Coach Chuck Schwartz

09/26/2026

1988 Adams State Cross Country Team. Team photo at Cole Park. Only two reasons an ASC runner went to Cole Park, pain or pictures…

09/20/2026

09/17/2026

Most colleges have a home meet on their home course. At Adams State, we had several meets each season and Coach hosted them all on “The Loop”. Pancake flat with two bridges for hills and a 1 mile homestretch on First Street to close things out at 7544 ft above sea level. It was a road race. Every ASC runner chased the 25:00 barrier. When you hit that…you had arrived. Of course, I ran 25:03 or very close 😂. The Loop was very close to “Farm Road Square” and very accurate. Right before NAIA Nats, every year, we also did a series of two mile time trials on a part of the loop to help us reach peak condition. When you finished an all out two mile on the road at 7544, you could see stars and I’m pretty sure Lactate was oozing out of my pores.

If that wasn’t enough, Coach hosted the Adams State Alumni Run” a few weeks before Nationals. Adams State vs Adams State Alumni. That was an incredible field. All the alumni guys ran it, even Pat…they had to - Coach Vigil made sure his team was ready by pitting them against a stacked field of tough alumni veterans. It was great fun, and very intense. The saying arose among A-Staters, also known as “Vigilantes”, that went like this. “You may be #1 in the nation, but you are #2 in The Valley”

Interesting bit of history, The Loop was also part of the course for the 1968 Olympic Marathon Trials, with of course, Coach Vigil as the host.

Leaving his memorial last weekend, a thought came to my mind. I loved the San Luis Valley and Alamosa while I was there and I still love it! But in some ways, for locals, it’s a place people want to leave. Pack up and see the world. But homegrown Joe Vigil stayed and built a running empire. He didn’t search far to find a place to bloom. As Damon Martin put it…”Coach Vigil gave us someone to look up to; He gave us something to look forward to and he gave us a standard worth chasing.” He did it in The Valley and he did it with The Loop!

09/15/2026

Kenosha, WI, 1985. Muddy and cold! Coach Vigil always insisted we were in front at the top of the 1st hill. That hill is about 1/2 mile long so he would make us do 6 x 800m hill repeats the day after 16x1 lappers (about 600m w/100m jog recovery). The training was so much harder than anything a race could throw at you. You learned how to draw up every reserve you had available and then some!

09/13/2026

This weekend, at my Alma Mater, Adams State, we had a wonderful reunion and gathering to celebrate the life of our coach, Dr. Joe Vigil. He was so much more than a coach to all of us. Here is the memorial service and a story of his life. Damon Martin really nailed what it was like to be an athlete under Coach, and lessons we should remember!

Live from the Adams State University CampusPlachy Hall Field Hous...

09/10/2026

THE RECREATIONAL RUNNER: YOU PROBABLY DON’T NEED MORE TRAINING—YOU NEED A BETTER 10 MINUTES

We’ve spent a lot of time in the Natural Supershoe series talking about competitive runners, Masters athletes and comeback runners.🏃‍♀️🏃

But what about the person who simply loves to run?❤️

Maybe you run three or four days a week.

Maybe you enter a few 5Ks or 10Ks.

Maybe you occasionally race a half marathon.

Maybe you don’t race at all.

You just want to keep running.

And hopefully keep running for a very long time.

Here’s the good news:

YOU PROBABLY DON’T NEED ANOTHER HUGE WORKOUT.

You may just need to use 10–15 minutes of the training time you already have a little differently.

That’s what I call the smallest effective dose.

For the recreational runner, the Natural Supershoe doesn’t require turning your life upside down.

You don’t need to suddenly become a competitive weightlifter.🏋️

You don’t need an elaborate plyometric program.

And you don’t need another 60-minute workout squeezed into an already busy life.

Instead, strategically attach small amounts of supplemental work to the running you’re already doing.

Because we’re still trying to develop:

CAPACITY → STRENGTH → FORCE → PERFORMANCE👍

The dose simply changes.

⸻

BUT LET ME ADD SOMETHING I’VE LEARNED AT 59

After a lifetime of running and coaching, I’ve become convinced that the recreational runner needs more than strong feet and a good aerobic system.

WE NEED FUNCTIONAL, WHOLE-BODY STRENGTH.

I’ve learned this one personally.

At 59, I’ve realized how important it is for me to maintain both a mobility routine and a functional strength routine.

Running by itself wasn’t taking care of everything.

In fact, you can run a lot and still gradually lose strength, mobility and balance in other areas.

I experienced it.

Over the years, I became extremely quad dominant and increasingly inflexible. Eventually, I developed significant knee problems.

Running had made me incredibly fit for one activity:

Running.

But that didn’t automatically mean my entire body was strong, balanced and mobile.

That’s an important distinction for the lifelong recreational runner.

⸻

WHY I STARTED LEARNING KETTLEBELLS

Several years ago, I started spending time with a really good kettlebell coach.

I paid him for his expertise—but I also picked his brain every chance I got.

And over a couple of years, I learned volumes about strength training.

It changed the way I thought about supplemental training for runners.

One of the things I love about kettlebells is efficiency.

A properly designed 3–4 movement kettlebell complex can train a tremendous amount of the body in a very short period of time.

Hinge.

Squat.

Push.

Pull.

Carry.

Stabilize.

Rotate—or resist rotation.

You can build strength, coordination, postural control and work capacity without living in the weight room.

And yes…

Done consistently, it might also give you a ripped frame that’s the envy of middle age.

Nothing wrong with a little bonus!

But there’s an important qualification:

KETTLEBELLS HAVE A LEARNING CURVE.

Technique matters.

Loading matters.

Progression matters.

Consistency matters.

Get some good instruction.

Learn the movements correctly.

Start lighter than your ego thinks you should.

Then progressively build.

The objective isn’t to become a kettlebell athlete.

The objective is to use the kettlebell to become a stronger runner—and a more capable 50-, 60- or 70-year-old human being.

⸻

RUNNING DOESN’T AUTOMATICALLY CREATE A BALANCED BODY

This may be particularly important for someone who has been a recreational runner for decades.

Running is repetitive.

That’s part of its beauty.

But thousands upon thousands of repetitions of the same general movement pattern don’t automatically provide everything your body needs.

Over many years, a runner can become incredibly aerobically fit while developing weaknesses, mobility restrictions or strength imbalances elsewhere.

Eventually those limitations may not affect only your running.

They can start affecting daily life.

Getting off the floor.

Carrying something heavy.

Moving furniture.

Climbing stairs.

Playing with your kids or grandkids.

Maintaining balance.

Moving quickly when you need to.

Simply feeling athletic.

That’s why I no longer think of strength training as something recreational runners do only to become faster.

STRENGTH TRAINING IS PART OF THE LONGEVITY PLAN.

Research strongly supports resistance training as we age. A large 2024 analysis of 151 randomized trials involving more than 6,000 adults age 60 and older found that even relatively low-volume resistance training can meaningfully improve physical function, lean body mass and muscle size.

That’s important.

You don’t necessarily need an enormous dose.

You need a dose you can perform correctly—and continue performing.

⸻

START AT THE GROUND

Now let’s come back to the Natural Supershoe.

Your feet are your connection to the ground.

Every stride requires the foot and ankle system to accept force, stabilize and help redirect force into the next stride.

And my feet have some mileage on them.

Years of running.

Years of racing.

And plenty of punishment from my steeplechasing days.

At 59, I finally gave them some very deliberate attention.

I spent roughly a month consistently working on foot rigidity and strength, plantar-flexion work and progressive force production.

The difference I personally felt was remarkable.

IT FELT LIKE SOMEBODY GAVE THIS 59-YEAR-OLD RUNNING VETERAN A NEW SET OF FEET.

That’s my personal experience—not a guarantee that everyone will respond the same way.

But interestingly, the research gives us a reason to take foot strength seriously.

In one randomized trial involving 118 recreational runners, the runners who did a specific foot-core strengthening program experienced substantially fewer running-related injuries over the following year. The control group experienced running-related injuries at 2.42 times the rate of the foot-strengthening group.

That’s a pretty interesting finding for the recreational runner.

So give the feet some attention:

Plantar-flexion isometrics

Calf work

Foot/toe strength

Balance

Single-leg stability

A few minutes can go a long way.

⸻

DON’T FORGET THE CORE

The same smallest-effective-dose idea applies to core training.

Five or ten minutes.

Planks.

Knee-to-elbows.

Flutter kicks.

Single-leg V-ups.

For runners, I’m especially interested in core endurance—the ability to maintain posture and stability as fatigue develops.

You don’t necessarily need another workout.

Attach it to the workout you’re already doing.

⸻

REMIND YOUR BODY HOW TO MOVE FAST

This may be one of the most overlooked areas for recreational runners.

Many recreational runners spend almost all of their running time at approximately the same speed.

Easy running is incredibly important.

But occasionally remind your nervous and musculoskeletal systems what faster, coordinated movement feels like.

It doesn’t require a brutal interval workout.

After an easy run:

4–6 × 10–15 second relaxed strides

Full recovery.

Or occasionally run a few short uphill accelerations.

You’re not trying to exhaust yourself.

You’re practicing moving well while you’re NOT exhausted.

That’s an important distinction.

⸻

EVENTUALLY, ADD A LITTLE FORCE

Once you’ve established basic foot, ankle and lower-leg capacity, mobility and whole-body strength, progressively introduce a little more force-production work.

Low pogo hops.

Small hops.

Grass strides.

Short hills.

Eventually perhaps bounding or more advanced exercises.

Again:

SMALLEST EFFECTIVE DOSE.

We’re not trying to turn supplemental training into another sport.

We’re trying to give your running something that mileage alone may not provide.

And we have evidence here, too.

A 2024 randomized study of middle-aged recreational runners compared resistance training and plyometric training performed twice weekly for 10 weeks.

Both groups improved their running economy—reducing oxygen cost by approximately 2%—and the researchers found an association between improvements in calf-raise strength and improvements in oxygen cost.

That doesn’t mean they automatically raced 2% faster.

But it provides another interesting piece of evidence that developing strength and force-producing qualities can matter even for the recreational runner.

⸻

THINK LONGEVITY

This may be the most important message in this entire Recreational Runner series.

You may not be trying to win a national championship.

You may not care about qualifying for Boston.

You may simply want to do something that, in my opinion, is every bit as meaningful:

STILL BE RUNNING 10, 20 OR 30 YEARS FROM NOW.

But I would add something to that now.

I don’t just want to be able to run when I’m 70.

I want to be able to move.

I want strength.

I want mobility.

I want balance.

I want to be able to pick something heavy up off the ground.

I want to be able to get down on the floor and get back up.

I want to still feel like an athlete.

That’s where functional whole-body strength belongs in the Natural Supershoe conversation.

Foot and ankle capacity matters.

Core endurance matters.

Mobility matters.

Whole-body strength matters.

Maintaining some ability to move quickly matters.

And consistency matters enormously.

You don’t have to train like an elite athlete.

BUT NEVER STOP TRAINING LIKE AN ATHLETE.

There’s a difference.

⸻

WHAT COULD THIS ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE?

Don’t completely rewrite your recreational running week.

Keep your easy runs.

Keep your long run.

Keep the running you enjoy.

Then strategically attach small pieces.

A few minutes of mobility before you run.

Foot and ankle work.

A short core circuit.

A 3–4 movement whole-body strength or kettlebell complex a couple of times each week.

A few strides after an easy run.

Eventually some hops, hills or other force-production work.

Ten minutes here.

Five minutes there.

Maybe fifteen.

It won’t look impressive on Instagram after one week.

But multiply it across:

52 weeks.

Then five years.

Then ten.

Now we’re talking about something very different.

We’re talking about building a body for a lifetime.

⸻

BUILD YOUR NATURAL SUPERSHOE

The shoe on your foot matters.

But so does the athlete inside it.

Your feet.

Your ankles.

Your calves.

Your Achilles.

Your legs.

Your hips.

Your posterior chain.

Your core.

Your upper body.

Your mobility.

Your balance.

Your ability to accept force.

Your ability to stabilize it.

Your ability to produce and redirect it.

The entire athlete matters.

That’s the Natural Supershoe.

For the recreational runner, you don’t have to spend hours developing it.

FIND THE SMALLEST EFFECTIVE DOSE.

Attach it to the running you’re already doing.

Learn to do it correctly.

Be consistent.

Progress gradually.

And don’t just train for your next race.

TRAIN FOR THE RUNNER—AND THE HUMAN BEING—YOU WANT TO BE 20 YEARS FROM NOW.

09/09/2026

THE COMEBACK RUNNER: BUILDING A WEEK—AND BUILDING A MORE POWERFUL STRIDE

I’ve been a little busy lately.

High school cross-country season is in full swing, and I’ve been spending most of my time doing what I love—training high school XC athletes.

But I haven’t forgotten about the Natural Supershoe series.

We’ve been exploring how runners can develop the physical qualities underneath the shoe—the feet, ankles, calves, Achilles, legs, hips and core—and progressively improve their ability to absorb, stabilize and produce force.

Or, in simpler running language:

HOW DO WE DEVELOP A MORE POWERFUL STRIDE?

Not by simply telling a runner to push harder into the ground.

We build the physical system capable of producing and redirecting force efficiently, and then progressively teach the athlete to express that force while running.

Why?

Because ultimately we’re interested in:

BETTER RUNNING ECONOMY.

GREATER DURABILITY AND REDUCING INJURY RISK.

FASTER RUNNING.

And comeback runners may be one of the best examples of why this progression matters.

If you’ve been away from running for months—or years—you probably shouldn’t jump immediately into advanced plyometrics, heavy force-production work or the workouts you remember doing ten years ago.

You rebuild the system first.

That’s where our progression comes back:

CAPACITY → STRENGTH → FORCE → PERFORMANCE

Force production is only one ingredient in a comeback story.

Aerobic development matters. Mileage matters. Recovery matters. Nutrition and sleep matter. Consistency matters.

And patience matters—a lot.

Early in a comeback, I’m not interested in how impressive your workouts look.

I’m interested in keeping you healthy enough to stack weeks together.

⸻

BEFORE EVERY RUN: MOBILITY + MOVEMENT PREP

For a new or comeback runner:

Don’t just run. Prepare your body to run.

I have a fairly extensive mobility and movement-preparation routine that I use with my athletes. I’m not going to give away the entire drill list here because it’s a significant part of my training system.

But I’ll give you the pattern.

Build your pre-run routine around:

MOBILITY — useful ranges of motion.

HIP WORK — hip and pelvic strength and stability.

POSTERIOR CHAIN — glutes, hamstrings and the muscles responsible for producing and controlling force.

LUNGE MATRIX — movement through multiple directions and planes.

BALANCE / SINGLE-LEG STABILITY — because running is thousands of alternating single-leg contacts.

FOOT + ANKLE + CALF WORK — an area I particularly emphasize with new and comeback runners.

Think of movement prep as part of the training.

Mobilize. Activate. Stabilize. Then run.

⸻

MONDAY — MOVEMENT PREP → EASY RUN → CORE ENDURANCE

Easy conversational running followed by something I consider one of a runner’s secret weapons:

AB/CORE WORKOUT #1

Plank — 60–90 seconds

Knee to Elbows — 10 each side
From a push-up position, similar to a mountain climber.

Flutter Kicks — 30 reps
Left-right = 1 rep.

Alternating Single-Leg V-Ups — 10 each side

Goal: NO REST between exercises.

If doing multiple sets, recover approximately 1 minute between sets.

Begin with one quality round if necessary and build toward 2–3.

Why?

Because I’m interested in core endurance.

I want your core helping maintain posture and stability when you’re tired—not simply demonstrating strength for a few seconds in the gym.

MY EVENTUAL GOAL: ABOUT 4 SMALL CORE SESSIONS PER WEEK

That doesn’t mean four giant abdominal workouts.

Some can be very short.

Frequency and consistency are the goal.

A few minutes attached to training can add up to a lot of quality core work over months.

⸻

TUESDAY — MOVEMENT PREP → EASY RUN → STRENGTH

Early on, bodyweight strength may be plenty:

Squats.
Lunges.
Single-leg movements.
RDL/hinge patterns.
Calf raises.
Foot and ankle work.

Learn the movements.

Develop control.

Improve balance.

Build tolerance.

Then progressively add resistance.

MY GOAL: BUILD TOWARD 2 STRENGTH SESSIONS PER WEEK.

Again, these don’t need to become bodybuilding workouts.

We’re trying to make you a better runner.

Strength should support the running—not bury it.

⸻

WEDNESDAY — MOVEMENT PREP → RECOVERY

Easy run.

Walk.

Hike.

Or rest.

Don’t be afraid of recovery.

Recovery isn’t interrupting your comeback. It’s helping create it.

A short core routine can also fit here as the week progresses.

⸻

THURSDAY — MOVEMENT PREP → LEARN TO RUN FAST AGAIN

Here’s something I do with many of my beginner athletes that I think can also be incredibly useful for an appropriately prepared comeback runner.

Instead of immediately giving them some complicated interval workout:

2 MILES EASY

Then:

A-DRILLS

B-DRILLS

Then:

8–10 × 100 METERS ON GRASS

Run them in buildup fashion.

Start controlled.

Gradually accelerate through the repetition.

Eventually reach a speed just shy of full speed, then shut it down smoothly.

Take enough recovery that the next repetition can again be performed with good mechanics.

This isn’t supposed to become an exhausting interval workout.

That’s the point.

Early in the season, I may repeat essentially this same session every week rather than constantly inventing new workouts.

Why?

Because I’m trying to teach athletes how to run.

They’re practicing faster movement while they’re still capable of moving well.

They’re getting repeated exposures to acceleration, coordination, posture and faster mechanics.

And they’re spending meaningful time moving fast in a state that isn’t exhausted.

I think that’s important.

Combine this with targeted foot and lower-leg strength and, in my coaching experience, I’ve seen far fewer shin-splint and lower-leg problems.

That’s an observation from my own athletes—not a promise that this routine prevents every running injury.

But the philosophy behind it is simple:

GIVE THE FEET AND LOWER LEGS A FAIR CHANCE TO ADAPT.

Don’t immediately overwhelm them with mileage and hard intervals.

Build them.

Strengthen them.

Teach the athlete how to move.

Then progress.

And you can really see athletes begin to change.

They become smoother.

More coordinated.

More confident at speed.

They start looking like runners.

⸻

FRIDAY — MOVEMENT PREP → EASY/OFF → STRENGTH + ISOMETRICS

This is where the second strength session can eventually fit.

It can also include targeted lower-leg work:

Plantar-flexion isometrics

Toe/foot strength

Calf work

Quarter-squat isometrics

Balance/single-leg stability

Again:

Small doses.

We’re accumulating adaptations—not collecting fatigue.

A third or fourth short core session can also be attached here or elsewhere during the week.

⸻

SATURDAY — MOVEMENT PREP → LONG EASY RUN

And remember:

“LONG” IS RELATIVE.

Maybe it’s 30 minutes.

Maybe eventually it’s 45, 60 or 90.

Your old training log doesn’t get to decide what today’s body is prepared to do.

Early in a comeback, I love finishing thinking:

“I could have done a little more.”

Leave something for next week.

⸻

SUNDAY — OFF OR VERY EASY

Walk.

Hike.

Rest.

Or:

Movement prep → very easy run.

Then repeat.

⸻

LOOK AT WHAT WE’VE ACTUALLY BUILT

Eventually, our week can contain:

Mobility + movement prep before every run

2 strength sessions

Up to 4 short core sessions

Regular foot/ankle/lower-leg work

Isometrics

Easy aerobic running

A longer aerobic run

And one controlled opportunity to move fast without becoming exhausted.

That’s already a pretty sophisticated training program.

We don’t necessarily need complicated intervals yet.

Later we can progressively add:

Pogo hops.

Bunny hops.

Short hills.

Bounding.

Loaded force-production work.

Threshold running.

Intervals.

Race-specific training.

But those things have somewhere to land now.

We’ve built the athlete underneath them.

⸻

WE’RE NOT TRYING TO “FORCE” A MORE POWERFUL STRIDE

That’s an important distinction.

I’m not teaching runners to consciously push harder into the ground.

I’m trying to develop a runner capable of producing a more powerful and economical stride naturally.

Build the feet.

Build the ankles.

Build mobility.

Build stability.

Build core endurance.

Build strength.

Practice moving fast before you’re exhausted.

Then progressively teach that stronger system to produce and express greater force.

That’s a big part of the Natural Supershoe idea.

CAPACITY → STRENGTH → FORCE → PERFORMANCE

And remember:

This is only one ingredient in the comeback story.

The aerobic system still has to develop.

Mileage still has to progress.

Recovery matters.

Consistency matters.

But if we can improve running economy, build greater durability, reduce unnecessary injury problems and eventually help the athlete run faster…

we’re moving in the right direction.

Your comeback doesn’t require one incredible week.

It requires a lot of good weeks stacked together.

Be patient.

Keep building.

And dream big.

Because eventually you may stop thinking of yourself as someone trying to come back.

You’re simply a runner again.

And maybe you’re not just rebuilding the runner you used to be.

MAYBE YOU’RE BUILDING AN EVEN BETTER ONE.

08/30/2026

NAIA National Championship-Azusa Pacific University- 1989. Great team! Joe Vigil far right. The legendary Tom Lionvale in the mix on the left!

08/29/2026

THE COMEBACK RUNNER: DON’T START BY TRAINING LIKE THE RUNNER YOU USED TO BE

I’ll start with this:

There aren’t many things in running that I love more than a comeback.

I love working with comeback runners.

Maybe you were competitive years ago.

Maybe work and family took over.

Maybe you got hurt.

Maybe life simply happened.

And now something inside you is saying:

I want to run again.

I love that.

Because some of the greatest stories in sport—and in life—have been written by people who were willing to disappear from the spotlight for a while and quietly rebuild.

Think about a few of them.

Andre Agassi.

Once the No. 1 tennis player in the world, he fell all the way to No. 141.

He went back to the Challenger Tour—the minor leagues of professional tennis—and started over.

No glamour.

No pretending he was still the player he had been.

He rebuilt his fitness, rebuilt his game and rebuilt himself.

In 1999 he won the French Open, completed the career Grand Slam and climbed all the way back to No. 1 in the world.

Muhammad Ali.

Forty-three months away from boxing during what should have been the prime of his career.

When he eventually returned, he wasn’t exactly the same fighter who had left.

He had to evolve.

And years later, as a 32-year-old underdog against the terrifying George Foreman, Ali reclaimed the heavyweight championship of the world.

Monica Seles.

The dominant player in women’s tennis when she was stabbed by a spectator during a match.

She disappeared from competition for more than two years.

Then she came back.

She won her very first tournament back.

Months later, she won the 1996 Australian Open.

Bethany Hamilton.

Thirteen years old.

One of the best young surfers in the world.

Then a shark attack took her left arm.

She had to relearn something she already knew how to do.

Balance.

Paddle.

Stand.

Surf.

About a month later, she was back in the water.

Within two years she had won a national title.

Different sports.

Different circumstances.

Different setbacks.

But there’s a pattern worth noticing.

Sometimes the comeback is built when almost nobody is watching.

And there is an even older picture of this that I love.

After Paul’s conversion in the New Testament, he didn’t immediately become the public figure we remember.

He went away to Arabia.

Paul himself later wrote that it was three years before he went to Jerusalem.

There are seasons when something is being built in you long before anyone else can see it.

And then there are the fictional versions that have inspired generations of athletes.

Rocky training in the Russian winter.

Running through snow.

Chopping wood.

Dragging sleds.

Training far away from the lights of Las Vegas.

Adonis Creed disappearing into the desert after defeat.

Away from the crowd.

Away from the championship atmosphere.

Back to basics.

Rebuilding.

Obviously Rocky and Creed aren’t real.

But the idea they represent certainly is.

There are seasons when the work gets very quiet.

Nobody is cheering.

Nobody is posting your workout.

Nobody cares what pace you ran this morning.

You may not look anything like the athlete you remember.

That’s okay.

Because the comeback isn’t happening on race day yet.

It’s happening right now.

One walk.

One easy run.

One strength session.

One core routine.

One boring Tuesday morning when nobody is watching.

That’s where you start.

So if you’re coming back:

Have hope.

Dream.

Stay inspired.

But don’t rush the story.

Sometimes the greatest comebacks grow out of the greatest setbacks.

And almost every great comeback contains a period when the person had to accept where they were, stop pretending they were somewhere else, and begin rebuilding.

That’s the mentality I want the comeback runner to bring into training.

Because here’s the trap:

YOUR CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM REMEMBERS FASTER THAN YOUR BODY DOES

Within a few weeks, breathing gets easier.

Paces start dropping.

And suddenly…

the old runner starts showing up again.

That’s incredibly exciting.

But it’s also exactly when we need some patience.

Because your heart and lungs getting fitter does not mean your feet, Achilles tendons, calves, connective tissue, hips and postural system are ready for everything you used to do.

Cardiovascular fitness does not give the musculoskeletal system permission to do something it isn’t prepared to do.

So stay inspired.

Absolutely dream about where this comeback could take you.

Just give your body enough time to catch up with your ambition.

That’s why I think a comeback should follow a progression:

CAPACITY → STRENGTH → FORCE → PERFORMANCE

1. BUILD CAPACITY FIRST

Before worrying about fast intervals or big workouts, rebuild your ability to tolerate running.

That can include walking, hiking, easy running, gradual increases in volume, basic foot and lower-leg work, ab/core and postural strength, and progressively full-body strength training.

This is where I would begin incorporating basic strength exercises such as squats, lunges, single-leg movements, hinges/RDLs, calf work and other simple movements appropriate for the individual runner.

And I think ab/core work can begin almost immediately in some form.

Because we’re not simply rebuilding legs.

We’re rebuilding the entire system that has to maintain posture and transfer force while the runner gets tired.

Early strength work may be extremely basic.

That’s fine.

As capacity improves, loads can gradually increase.

Eventually, strength becomes part of the foundation that allows us to introduce more explosive force-production work.

And if you used to be a serious runner, this part can be difficult.

Your brain remembers what eight-minute miles felt like.

Or seven-minute miles.

Or six-minute miles.

Your watch remembers your PRs.

Your body doesn’t care.

It has to rebuild.

But don’t mistake patience for a lack of progress.

Every easy run.

Every strength session.

Every core session.

Every week you string together.

Every little bit of capacity you regain.

That’s the comeback happening.

Your comeback might not look impressive yet.

Neither did Agassi playing Challenger tournaments ranked No. 141.

The rebuild comes before the result.

2. ADD ISOMETRICS

One of my favorite ways to begin rebuilding the lower leg is with very small doses of isometric work.

For example:

• Anchored plantar-flexion/toe hold — 15–20 seconds
• Standing plantar-flexion isometric — 15–20 seconds
• Isometric quarter squat
• Seated plantar-flexion/toe press

Why do I like these?

Because you can expose muscle and tendon to substantial tension without immediately asking the runner to absorb and redirect the high forces associated with jumping and sprinting.

That makes them an excellent bridge.

And these don’t have to become another giant workout.

A couple of isometrics can be attached to a normal running day, movement-prep routine or strength session.

Supplemental work should support your running—not become so large that recovering from the supplemental work becomes the problem.

3. THEN TEACH THE BODY TO PRODUCE FORCE

Eventually, being strong isn’t enough.

Running happens fast.

The ground doesn’t wait for you.

So once the runner has developed adequate capacity and strength, we gradually introduce things such as low-level pogo hops, small bunny hops, strides, short hills, rear-lunge-to-single-leg-hop movements and eventually more explosive bounding and force-production exercises.

And we don’t stop strength and core work when force production begins.

We’re layering training.

The strength and postural work remain underneath the increasingly dynamic work.

A runner who hasn’t jumped in five years probably shouldn’t begin with aggressive weighted bounds.

But that doesn’t mean you’ll never bound again.

It means we’re going to earn our way back to it.

Train the athlete you are today—not the athlete you remember being.

Because if we train today’s athlete correctly, you might be amazed by the athlete who shows up six months or a year from now.

4. RUN FAST—BUT EARN THE RIGHT TO RUN FAST

Eventually we want strides.

We want faster running.

We may want hills.

We may eventually want intervals.

And yes…

I want you to feel fast again.

That’s one of the great parts of a comeback.

There’s something pretty special about the first day when you open up into a stride and suddenly recognize the runner you used to be.

But don’t force that moment.

Let it arrive.

Research increasingly shows us that strength and plyometric training can improve running economy.

We’ve even seen research in middle-aged recreational runners where resistance training and plyometric training improved running economy.

And improvements in calf strength were associated with improvements in economy.

That matters.

Because the calf-Achilles-foot complex isn’t just along for the ride.

It’s part of the propulsion system.

And that’s part of what we’re rebuilding.

THE COMEBACK RUNNER DOESN’T NEED MORE BRAVERY.

Most former runners already have plenty of that.

What they need is patience without losing the fire.

Those two things can coexist.

Be patient with today’s body.

But stay excited about tomorrow’s runner.

There may be months when almost nobody notices what you’re doing.

That’s okay.

Keep training.

Keep building.

Keep dreaming.

The goal isn’t to prove that you can still survive the workout you did ten years ago.

The goal is to progressively rebuild a body capable of training consistently for the next ten years.

And maybe longer.

I’ve coached long enough that I will never underestimate what a motivated runner can accomplish when they train consistently and give the process enough time.

That’s one of the reasons I love comeback runners.

They already know what running can give them.

They’re not discovering it for the first time.

They’re rediscovering it.

So if you’re starting over right now:

Don’t be embarrassed by where you’re starting.

Don’t get discouraged because the pace isn’t what you remember.

Don’t rush because your old PRs are staring at you from somewhere in the past.

They’re part of your story.

They’re not your training plan.

Build capacity.

Build strength.

Strengthen the core and posture.

Add force.

Run fast when you’re ready.

Then let performance emerge.

Be patient—but stay inspired.

Do the quiet work.

Have hope.

Dream big!

Don’t train the runner you used to be.

Build the runner you’re becoming.

Because some of the greatest comeback stories begin during a season when almost nobody else can see what’s being built.

And maybe—just maybe—

your best chapter hasn’t been written yet.

I’m going to keep expanding this series and show exactly how I would structure a sample week for a comeback runner using running, strength training, ab/core work, isometrics, strides and small doses of force-production work.

Share this with someone in the midst of a comeback!

And if you need any advice, let me know! I’m here for you.