Hey Reader,

As I mentioned in the past few emails, my knee injury and then starting back teaching middle school full time resulted in a long time without running. I took a little over 3 months completely off. I’m finally making my way back—and I’m celebrating the small wins. Recently, I ran three miles straight for the first time after months of run-walk intervals. The knee still talks to me a little afterward, but no more than it did with intervals, and, most importantly, it returns to baseline within a day. We’ll talk about why this is significant below.

Steps to Starting Running From Scratch: Laying the Foundation

With all that context set, let’s talk about what I’ve actually been doing to build back—and what I recommend when someone is returning after time off or starting running for the first time.

First and foremost, especially for me as a woman in her 40s: strength training comes first. Running requires strength, and when we zoom out and look at longevity and health, strength training needs to be the foundation. The place I recommend women start is with the 8-Week Fundamentals program that is part of my Women’s Running Academy membership. It is an intentionally progressed program that will help you practice good technique/mechanics of efficient movement so that you can build up to the “heavy lifting” that everyone is talking about now in a way that feels good in your body while supporting your running performance.

From there, inside the Women’s Running Academy membership, you’ll learn how to integrate that with any running goal (current or future) and choose the built in strength training options best for you based on your goals/season. You’ll be able to continue to build strength in your running off seasons and strategically maintain that strength as you build your running volume and enter your racing seasons. Instead of hitting it hard in some seasons, falling off when run volume increases, then needing it again when injuries pop up, this way you can make more continuous forward progress.

The next step is a good pair of running shoes. There is no single “best” shoe. Shoes are personal. Anatomy, preferences, movement history—it all matters. I do have guidelines for choosing the right running shoe for you here, but this is not a one-size-fits-all decision.

Steps to Starting Running from Scratch: Slow, Intentional Volume Building

From there, I use what I call a graded return-to-running plan.

This starts with time-based run-walk intervals and later moves to distance-based progressions. It may look similar to a Couch to 5K plan, but the difference is intention and flexibility. Progression is guided by milestones and by how your body responds—not by arbitrary timelines.

Volume comes first. Pace and heart rate come later.

Until you can run about 30 minutes or three miles straight, I don’t want you worrying about pace or heart rate. Run by feel. Breathing is a vital sign. During this phase, you want to be breathy but not breathless. It’s ok if you are breathing heavier, but it’s important to still be able to talk in full phrases without gasping. That effort level builds the aerobic base we want without digging a recovery hole.

Running on non-consecutive days is also key at first. Sometimes discomfort shows up during the run. Sometimes it shows up 24–48 hours later. Both matter. For most of the women I work with, that includes monitoring for things like incontinence, urgency, pelvic floor heaviness, pain with intercourse, constipation, in addition to pain beyond normal muscle soreness.

Check your ego here. A little soreness (or even mild pain in the 2–3 out of 10 range) is okay if it resolves within 24–48 hours and doesn’t worsen with the next session. The body needs stress to adapt. You should expect your body to “talk to you” when you apply that stress. What we don’t want is escalating pain, stress that builds up over multiple sessions, and/or failure to return to baseline. This is exactly how I’ve approached my knee. Some soreness after a run is expected. As long as it settles and doesn’t compound, we’re in a good place.

The Graded Running Milestones

Here’s how I structure a graded return.

At that point, we start shifting focus from intervals to total distance.

You keep the three-minute run, one-minute walk structure and work toward:

Next, we begin increasing continuous running:

This can take weeks or months. Everyone is different. The milestones give you built-in checkpoints to assess how your body is handling the load.

How to progress for YOUR body

I recommend starting with four or five intervals of 1 minute run : 1 minute walk. If your body responds well, add one or two more next time. Gradually build to eight.

When you move to 2-minute intervals, keep total running time consistent at first. Eight minutes total equals four intervals. Build from there. Continue through the first 3 milestones like this, changing one variable at a time. Then you are slowly adding more intervals up to 3 total miles. Finally, you start moving towards longer consecutive bouts of running.

You’re stacking confidence, not just fitness.

Adding intention once volume is solid

Once you can run about three miles continuously, we can start giving different runs different jobs or polarizing your training.

There are many ways to polarize training once that base is built, and what makes sense depends on your goals. I’ll dig into that in more detail in the next blog/podcast.

For now, the biggest takeaway is this: if you’re returning to running (or thinking about starting from scratch) begin with strength. Build gradually. Pay attention to your body. And give yourself permission to move slowly.

I don’t always follow the slow and steady wins the race advice, but it definitely makes sense at this stage. Lay the foundation now so you can confidently go full send later!

Your Coach,
Alison

Alison Marie Helms, PhD Certified Personal Trainer and Running Coach Unlock your full running potential through physics and physiology. ​Work with me.​