Running after a break is it hard to do?

I havent run for over a week now and probably wont run until after christmas. Trying to keep my washing pile down! Has anyone not run for a couple of weeks and how have they found it when they have started again?

[Anniemurph Graduate]

My running life recently seems to be made up of nothing but breaks The good news is that I seem to be able to pick up pretty much where I left off, except for the most recent one where the break was, in reality, around a month. In my (limited) experience, one week makes no difference whatsoever, after two weeks I take it easy for the next couple of runs but then I'm back up to wherever I was when I left off. Hope this helps - don't beat yourself up about it 'cos the roads will still be there in the New Year! Happy Christmas!

Annie

[cranberry1]

I had almost/just about (not sure which) reached graduation point but since the clocks have gone back i've barely run at all as i was doing early morning runs before work, but its just been too dark

I'm wondering whether i'm going to have to go right back to the beginning again (which would be depressing) or whether i can pick up halfway through?

Sorry to piggyback your question ebony2012 but it stuck a chord with me too!

[NikkiJayne in reply to cranberry1]

Why don't you just try and pick up from where you left off? And then if you can't manage it, go back to the week that has the stretch of runs for the same amount of time that you managed to do - I doubt you'd need to go all the way back to the start!

[cranberry1 in reply to NikkiJayne]

Thanks NikkiJayne, yeah that's a good idea, bit scared about how rubbish the run will be but know i need to get back out there and face it rather than hiding

[NikkiJayne]

I recently had a week break due to a combination of feeling rubbish and time of the month and it was definitely hard to get back to running 25 mins non stop (I'm still convinced it won't get any easier from here on out!) but I did it!

I think maybe a good option if you're taking a break longer than a week would be to go one week back on the program. Fitness doesn't go down very quickly but in my personal experience, stamina does! But you know what is best for yourself =)

[phoenix5422]

I had a break for a bit and went back to it but went back by a week or 2.

[pingle Graduate]

For me a weeks break makes little or no difference. Up to 2 weeks I'm probably a bit slower but not really a problem. More than that I'd definitely take it easy for the first few runs. Probably drop back a couple of weeks at least but if the run you do is fine then you could move on to the next weeks runs. The most important thing is listen to your body, don't push too hard, don't stress about it. As Annie says the roads are still there and you have the rest of your life to build up time/distance/speed! Good luck. Enjoy getting back to running in the new year. I will reach my 1 year running anniversary in Feb and can safely say it has been a relevation to me that I can even be fit, that I can enjoy exercise and that the runner's high is not a myth invented by sadistic PE teachers!

[Fraz73 Graduate]

I just did my first proper run in a month this morning after having flu. I tried the treadmill a week ago but it was disastrous and could barely manage 5 minutes. Clearly I wasn't over it. So this morning I took advantage of the fact that it was *gasp* dry and went out with no expectations. Did 20 minutes no problem. I was surprised actually because I figured I would have lost a lot more fitness. So if I can do that then a couple of weeks off should be no problem. Just take it easy and a couple of runs back and you should be back to where you were.

[Shazzapat Graduate]

since graduating I have only managed to run once a week and recently had a 2 week break. I was pleasantly surprised that although a bit slower I still managed the run with no difficulty so you should be just fine