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FWIW here's what I would do. Listen to Gobi if you want to run ANY long distance and race it to your potential. His formula has worked time and time again and (sadly) he knows a LOT about coming back from injury.
In my humble opinion form follows function. In other words, to become good at long distance cycling, cycle a lot for a long way and do it often.
To become good at running long distances then you have to run a lot and for a long way. Cycling will help general cardio fitness but that is all.
Running takes a hell of a lot of strength and body conditioning to do it well and for any length of time, In addition to running lots, if you have a sendentary job/life then you will need to build a good strength and flexibility routine a few times a week into your training.
Just going out and running it when ill trained is fine if that's what you want to do, you know what you are risking and you aren't too bothered about times etc.
Don't expect people who have competed at quite a high level to have the same views or sanction your attitude to training though. Experienced folk like Gobi know when to can an event in the interest of long term fitness, avoiding injury and reaching long term goals. Part of being a runner is knowing when to back off - well, that's what I think anyway.
Whatever you do I hope you enjoy it and don't get injured.
TT, As Gobi, El Bee and other have pointed out, your problem is not loss of aerobic fitness, it is loss of the ability of the connective tissues to bear your body weight, and most especially to withstand the high eccentric loading that occurs during running.
But lots of factors determine how your body will react to running again. Because you have continued to cycle, I would suspect that you will not have lost the contractile strength of your muscles; it will be the ability of the muscles, tendons and ligaments to resist microscopic tearing.
The first major consideration is that you have been training regularly for many months and will have quite a lot of reserve strength in the connective tissues.
The second major consideration is that the amount of eccentric load is strongly influenced by proportion of the gait cycle spent on stance. If you spend one quarter of the gait cycle ion stance, the average ground reaction force while on stance will be four times body weight, and the peak force substantially higher, especially when running on hard surfaces. However if you spend three quarters of the gait cycle on stance, average GRF is only 33% greater than body weight, though peak might still reach twice body weight.
So my sixpence worth of opinion is that if you are prepared to run slowly on soft surfaces with a a fairly long time on stance, the stress on the connective tissues can be kept fairly low.
I suspect that the degree of ache in your connective tissue the morning after each training run will provide you with a reasonable estimate of how much microscopic tearing of connective tissues you did the previous day. Of course you do need to do some microscopic damage to encourage the desired training effect, but be cautious.
So it seems to me the best thing is build up running slowly with a relatively long time on stance, on grass as much as possible, and monitor the connective tissue aches each morning to estimate how well the tissues are coping.
Dr Bob provides an illustration of spending most of the gait cycle on stance.
I must make it clear though that I haven't expected anyone to have the same views or sanction my attitude to training, if that is how it has come across then my comments must be lost in translation.
You are right undoubtably that part of being a runner is knowing when to back off. I have backed out of numerous races i have trained hard for in the last few years due to niggles or illness in the build up which left me not feeling right which. I would like to think this is why up until this innocuous broken toe I have not had an injury since beginning running.
I will admit it hadn't occurred to me that I wouldn't be ready for the ultra with 6 weeks training but realise that not being able to ramp the miles up quickly, advice I have taken on board, may mean it wont be possible which is why I said I will see what happens. If I do run it the only goal, as it has been since the start, is to get round and, as you say, enjoy myself. Fortunately for me I am not thinking about times at all for the next 8 months and will happily take 7 hours or more to do the 34 miles of the ultra if that is necessary.
Not sure how I would know if I need to or be able to adapt my running style to spend more of my gait cycle on stance though? Will be doing most running on grass though in the build up, 2.28 miles today, yes I know probably too far for first run back :-/ Can't remember the last time I ached after a run if didn't involve some killer hills so will certainly be interested to see what tomorrow morning brings and if I am aching will take stock then of what I do tomorrow.
No major adjustment required. Focus on being relaxed and think ‘soft knees’. Most people have to focus consciously on getting of stance quickly so the main requirement is not trying too hard. Above all do not consciously try to do too much to your running style as this will introduce its own problems. If you have no appreciable aches tomorrow, then you are probably OK doing what you did today and you can build cautiously from there.
cheers Mac, always good advice, plastered it on this morning as the sun was sweating so hard
No appreciable aches when I awoke this morning but as soon as I started running my body was not happy at all, toe, left hip flexor, right calf, all screaming. Taking on board the advice on this thread I have now cancelled the Ultra and all other races on the horizon with my only goal now to be able to run consecutive 10 mile days by January. It may be that some may still think that is too much (surely not though?) but is the best I can offer if I am going to be ready for next March.
So I have listened see, although it has devastated me, I'm a very good boy
Again willing to take advice on how to build it back up running wise whilst still keeping fitness ticking over on bike and doing a structured strength routine.
The good news is that your running fitness will return probably a bit quicker than if you were starting from scratch. The body "remembers". That being said the trick is to load the organism(body) just enough to provoke a training effect but not too much that it breaks down.
It is a fine line but let the aches and pains be your guide. It's your body and only you ultimately know how much something hurts! Get to know the difference between "good" aches after a good session and "bad" ones where you broke/strained something.
I would suggest alternate days of running to start with. Build up to 10 every other day maybe. Then start running an easy 5 in between, then gradually ramp it up from there. You need a good training programme to follow really. Again, look to the people who have done this effectively in the past and may be willing to help you. Don't go getting a RW programme though for God's sake.
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Pro cycling thread
Jul 2025