Impossible Dream wrote:
Goal - Lifetime PR in the 5000m, which is 15:35 set when I was 20 years old. I want to achieve this goal within the next 24 months.
Profile - I'm now 40 years old. I've run sporadically over the years. Battled weight issues. One year ago, I was up around 220 lbs. Now I'm down to 190.
Training this past year has been inconsistent due to injuries. I'm currently training to run the LV marathon on December 5th. Max mileage has been around 40 miles per week. I ran a hilly 5k in the late spring in 20:20, but injuries have prevented any other races this year.
Ok Letsrunners, get me to my goal. I'll keep folks updated on my progress.
1) Skip the Las Vegas marathon. You've run only one race all year and "injuries have prevented any other races this year." It's November 10th. You have more important adjustments to make than increasing your yearly racing total from 3.1 miles to 29.3 miles all on one day.
2) Get in three months of injury free training by February 10 and see where you are by that point. You'll need to alter your training away from what caused the injuries. The weight you had from 220 down to 190 probably contributed to some of those injures before. Still, at 190, or even 175, you have to be careful running. 40 miles per week at 5'11" 190 is very risky.
3) Lose two pounds a week for three months and be 164. Be very, very one day at a time with training and injury avoidance. Stop the workout if injury begins to flare up. Pick the right surfaces. Take a day or two off till the first early flare up subsides.
4) Then, lighter, with your injuries three more months in your rear view mirror, go to step two in your training, which is gradually increasing mileage, perhaps by two miles per week. In three more months, if injury free, that would have you up to 66 miles per week and in a very, very different place than you are now.
5) It's not your age, its that the combination of you and what you are inclined to do in training is not leading you toward a modest success, let alone a huge success like going 14:59 or better.
6) You have talent, so does a very good violinist. He will protect his hands so he can practice every day. He will not become a boxer or wrestler, or assembly line worker and miss practice or have worse practices because his hands are injured. For you, running is where you have your talent, your dreams, and your injuries. You have to manage your talent a lot better than your December 5 plan indicates.
Good luck.