The Running DPT

Returning to running while living with chronic illness after some time off? Here are a few tips🏃‍♀️🫶🏻

P.S. your starting place will look different based on your own starting fitness, how long your break has been, etc. Everyone is different!

I’ve left plenty of tips out, what would you add?👇🏻

Which one resonates with you the most? For me, number 5. Share your experience in the comments below🫶🏻

I’m Kate, a physical therapist, run & strength coach living with chronic migraine, hEDS, and POTS. I’ve been coaching runners for about 6 years, and the last ~2.5 of them have been focused solely on helping those living with chronic illness & pain find a way to balance their training & movement with their dynamic symptoms.

These 5 hard truths can be applied to most individuals who become chronically ill, but can hit especially hard when it comes to athletes/runners who are used to pushing themselves hard & hanging their hat on their “runner” status and athletic accomplishments. I personally fall into this bucket, and it’s a continuous work in progress to unlearn old “rules”.

Looking for a place to start? I’m offering 2 kinds of coaching right now:

🧡Foundations in 15: a four week strength program created with spoonie runners in mind, full of modifications & progressions, educational material, and support via a group chat

🧡1:1 coaching: comprehensive run & strength coaching with personalized programming, accountability, and a deep dive into finding your “point of entry” to training with long term planning & realistic goal setting together

Follow along & share with your spoonie runner friends who need to hear some of these truths🫶🏻

Fifteen minutes. That is the whole idea💕💪🏻

Most strength programs assume you wake up with the same energy every day, and often ask for more time and more push than a body with chronic illness can reliably give. Foundations in 15 was built the other way around!

It is my self-guided, 4-week strength program for runners living with chronic illness or pain who want to begin or re-commit to resistance training. The workouts are about 15 minutes, minimal equipment required. Short enough to do on a low-symptom day, doable even when your energy is limited due to built-in modifications, and structured so you are never guessing.

Inside:

💕4 weeks of roughly 15-minute at-home workouts (minimal equipment, loungewear encouraged). While this is technically 4 weeks, many past members have continued to follow the program for much longer due to the built in progression options.

💕How to modify your training around your symptoms, so a low-capacity day has a plan. Progressions are also built in as you’re ready.

💕Peer and coaching support in our Discord, because doing this alone is the hard way

💕The real foundations of a strength plan, no fluff, built to actually stick in your routine

It’s made for the runner stuck in the boom-bust cycle with strength. Push, crash, do nothing, repeat. Fifteen minutes is how you step off that loop, because often what we need appears to be a little “less” than what we think we do. Muscle is protective, especially for a body that flares, and you get to build it in a way that works with your symptoms instead of against them.

New to strength training? Re-committing after time off? Or just looking for something more sustainable with your dynamic symptoms? You are exactly who I made this for.

Not sure yet? Grab my free Spoonie Runner Checklist first. Comment “checklist” and I will send it over.

Ready to start? The investment is a one-time payment of $97 for lifetime access to the program & all the educational content. Foundations in 15 is 🔗 in my bi0💪🏻

Most training plans have two settings: go or stop. But a body with a dynamic illness does not run on two settings.

So here is the tool I teach my runners: The Stoplight Method

🟢 Green is baseline: Train as planned, and keep checking in with yourself.

🟡 Yellow is mild to moderate symptoms: Modify. Shorten it, drop the volume, swap to something more tolerable.

🔴 Red is significant symptoms: Rest without guilt and tend to the basics.

The goal is to modify instead of abandon, because real consistency is built out of flexible days, not perfect ones.

I made a free Spoonie Runner Checklist that walks you through green, yellow, and red days and how to modify each one. Comment “checklist” and I will send it over.

Save this for the next day you need to adjust, and send it to a spoonie runner who needs it.

I talk a lot about training with a body whose symptoms are dynamic. But there is a part that has nothing to do with the training plan, and it is the part almost no one builds for: the loneliness of it.

The days you feel invisible in your own body, the flare that hits when everyone else is asleep. The quiet worry that you are too much, or not sick enough, or just plain hard to understand.

So when I found out about the Chronic Illness Hotline, I said yes without hesitation. This hotline is filling a HUGE gap when it comes to support for our community.

It is a free, 24/7, text-based support line for people living with chronic illness, chronic pain, disability, injury, and neurodivergence. It is staffed by trained Compassion Counselors who have lived it themselves, and you are never required to share your name or your diagnosis. You reach out, and someone who truly understands reaches back.

It does not exist yet, BUT it is being built right now by people who know exactly why we need this. And I get to be one of the voices helping bring it into the world! Tbh, a dream come true🫶🏻

This week I just want you to know it is coming. Follow so you do not miss it. Next, I will show you how you can help make it real.

Curious about becoming an ambassador? Head to their page for the easy application!

Because together, we can be the lifeline💚