Back to running – Phase 0: Reconnect

Why this exists
This is not a success story or a training plan to follow. It’s a log for my future self—something to reread if I stop running again and need a calm, realistic way back. If it helps someone in their 40s (or later) feel that ordinary people can enjoy running again, that’s a bonus.

I’m intentionally keeping this short, skimmable, and boring-in-a-good-way. Deep dives (shoes, nutrition, philosophy) if they exist, will live in separate posts and be linked from here.

Jump to the metrics

Preconditions

  • Mid‑40s
  • 4–5 years without running consistently
  • Last “long” run: 18 km in 2020, suffered the whole way

Phase 0 – Plan

Goals

  • Rebuild the habit
  • Teach the nervous system that running is not an emergency
  • Small, secondary fitness improvements

Non‑goals

  • Performance gains
  • Strength gains
  • Weight loss

Main risks

  • Losing motivation and disappearing quietly
  • Rushing progress for short‑term validation

Execution rules

  • Walk + short jogging intervals
  • Keep heart rate ≤ 125 bpm (best effort, not obsession)
  • Show up ~5× per week (imperfect attendance allowed)
  • Rest when needed — forcing things now would be counter‑productive
  • Feel better and more energized after the walk/run than before.

Current status

Duration

  • 8 weeks so far

What changed so far

Weeks 1-4

  • Heart rate is spiky.
    • Small increase in pace / slope HR goes up quickly.
    • Slowing down does not bring HR down. I need to walk for that.
  • Pace at ≤125 bpm: ~9:30 min/km

Structure

Pace, route, duration, etc. changing day by day and slowly stabilizing.

Started to run distance-bound: same path.

  • Walking ~30 min
  • Jogging ~5-9 min (depending on the day)

Weeks 4-7

  • Heart rate is less spiky and more predictable
  • Pace at ≤125 bpm: ~8:30 min/km
  • Legs feel more "alive"
    • Not real muscle growth yet
    • Mostly glycogen + water + blood flow
    • Still: noticeable and motivating
Structure:

Started to do the sessions time bound. Same time getting more distance over time.

  • Walking ~33 min
  • Jogging ~7 min (depending on the day)

Weeks 8-now

  • Good and tired days are noticeable
    • Good days I feel very relaxed and calm
    • I allow bad days to be slow. Even these days HR is smooth and less spike
Structure

Mid week 8 I added more walking at the start:

  • Walking ~38 min
  • Jogging ~7 min (depending on the day)

Gear

Clothing

  • Normal, weather‑appropriate clothes
  • Nothing technical, nothing special

Shoes

  • Merrell Vapor Glove 6
    • I’ve used Vapor Gloves for years (walking + past running)
    • Tried another minimal shoe → didn’t like the feel
    • Sticking with these for now
    • Re‑evaluation later if jogging volume increases
    • Historically I ran up to 18 km in Vapor Glove 4, so no urgency

Accessories

  • Garmin Forerunner 245 (bought in 2020)

Nutrition

  • No intentional nutrition changes for this phase

  • I already take:

    • Protein powder
    • Creatine
      (not because of running)

  • Around weeks 6–7:

    • Increased hunger
    • More craving for actual food
    • Less interest in junk

  • I’m listening, but not planning or optimizing yet

Training execution (what this looks like)

  • Sessions: ~30 min, recently ~33 min

  • Jogging time:

    • Started: ~5 min
    • Now: ~7 min

  • Early sessions were irregular (even full walking days)

  • Later adjustments:

    • Fixed route
    • Fixed total time (~33 min)
    • Let distance increase naturally

Next phases (tentative)

Phase 0.5: more load

Add some load to the current sessions.

  • First Increase total time to ~38 min, keep jogging at ~7 min

  • Later Increase jogging to ~10 min, keep total time at ~38 min

  • Iterate

When Phase 0.5 starts

  • Route and pace feel stable
  • Walk/run sessions feel normal and unremarkable
  • Running is no longer an "event" — just something I do

Probably Week 9.

Phase 1: training starts

Phase 1 will focus on structured variation once the habit feels normal.

Therefore I will start having different types of sessions:

  • Easy: similar to the ones at the end of Phase 0.5. 3 times per week.
  • Medium: some more distance at the same effort (or slightly more effort). Once per week.
  • Long: noticeable longer session af lower effort than easy. Once per week

When Phase 1 starts

Not sure yet. But at some point I will want to do longer sessions but not 5x per week. So I will add them as Medium and/or Long sessions and keep the rest stable for some time.

Metrics

Early sessions were inconsistent, including a fully walking day. Over time, sessions became more regular, predictable, and heart rate stabilized.

Even though the metrics are recorded per session, I only look for patterns at the weekly level. Individual sessions don’t matter much.

Training Metrics12/1512/3101/1602/0202/1803/06Date0:005:2814:5024:1333:3542:58time0.01.02.03.04.05.0Distance (Kms)job blocksjog distancejog timetotal distancetotal time

Notes on the chart:

  • First weeks were irregular. Trying to build the habit and no structure
  • At some point around Week 4 the route and structure stabilized.
  • At some point around Week 6 or 7 I fixed the structure to 33mins in total, 7 of them jogging.
  • Mid Week 8 I extended the walking time at the beginning and started doing 38 mins in total, still 7 of them jogging.
  • At Week 10 I started allowing some extra jogging blocks when I felt good. No purpose, just enjoying.