After a few weeks (or months) of reduced activity, your fitness will naturally dip. That’s completely normal. What’s less helpful is trying to jump straight back into your old routine as if nothing changed.
Your heart and lungs may feel ready, but your bones, muscles, and tendons adapt more slowly. When running load increases faster than your body can handle, injury risk rises sharply.
Training load is basically how much stress you’re putting on your body. For runners, that includes:
Problems usually happen when multiple things increase at once—for example, running further, faster, and more often all in the same week.
Sudden spikes in training load are one of the biggest risk factors for running injuries, including:
Stress fractures are small cracks in the bone caused by repeated stress without enough time to recover. They often develop gradually and can start as a dull ache that’s easy to ignore—until it becomes painful enough to stop running altogether.
It can be frustrating, but it’s important to be honest about your current fitness. If you’ve had a few weeks off, treat yourself like you’re returning from a break—because you are. Run-walk programs or shorter, easier runs are a great way to reintroduce impact without overloading the system.
A good rule of thumb is to change one thing at a time. Increase distance, or increase speed, or add an extra running day. Give your body time—usually 1–2 weeks—to adapt before progressing again. To take the stress away of knowing how far to run & how fast, we can create a running program tailored to your goals.
A Running Program Tailored to Your Goals.
Recovery days aren’t a sign of weakness; they’re when your body actually gets stronger. Skipping rest days or running through pain significantly increases injury risk. If something feels off, listen early. Pain that worsens as a run goes on or lingers afterwards is a sign to ease back.
Strength training—especially for hips, calves, knees, and feet—helps your body tolerate running loads better. Stronger muscles reduce the stress placed on bones and joints, lowering injury risk over time. Joining an exercise led prevention class can help you to increase strength while being supervised by a physio and decrease your risk of injury. If classes aren’t for you, we can build you a strength and conditioning program tailored specifically to you and your goals.
Join an Exercise Led Prevention Class
Instead of focusing only on outcomes like distance or pace, try setting process-based goals, such as:
These are far more likely to stick—and keep you running long-term.
If you notice:
It’s worth booking an appointment and getting assessed early. Addressing small issues early can prevent weeks—or months—on the sidelines.
The New Year is a great time to get back into running, but success isn’t about how fast you start—it’s about how well you manage the build-up. By increasing load gradually, respecting recovery, and listening to your body, you’ll give yourself the best chance of staying healthy and enjoying your running all year long.
If you’d like help planning your return to running or managing an injury, a PEAK physiotherapist or podiatrist can guide you through a safe and sustainable approach.
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