Part 6 of a Weekly series on returning from Achilles tendinopathy.

After all the work I had done to rebuild my foundation, there was still one giant question:

When could I run again? Not could I run? I could always run. That was part of my problem.

The question became: Could my Achilles handle running repeatedly without me setting myself back? That is a very different question. And this time, I wanted a system.

I Didn't Start Running Because It Felt Good

This was probably the biggest mental shift. In the past, I would have used a good day as permission to run. It feels pretty good today. Let's see what happens. That was exactly the behavior that had kept me stuck. This time, running wasn't a test. It was another training load that had to be earned and progressed. By this point, I had spent weeks rebuilding strength, increasing my walking, monitoring my daily steps and gradually adding hiking and vertical. I had gone about six weeks without running. Then we spent another few weeks building walking, strength and hiking capacity before adding running. There was no dramatic moment where someone said, “You're healed. Go run.” Instead, we had built enough capacity to start introducing the specific load of running again. That distinction matters.

Step 1: Start Stupidly Easy and track it all!

My first running sessions were about as exciting as watching paint dry.

And that was the point. I started with: 2 running days per week with a rest day between them. Each session: 5 × 2-minute walk / 2-minute run

That's it. No tempo. No hills. No “let's see how fast I can go.”

No bonus miles because I felt good. Just five two-minute running intervals.

After years of running 40–50 miles a week, it felt ridiculously small.

But I wasn't training my cardiovascular system. I was teaching my Achilles:

This is running load. You can handle it again.

Step 2: I Used Pain as Information—Not Permission

This is where pain monitoring gets important. There is good evidence supporting the use of a pain-monitoring approach during Achilles rehabilitation rather than treating every sensation as a reason to completely stop. Research has used pain thresholds together with monitoring the response afterward and the following morning. A commonly cited model allows some pain during activity, provided symptoms return toward baseline within 24 hours and aren't progressively worsening week to week. But here's the important part:

That doesn't mean “2/10 is fine, go for it.” For me, especially after spending months managing this injury, I wanted to be more conservative.

I was looking for:

• Little to no pain during the initial intervals

• No change in my running mechanics

• No escalating pain as the session continued

• No significant increase in symptoms later that day

• No worse morning response the next day

• No trend toward increasing pain or stiffness from week to week

The next morning mattered enormously. Because I had learned the hard way that what my Achilles says during the workout isn't necessarily the whole story.

Step 3: The 24-Hour Check Became More Important Than the Run

One of the biggest mistakes I made early in this injury was judging a workout by how it felt while I was doing it. That doesn't work particularly well with an Achilles. I could feel great during an activity and be much more irritated later that day or the next morning. So now I looked at the whole response:

During → later that day → next morning → following day

If the tendon tolerated the workload, great. If it reacted, that was information.

It didn't automatically mean: STOP EVERYTHING.

It meant: We need to figure out whether the dose was too high.

This approach is consistent with rehabilitation models that emphasize the tendon response over the following 24 hours rather than using pain during the activity as the only measure.

Step 4: Only Turn One Lever at a Time

This is where my coaching brain really kicked in.

When you're an endurance athlete, it's incredibly easy to increase several things at once.

More time. More miles. More hills. More weight. More intensity. More days.

And because you're feeling good, it seems reasonable. It isn't.

During my return, I started thinking about each of those as a lever.

The levers:

• Frequency

• Running duration

• Total time on feet

• Speed/intensity

• Vertical

• Terrain

• Strength load

• External load, like a weight vest

• Alternative aerobic work mattered too - monitor resistance on Bike/Spin or Elliptical!

I didn't want to turn all of them at once. Because if the Achilles reacted, I needed to know why. That's basic training logic:

And, apparently, I still needed to learn this lesson personally.

And Then I Got Excited

After the first week or two of running, things were going well.

My first intervals were essentially pain-free. I was tolerating them. The next day wasn't a disaster. My threshold was growing. And I got excited. So I did what endurance athletes do.

I turned another lever. Actually… I turned several. I added weight to some of my walks.

I increased time on feet during hikes. I was feeling good, so my brain said: More.

My Achilles said: Whoa.

I hadn't blown everything up. But I had increased too many variables at once.

The difference this time? I caught it early. I didn't wait until I was hobbling home.

I pulled back. Not completely. Just enough. That is progress! Not never making a mistake again. Catching the mistake before it becomes a setback.

My Progression Logic

This is the system I am using now.

1. Establish a baseline

Start with a workload that the tendon consistently tolerates.

2. Repeat before progressing

I don't need to increase something just because I completed it. Sometimes the win is:

I did the same thing again and my Achilles handled it just as well. That's adaptation.

3. Watch the response

I look at:

During the activity

↓

Later that day

↓

That evening

↓

Next morning

↓

The following day

4. Increase one meaningful variable

Maybe running duration.

Maybe frequency.

Maybe time on feet.

Maybe terrain.

Maybe vertical.

But not everything at once.

5. Hold when needed

If the tendon is tolerating the workload but not ready for more, I don't have to progress.

I can repeat the same workload.

There is nothing wrong with maintaining for another week.

6. Pull back early if the trend changes

A single little ache isn't necessarily failure.

But if symptoms are:

• Increasing

• Lasting longer

• Showing up earlier

• Affecting my mechanics

• Worse the next morning

• Trending upward over several sessions

That's a signal to adjust.

My tools

Define my Pain Scale

This has become a surprisingly important part of my recovery. I actually created my own pain scale with definitions for what each number means. Because saying:

“It hurts a 3.” doesn't mean much if your definition of a 3 changes depending on whether you really want to run that day. And yes…

I have caught myself doing this. I have also caught myself pushing on the tendon:

Does it still hurt? Push. Yep. Push again. Maybe that's less?

Track what I did and how it went!

I tracked my morning pain, pain during activity, and pain at the end of the day.

I tracked total steps for the day. I tracked what I did and how much intensity and then I used it to keep me on track. The data helped remind me of something my brain doesn't want to believe: Overall, it's getting better. That's why trends matter more than individual days. I created a 7-day rolling average and trusted the process.

The Boring Part Is Actually the Point

This has been one of the hardest things for me mentally.

I'm used to training for 50Ks, 100Ks and big mountain days.

I'm used to looking at a training week and thinking:

How much can I absorb? Now I'm learning to ask:

What is the smallest increase that will move me forward without creating a reaction?

That's a very different mindset.

The progression is slow. Sometimes painfully slow. But tendon rehabilitation is not a race.

The goal isn't to prove you can tolerate one big workout. The goal is to build the capacity to tolerate hundreds of workouts over the years ahead. Progressive loading is a central component of evidence-based Achilles rehabilitation, and gradual progression of sports loading is recommended as athletes return to activity. As I trusted the process my pain trended downwards as my daily steps grew.

My Repeatable System

If I had to boil my return to running down to one framework, it would be this:

BASELINE → LOAD → MONITOR → RECOVER → REPEAT → PROGRESS

Baseline:Start with a workload you can consistently tolerate.

Load:Introduce a small amount of running-specific stress.

Monitor:Pay attention during the workout and afterward.

Recover:Give the tendon time to respond.

Repeat:Don't automatically increase just because one session went well.

Progress:Turn one lever at a time.

Then repeat.

And repeat.

And repeat.

The Goal Isn't a Pain-Free Run

This may be the biggest mindset shift of the entire series.

My goal isn't:

“Can I run today without pain?”

My goal is:

“Can I gradually build enough capacity that running becomes normal again?”

Those are completely different goals.

One is a test.

The other is training.

And this time, I'm choosing training.

Becoming Durable once again!

I've learned how to start running again and turning those tiny run/walk sessions back into the kind of running I actually want to do. Building from fragile to durable—strength, hills, terrain, time on feet, and eventually the demands of mountain running.

Because getting back to running is one thing. Building a tendon that can handle the running you actually want to do is another.

Note: I'm a coach sharing my personal experience, not a medical professional. This isn't medical advice—just what I've learned through my own rehab and from working with athletes.

If you’re dealing with something similar and want help navigating it, this is exactly what I coach athletes through.

Note: I’m a coach sharing my personal experience, not a medical professional. This isn’t medical advice—just what I’ve learned through my own rehab and from working with athletes.