Consistency is What Makes Running (and Rehab) Feel Easier
2025 was the year I decided to get back into running seriously. I had run cross country all through my younger and teenage years, but stopped due to university. There were a couple of times when I tried to get back into running, but it never felt great. Reflecting back, I realized I had been approaching my return to running all wrong. I learned that I needed to be consistent if I wanted to feel better running. Once I applied that, everything about running started to feel easier.
Why Consistency Matters for Running and Rehab
Things usually don’t feel great whenever we try to start a new activity or restart something we once did years ago. That doesn’t mean something is wrong. It often just means you haven’t been consistent long enough for your body to adapt. That applies whether you’re getting back into running, dealing with an injury, or trying anything new. As an athletic therapist for almost nine years now, that was something I learned from working with my patients and taking courses that I now needed to apply to myself.
Whenever I had attempted running again, I was always trying to do a distance that was too long. The issue wasn’t running itself, but that I was starting at too high of an entry point. One time I even tried to start again on what ended up being the hottest day of the year, and subsequently developed mild shin splints. Instead of adjusting the distance and focusing on consistency, I would just chalk it up to being older and out of shape and moving on.
What Changed: A More Consistent Approach
With this in mind, my approach in 2025 was different. I knew I had to start smaller, and I had to stick with it. I started with something I had never tried before: run-walks. By running for 5 minutes, walking for 5 minutes and running again for another 5 minutes, this would be a way to get some mileage without overdoing it. I stuck with this for every other day for two weeks before trying for 10 minutes straight. Nothing fancy; just consistent, manageable progress. After that, I would add two and a half minutes every 3-4 runs depending on how I felt. I went by time until I found an app to track distance that I liked; I switched to adding half a kilometre every 3-4 runs.
After a few months of consistent, gradual running, my body was starting to feel good again; not like when I was 17 or 18 and in my prime, but I was never expecting that. Even when I developed some shin pain, I still maintained some running consistency - I had to scale down my volume a bit, but only to the point where I was comfortable with the pain and not aggravating it. I calmed it down, stayed consistent, and then built it back up.
When I did get inconsistent with my running, that’s when problems developed again. I experienced some knee pain over the winter; while travel, sickness and stress certainly played a major role, I was also inconsistent with my running and strength training, and didn’t adjust my running volume to account for this. This resulted in me starting right back to square one with run-walks, but it was just another lesson learned. I’ve been locked in since and have been feeling great.
Consistency is what creates the outcome.
Getting back into baseball this year, my first few training sessions felt weird at first and my shoulder would be sore immediately after. But after a few weeks of throwing, my arm was feeling strong and smooth again. We see this in rehab too. After an injury, exercises can feel awkward or even painful. But when they’re done consistently and progressed appropriately, the body adapts.
The biggest difference in my running this time around was my mindset. I decided I would not wait for things to feel right before I committed. Rather, I decided to be consistent in order to feel right. It involved a step back further than I thought I needed, but it ended up being the right entry point for me to say, “I can keep doing this.” I had always told patients that, despite my younger days of running, I never could see myself running a marathon. But that was based on how I had always approached running. I remember running along the coast of Bantry Bay thinking, a marathon seems possible now.
Most things don’t feel easy at the start - running, rehab, or getting back into any activity. It’s not because something is wrong; it’s because you haven’t been consistent with it yet. Consistency is what makes things feel easier.
