoy your self.

I hope some of this helped.

Ryan 
 

Good on you. I'm in a similar position. I've been running fairly seriously for about ten years and culminated in last year's UTMB after which I took a bit of break with no real goal then a few family/personal issues this year meant that running took a back seat and I'm only now just getting back into it. 

I'm making a point of running for enjoyment rather than beating myself up about goals and form. I've lost some fitness but mentally I think I can still run like I did last year so I can get a bit dispirited sometimes. 

The biggest trick I find is to remember that everything counts. I would find myself thinking that if I could only find time for a 30 minute run (still in the ultra training mindset) then it was hardly worth the effort but now I tell myself anything is better than nothing. 

Getting back to my local running club has been a boost too. The social/fun side can't be underestimated. 

I'm in the same boat as you - ran a 10K event back in August, haven't ran since - the prospect of starting up again, feeling that pain for the first 3 weeks or so is rather putting me off - I'm also blaming the weather / lack of daylight as well at present, guess I just need to get my finger out and go out and run though, knowing that I will be plodding around for a few weeks until my body manages to make that breakthrough into runner mode again

I'm not looking forward to it.

I'm thinking that when I'm off work between Christmas and New Year will be the right time to start back - bound to find some daylight tp make a start on it - if I can do it so can you, no slacking! 

Great advice!

I actually happen to think of this as good news

My advice is smile. Oh, and good luck!

I find that entering a race that is at the limit of my abilities is a great motivation to get out and train

Haven't read the thread but run as slow as you can, but try and do a little more each time. Notice the improvement and build on it. Just concentrate on taking  the next step. Run uphill, not too steep, and then enjoy the reward of the descent.

Im getting closer to NYD. My wife and I have decided to cut out all home boozing and snacking too.

I used to run often. Best 10k 43 mins, 5k 21mins and half 1.36mins. Im just struggling with the head at the moment.

Theres a UKC running group on Strava too which I'll get back to watching...

...and I treated myself to a new 955 Solar so I need to get use from it, other than golf pin distances.