It’s easy to navigate away from running after your last goal was achieved. Maybe you ran a 5k and then took some down time? Perhaps you started a new job or had a child. Possibly you just needed some time away from training. That is perfectly okay and part of the training cycle for most individuals. While taking time away from running can be good, odds are if you’re reading this message, its time to start again! Let COROS help you ensure a safe and effective return to running in 2022!
Lifestyle Change, not Instant Fitness
As you begin the new year, you should re-introduce exercise into your life in a manageable way. Many individuals make the mistake of over-training the first few weeks and then fizzling out. To help with this, we have designed a 10-week return to running plan that is designed with easy intensities and manageable workloads. Both frequency and volume will increase throughout the 10 weeks to help you build fitness and momentum. After these 10 weeks are up, and you have incorporated running into your lifestyle, then you can follow another plan to increase your abilities. Throughout this article we will discuss how our products can help you, what the plan looks like, how to properly set your goals, and how to efficiently warm up along with plenty of other features.
Products That Will Guide You
At COROS, we have built our products in a way that require limited interaction if you’re busy with other things in your life! Our training plans can be directly uploaded to your COROS App or Training Hub account. From there, they automatically sync with your watch and walk you through the training for each day. To take advantage of this ecosystem, we need to identify the right watch for you. If you love city sidewalks and walking paths, we recommend our PACE 2. If you prefer a hike or light trail run, we recommend our APEX series. Once you have the right watch and download the training plan, it’s as easy as stepping outside and hitting start.
10-Week Return To Running Training Plan
While going through the training, users will find that both time and frequency increase over the 10 weeks. The plan has notes for each day and allows users to customize with walking or jogging depending on how they are feeling. Users can also shift around days in their calendar if something pops up unexpectedly. When first starting out, users should have the goal of being consistent the first week. Don’t focus on future weeks. Rather, be present and allow momentum to build over time. Once you hit week 7, 8, 9 and 10, you will see drastic changes in both your daily habits and ability to move.
10-week Return to Running Training Plan can be found here: https://coros.com/plans.php
Goal Setting
Once you have your watch and training plan ready, it’s time to create some goals. To create an effective goal, you want to have a SMART approach. You need to be specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-sensitive with your approach. The training plan above focuses on walking and aiding you in a return to running (specific). You will measure the time and mileage via your new watch (measurable). Your can take action by getting out the door and being active (actionable). The plan is designed to build gradually in a safe manner (realistic). The plan lasts 10 weeks (time-sensitive). While this plan was designed with a SMART approach, we know you may have other goals related to training/fitness. Follow this PDF for your own SMART goal sheet.
Warming up
Now that you have the right tools and focus, let’s discuss warming up! For this training plan, we recommend light walking and going right into the training for your walk days. On days you’re going to run, start with a light walk and then slowly build into a light jog. There is no need to do a static stretching routine before a run. Static stretching creates more harm than good by overly increasing your range of motion (limiting the ability for muscles to bounce back). We recommend a slow ramp up in heart rate (visible on the watch) and then going into your activity. For more information on dynamic warm ups, you can read HERE
Stretching
After your walk/run, this is when you should perform your normal stretching routine. This is where we want to elongate muscles so they don’t shorten and reduce range of motion. After your activity, you can mix in a 10-15 minute stretching routine where you hold static stretches for 20-30 seconds at a time. The goal when stretching is to extend to the point where you feel a light stretch, and then hold there. Do no over-extend. Again, stretch aiming to feel a light tightness, and then hold at that point. You should focus on your hamstrings, glutes, quads, hips, calves or any other area of tightness.
Future Training Plans for Running
We want to focus on guiding you in your return to running! However, once these 10 weeks are over, we also have plenty of other training plans for you to follow if needed. Just as you are going to do with this return to running plan, download the plan to your account, and hit start! All of your data will then populate into your COROS App and Training Hub. While we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, knowing there is a next step can be quite motivating as you near the final steps of this plan.
Return To Running
Life can be hectic and full of unexpected turns. When you have free time, who really wants to spend that planning and preparing for exercise? If you are taking the time to plan, how do you do so in a safe and effective manner? Let us help you this year by having pre-designed training plans that sync directly with your watch/account. When you find some free time during your day, just hit the start button and let us guide you. Let’s reintroduce running into your lifestyle as we work together to explore perfection!