Running a 10k in 44 days and I'm most likely in the worst shape of my life. Training advice?

If you have a 16:47 5K PR, you already know what you need to do. Just do it.

Feel for you bro. I was (am) in the same boat, except I had to do a marathon. Ran 15 miles in July, about 60 in August, and 100 in September. Also 50 pounds over "racing weight". Marathon was predictably a disaster.

Still, I imagine you could run 45 at least by then. All I'd do is run 5 times per week, and try to get in a couple runs per week that are an hour long.

Don't try for "respectable shape in ~six weeks."

That is code for "short cuts" and short cuts will get you injured.

Job one is to be healthy in six weeks, so don't do more than your current condition can take.

Be consistent, be more diligent w/ drills and foam rolling than you were when you were younger, take it one day at a time.

Be gentle to your connective tissue, you may want to do low-impact off-day work that gets your HR up without pounding.

Welcome to being old. It's not as bad as it seems, but the rules are different than when you were young.

1. Get MyFitnessPal and set it up to lose 2 pounds per week. Buy a food scale and weigh everything you eat or your subconscious *will* betray you.

2. Long run and lots of sharpening. HIIT plateaus after around 8 weeks but until then it's the best approach.

There are no short cuts in running. You are not going to get in respectable shape in 6 weeks. 6 months, maybe. But 6 weeks is not enough time, especially considering the weight you have put on. Any sort of crash diet/training program is just going to leave you injured and sick in six weeks.

Precious Roy wrote:

There are no short cuts in running. You are not going to get in respectable shape in 6 weeks. 6 months, maybe. But 6 weeks is not enough time, especially considering the weight you have put on. Any sort of crash diet/training program is just going to leave you injured and sick in six weeks.

I've seen a couple people point this out already. Just to clarify, maybe "respectable" wasn't the right word. I meant respectable considering the context of my current shape.

Koppenberg wrote:

Job one is to be healthy in six weeks, so don't do more than your current condition can take.

The thing is, although I'm in terrible shape, I think my body can still take a fair amount of mileage at a slow pace. I'm wondering if 7 days a week with ~4 days of doubles, while obviously monitoring my health and generally taking the runs easy, would be a good strategy.

Also, to someone else who noted a crash course diet--that's not my intention. My intention would be to simply eat healthier going forward. Right now I eat absolute junk. I think I'd naturally lose a bit of weight just by packing my own lunch.

bring fresh clothes

Good advice. Don't try and run a PR on 6 weeks training. Just do as much as you can while not getting injured. Eat healthy. Run before work and maybe take a job afterwards if you feel up to it. And after the race, keep running to lose the weight.

Your goal is 45:00. Make it happen.

What is your vision for the 45th day and beyond? Are you crawling back on the couch and eating Doritos or is this the start of (and I hate this phrase) a lifestyle change? If the latter then focus on a small but sustainable changes. If the former then reconsider.

run every day. You can double if you want, but not necessary at this phase. If you don't double do some form of core work in the evening or last thing you do before showering and leaving for work. Honestly, even an hour a day, day after day can be tough, but thats probably what you need. I'd do a couple hour runs the first 2 weeks, with 30 minute runs the first week and 45-50 the second, then mostly 60 minute runs with 2 runs of 30-45 mins the rest of the weeks. I wouldn't worry about speedwork, besides maybe picking it up towards the end of runs after the first couple weeks. At least you've picked the best time of year to start this.

sign up for a half marathon 90-105 days from now, and use the 10k as HM pace practice run.