1What Tom wrote
I'm 44, desk job in Leeds, two kids. Ran a marathon six years ago and since then it's been on and off. I run for a month or six weeks, my left Achilles starts complaining, I stop, and then it's three months before I start again. I'd like to actually stay in shape this time, and maybe do a half-iron one day without it taking over a year of my life. Realistically I have 4–5 hours a week, mostly early mornings and one slot at the weekend.
2One question first
Most of what's needed is already there. Two things weren't, and the review would be guesswork without them.
Thanks, Tom. Before the review, two things. What exactly does the Achilles do: stiff in the morning, sore during runs, or both? Has anyone looked at it? And what do you have access to: a pool, the bike, a gym?
Stiff for the first few steps in the morning and for the first ten minutes of a run, then it settles. Worse after hills or when I've added mileage. Never had it looked at. There's a gym with a 25 m pool ten minutes from work, open early three mornings a week. Road bike in the shed, no indoor trainer. Lunch is usually a sandwich at the desk, dinner late once the kids are down.
3The review
Hi Tom. Reading this, I don't think the problem is fitness. It's the restart. Each time, you go back at roughly the volume the marathon version of you could handle. Your heart and lungs catch up within a few weeks; the Achilles doesn't, and around week five or six it tells you so. So for the next two months the running stays short and boring on purpose, and the rest of the engine gets built in the water and on the bike.
Where to start: the first three weeks
About four hours a week, which leaves a spare hour for weeks that go well. Leave it spare for now. "Easy" everywhere means you could talk in full sentences.
| Day | Session | How it should feel |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | Calf work at home, 10 min | Slow. The last few reps of each set are hard |
| Tue | Pool, 30 min before work | Easy, continuous, rest at the wall whenever you like |
| Wed | Run 25 min on the flat: 5 min walk, then 4 min run / 1 min walk ×4. Then 10 min calf work | Easy. If you can't talk, walk |
| Thu | Pool, 30 min, or rest | As Tuesday. Skipping it is fine |
| Fri | Strength at home, 20 min: split squats, step-ups, calf raises, plank | Two reps left in the tank on every set |
| Sat | Bike 60–75 min, flat-ish. If it's wet or icy, a 75 min brisk walk instead | Conversational the whole way |
| Sun | Run 30 min on the flat. Continuous if the morning after Wednesday was normal, otherwise run/walk again | Easy |
The Achilles rule. Some discomfort during a run is fine, as long as it stays below 5 out of 10, has settled by the next morning, and the morning stiffness isn't creeping up from week to week. If the next morning is stiffer, the next run becomes run/walk or moves to the bike. The calf work is what actually fixes it: slow raises off a step, three seconds up and three down, 3 × 15 with straight knees and again with bent ones, three times a week. Make it heavier as it gets easier, single-leg first and then a backpack with books in it, so the last few reps stay hard.
If the morning stiffness lasts longer for several days in a row, there's swelling, or walking hurts, have a physio look at it before we build anything on top.
How to carry on
From week four, one change per week, and only if every morning that week was normal: a few more minutes on one run, or Wednesday becomes continuous, or a third short run on Friday. Keep any single run within about a tenth of your longest run of the past month: on a 30-minute run that's three more minutes, not ten. By around week twelve that adds up to three runs, the longest close to 50 minutes, plus one swim, one ride and strength twice a week.
What to add, and how much
Hard work, from week five, goes on the bike, not on foot: on Saturday, 4 × 4 minutes hard enough that you can only get a few words out, with 3 easy minutes between. Running gets its first quick bits only once the Achilles has stayed quiet for several weeks in a row: 4–6 relaxed 20-second pick-ups at the end of an easy run. Hills come after that.
What to change
Three things. Don't restart at the old volume: the marathon was six years ago. No running on two days in a row for now, because a tendon needs a day or two after loading before it rebuilds more than it breaks down. And no hills for a while: you said they make it worse.
Fitting it to your weeks
A bad week, with a sick child and no sleep, means keeping the two short runs (or walking them instead), keeping the calf work and dropping the rest. Nothing gets made up afterwards. In the dark months the pool is your most reliable session, so protect Tuesday.
Food
Two things only. The early swims are fine on coffee and water, since short easy sessions don't suffer without breakfast, but eat a proper one straight after: eggs, porridge, yoghurt. And put some protein into the desk sandwich (eggs, chicken, tuna, beans): the strength work depends on it. Before the Saturday ride, have toast or a banana, because longer sessions go better fed. The late dinner can stay.
The half-iron
It isn't in the plan and doesn't need to be. Six months of weeks like these, and a half-iron is a matter of weeks of specific work, not a year. When you want it, say so. Until then it stays a possibility, not a date.
If you'd like to put this into practice together, the work from here is the adjusting: you write how the weeks actually go, and they change. If not, this is yours to keep.
Never Still Run
4Three weeks later: what the work looks like
This is the paid part. It is mostly short letters like these.
Rough week. The youngest had a fever and I got maybe four hours a night Tuesday to Thursday. Missed the Wednesday run and both swims. Achilles is fine. Should I do two runs at the weekend to make up?
No, don't make it up. The missed sessions are gone, and that's fine. This weekend: the ride on Saturday, 45 minutes if you're still tired, and the 30-minute run on Sunday as planned. Next week we repeat week three instead of moving on. Right now sleep is what limits you, not missed minutes. One thing to keep even on the worst days: the ten minutes of calf work. It's what protects the Achilles when the running picks up again.