The 4-Week Comeback Training Plan for Runners Who Took the Summer Off Because of the Heat

Whether you’re eager for the cooler months ahead or sad the year’s hottest days are behind us, there’s no denying this summer was a scorcher. And if you’re a runner who does their best to dodge the heat and humidity, you might not have gotten in all the miles you wanted over the past few months.Even if you didn’t run much (or at all!) this summer, you can still rebuild your fitness in time for the best running season of the year (in our opinion!). As the air cools and you feel the hype and motivation of fall marathon season, we have the plan you need to build back your fitness.This training plan helps you reestablish a solid muscular and aerobic fitness base in just four weeks with a combination of running, cross-training, and strength work.The goal of this plan is to get you moving again and to build a consistent running routine, explains creator Will Baldwin, a USATF- and VDOT-certified run coach and 2:21 marathoner. Over the next four weeks, you’ll incorporate strength work and small doses of speed to help you reestablish the base fitness you need for more race-specific training.This plan is designed for those who do have some previous running experience. Ideally, you’ll already be familiar with racing at least the 5K distance. (If you’re a complete beginner, check out our couch-to-5K plan!)Take note that, because consistency is crucial to making training a habit, this plan does ask you to commit to at least six days of activity per week. That said, not all of those days include running, and you have the option to substitute lower-intensity cross-training days, if needed, to ensure you recover between workouts. But if you stick to this schedule, at the end of four weeks, you’ll have built the strength and endurance you need to run confidently and put a race on your calendar or simply run stronger through fall.Download PlanWhat to Know About This Plan During this plan, you will rebuild your fitness base with a variety of workouts. These include run/walk efforts, easy runs, strength training, cross-training, and strides. Here’s a brief description of how to do each and what benefits you can expect from them.Run/Walks These workouts include alternating running and walking intervals. Run/walks should be done at an easy, comfortable effort. To gauge your pace, you can use the “talk test”—you should be able to speak in complete sentences throughout your run/walks.Aim for an overall rate of perceived exertion (RPE) of 3 to 4 out of 10, with 10 being all-out effort. These sessions will help you accumulate more time on your feet while providing additional periods of rest to ensure the overall intensity falls slightly below that of your easy runs.Consider these workouts active recovery days to help you build your consistency and your aerobic fitness.Easy Runs These workouts should feel just as they sound: easy. Run at an effort that allows you to have a conversation. If you’re huffing and puffing, you’re going too fast. Try to start them extra slow and light so you finish strong. Aim for an RPE of less than 5 out of 10. These runs aid recovery and help build your aerobic capacity so you can handle more miles.Strides Strides are 30-second bouts of faster running, but they are not sprints. You should remain relaxed while doing strides and focus on maintaining good running form. Aim for an RPE of 7 to 8 during the bursts of hard effort. The purpose of strides is to get your fast-twitch muscle fibers firing and reinforce the mechanics of running at higher speeds.Strength Training Incorporating targeted strength work as you return to running can help improve fatigue resistance in the major muscle groups you use when you run. Additionally, shoring up any weak areas you have while training can also lower your injury risk as you continue building mileage. Below are detailed instructions for how to do each of the exercises listed in this plan.CHECK OUR GUIDE TO STRENGTH TRAININGHow to Make This Plan Work for YouWeeks 1 and 2 Baldwin says that when we’re just getting back into running after a break, it can be tough to keep efforts easy and not overdo it, because we’re eager to ramp up the intensity quickly. But he explains that it’s crucial to exercise restraint as we’re building back fitness.“The most important thing we can do is give our body consistent, low-level stimulus. It can still be incredibly beneficial even when we’re not going really hard,” he says. “Once we’ve put some consistent weeks under us, it’s going to be easy to ramp up training safely.”During the first and second weeks of this plan, you’ll focus most of your energy on getting into the rhythm of running regularly again and doing strength work consistently. Baldwin reminds runners that how consistent you are in the early weeks is incredibly important to how safely you’ll be able to progress through the harder workouts later.If you’re feeling strong and healthy by the middle of Week 2, you can increase your training load slightly by adding an easy run on your cross-training day. But be sure to listen to your body; if you aren’t ready to add in that extra run, don’t force the effort, Baldwin says.Weeks 3 and 4 By the third week of this plan, you’ll begin to gradually increase the intensity of your workouts. In Week 3, you’ll substitute your usual strides with an uphill variation; you won’t do your strides any differently, but you will need to do them on an incline.To do this, find a hill—grass, gravel, pavement, or treadmill will all work—with about a 4 to 6 percent grade. (For reference, most commercial treadmills that you’ll find at the gym have a maximum incline of 15 percent. We’re looking for an incline that is about one-third of that.) You’ll know you’ve found a suitable hill if it challenges you, but you can still run fairly fast up it without significantly altering your form.Do the strides up the hill for 20 seconds, and then walk back down the hill to recover. Doing your strides on an incline not only raises the intensity but also helps encourage good form and power development, Baldwin explains.Finally, in the last week and on the final day of this plan, you’ll do your first interval workout. After a 20-minute warmup jog, walk for two minutes to catch your breath. From there, you’ll alternate one minute of running and one minute of easy jogging for a total of 30 minutes (15 minutes of running and 15 minutes of easy jogging in total).The running portions of the workout should be at an RPE of about 7 out of 10. This equates to about the same effort you’d exert during a 10K or half marathon race. During the “off” minutes, you should be able to maintain an easy jog. If you have to walk in order to recover before the next set, that means you need to slow down during the faster portions of the workout, Baldwin says.Tips for Returning to Running After a BreakDon’t Force It “When we’re exercising regularly, our body gets resilient to the demands of our workout routine. But if we take some time off—or we’re inconsistent—we lose a lot of that resiliency in our bones, tendons, tissues, and ligaments,” Baldwin says. Because of this, our muscles and aerobic system might feel ready to do things that our bones and tissues aren’t quite ready for yet.So if we go too hard too soon, that can set us up for injury, explains Baldwin. “Renewing our commitment to running means letting our body know that this is going to be a regular routine. We need to respect our body’s timeline and give it time to adapt as we come back to fitness,” he says.Let Go of Numbers If we’re coming off some downtime, especially if it’s still a little hot and humid, our old paces are probably going to feel much harder than we remember them, says Baldwin. Your breathing might be more labored, and you may notice that your heart rate is higher during your daily runs. These things can feel discouraging, but try not to get too much in your head about it. Accept them as part of the process.As you progress through this plan, you’ll want to let go of paces and metrics and instead focus solely on your effort.For many runners, it can be helpful to just leave the watch at home entirely so you don’t know the distance you’ve covered on a run. Instead, set a timer on your phone to keep track of how many minutes you’re on the road. Or, right before you head out, set an alarm before the time your run should be finished, so you don’t have to keep your eye on the clock. “Just be in the moment and enjoy moving your body,” says Baldwin.Be Kind to Yourself If running feels much harder than you remember it being in the spring, don’t beat yourself up for it. Remember that you’re exactly where you need to be right now in your running journey, and that we can’t force fitness. “Avoid the urge to overcompensate for the time you took off,” Baldwin says.Instead, realize and accept that you’re in a different place now, and that’s okay, he adds. Even though some days will be hard, use them as an opportunity to learn about yourself as a runner: See how you respond to setbacks, find what motivates you to keep going, and consider why running—and other runners—have brought you so much joy in the past.Morgan is a gear editor who has been with Runner’s World since 2017. She started as an intern ghostwriting The Warmup, a bygone version of the daily RW newsletter. Now, she tests and reviews anything you might find on runners’ feet-from crew socks and compression boots to carbon-plated super shoes. A lifelong runner and shoe geek, Morgan has been chasing the perfect pair of kicks since she joined her grade school cross-country team. Since then, she ran as a Division I walk-on for the cross-country and track & field teams at the University of Delaware, where she studied English and Biology. She has one full marathon under her belt, and has raced more halfs and 5Ks than she can count.