year lay-off

Portland? be careful about those speedo jokes? I mean HRM?. Cross training? looks like you?re well on your way to the racin? speedo sometime in the next year or so. Actually, it is kind of out the clear blue sky that you claim that you are not the speedo guy! Ha! That was you, wasn?t it!!

Hadd, thanks for the clarifications. Just so you know, it does sound like an excellent get back into basic fitness plan, and I hope others remember to do a search on ?Hadd? when they find themselves in that wanting place.

Just so you know, I believe 16x is a female-type Letsrunner (and I am guessing young 20s for no good reason), and I am a little older? 28 (can?t believe freakin? 3 ? 0 is around the corner!). To give a very brief background?. I started as a Jr. in HS (16yrs). First XC season was downright comical, but by the next spring, I ran a 9:45 3200m, not fast, but looking back, I think it shows a little potential. Next fall was obviously better, and the following spring went 4:21/9:36 (basically the same times that TONS of aspirants run). I really enjoyed my overall collegiate experience, but the running goals I had when leaving HS never came close to happening. I attribute this to going to an NAIA school. One might make it if they are fantastically intrinsically motivated, but it is just real easy to not give it your all (even when you think you are) when you know you?ve got a spot on the team, you?ll be going to the ?National? meet, and you have a good shot at being ?All-American? (and that?s all that anyone is asking). So, after a very meager improvement as a Frosh (4:14mile), I basically stayed the same after that for the time I was there (25:02 8K, 15:02 5K, 31:16 10K). Although these are my PRs, I consider them rubbish and am not yet sold that they are the fulfillment of my potential.

Having varied interests, I have made several decisions that although I do not regret them in the least in the grand scheme of things (true blessings, in fact), they have not been too conducive to great training? the usuals really? wife? kids? career. Obviously, good training has been shelved from time to time. Again, I don?t regret this and I think an honorable husband/father sacrifices, but it doesn?t mean I don?t love running. Some people would say I should just hang it up, but I AM NOT to that point. I enjoy the camaraderie of runners too much, the journey of running itself, and I KNOW that I can go further in competitive running (however trivial this would be, it is important to me to have a better sense of having givin it my best shot).

There have been times where I have trained OK and worked up to 80-100m/week consistently. A few years ago in my second marathon (my first was in college.. kind of like Geb?s first.. way undertrained), I ran 2:27. Again, nothing to write home about, but something that shows a little promise, I think. Since then, the training has been off and on. Last fall, I built a solid base (did a 20m training run in 2:01, for you Jason fans that?s 32.2K @ 3:45pace) and was approaching the point of doing good work, but work issues put an end to that. Now, I am probably around a similar fitness level as your week 7-8 in the schedule you provided. So, I wouldn?t quite call a sub2:20 (however unlikely) hypothetical, but I could go along with the assertion that it is a decent stretch. Regardless, it is a goal.

I know I should just continue to get out there and do the work to get it done. One significant downfall of this last stint of non-running is that I could have scrounged up 20-30min to run a day (and one good guy really encouraged me to do it), but I was discouraged and felt like it wouldn?t do anything. So, now those months are gone with no accumulated miles, and the past couple of months have been a challenge, but I am finally running 5-7 days/week consistently.

So, there you go Mr. Hadd, a complete running autobiography by JEH. Again, all responses are welcomed (as always), but those I will read with more attention (than the usual perusal) will be from those who?ve posted faster times, those who?ve been around the block a few times, those with significant coaching / physio expertise. Thanks.

Hadd, when making my posts, I often have to parcel little bits and pieces of time together to get a long one done, so it was ironic that we wrote much along the same lines (I hadn't read your last response). Funny that we should both mention Jason, even.

Anyway, just a couple of extras. Although I did have a speedier year as Freshman (and do have an affinity for the mile), I do not consider myself to be a mid-distance runner. That being said, I think I could bring those PRs done a little, but the marathon is where I am going.

I seem to enjoy the mid-distance events and then the longer events (10m+), but for some reason (totally unbeknownst to me), I seem to not run (and not really enjoy) well the 3K-12K. Maybe I am just a head case in those races.. I really don't know... but I do not think that the normal 5K/10K marathon potential predictors are spot on with me.

Stupid clarification - on 3K - 12K... I don't really enjoy them AS MUCH as the mid-distance/long-distance. As running, I still enjoy them.

This is not JEH posting for the 4th time in a row on this thread... this is some other dude that is just interested in Hadd's response regarding how he thinks JEH should proceed from here.

Sorry, was away for a couple of days without logging on. Thanks EHJ for bumping this up to the top, I thought I'd have to search back a page or two to find it.

JEH, thanks for the brief biog. Does help to clear the picure somewhat.

When I got your performances from Statman (see above), I mentally did the following to them:

mile: 4.14

3000: 8.15

5000: 14.35

10000:30.30

HM: 67.45

M: 1.22:15

These are not set in concrete by any means, they could even be better, especially since you are coming back to running with a more positive mental attitude. I have found that many teenagers race because they are good at it, but that those who get back into it later are there because they want to see just exactly how good they can be. And that's a powerful driving force.

My reason for readjusting your figures is that there is a performance drop-off in the original figures (at 3000m) that shouldn't have to be there. If you had been someone who was basically designed for middle distance, then the performance drop-off as the distance lengthened would have been MUCH worse. (Let's choose Peter Snell as an example of such a runner, since I was discussing him with an 800m runner just the other day). You are not an M-D guy who caught the marathon bug and doesn't belong there. So you can discount that as a worry. You DO have a good marathon within you.

I did not post my revised figures because I wanted to wait for some more background on you before proceding. That you achieved what you have with what is basically self-taught, hit-or-miss training, is to your credit. You have done extremely well and better than most in what you have achieved so far.

But that's of little solace, right? You just want to achieve the performance you believe you are capable of, even if no-one ever knows it but you.

I am not telling you anything new, by saying that what you need for a good marathon is to improve the infrastructure, the "road network", in your legs. This is the capillary / mitochondria / enzymes that go to make you both economical and tireless. The ability to generate such infrastructure is in-built. Some people respond very well to long distance running, others less well. This is undoubtedly genetic and appears to be linked to the slow/fast twich ratio in their muscle fibres.

You have responded well, but not as well as possible. This may have been because you have not done it properly (training even slightly too fast), or you may not have done enough of what you did do (not enough mileage). For examples of high-responders to aerobic training, look at those behind you on the 800m list in Statman, who then leap-frog ahead of you at as early as 3000m. They then get further away (ahead of you) as the race distance lengthens.

For you to bring out that good marathon, you must work on your legs. Your results suggest that your cardiovascular system is already good enough.

Such training is what they are referring to when they say that aerobic development takes time. How much time? Well that depends on how well you do it and how quickly you respond to it.

I would suggest you tell yourself you need one whole year. Quite honestly, this will probably not be enough for your all-time ultimate marathon performance, but it may be enough to get you to 2.22 (or better), at which time you can reassess your plans.

So, plan on Chicago 2003 (makes sense to run on the fastest course you can find).

Before you begin, you must realise that you need around 2 hrs per day (although not really from day one, it will build up to this amount of time per day), and sit down and figure out where that time is going to come from. No sense starting off with a bang and having marital troubles 2 months down the line (like running out the door followed by a plateful of pasta at head height...).

Can you rise earlier for 60-75 mins at 5.30 in the morning? Can you do your second run in your lunch hour, like a lawyer friend of mine, who got his small legal practice to install a shower? Or can you do the second run on the way home from work? Lots of things to work out... Include your wife on some of your runs? She can come with you on a mountain bike, or even jog with you (you cannot go too slow for leg development... just go further). Can you get into a network of running buddies near home? They don't have to be fast, and can help for long Sundays...

You must also expect that you will be building up to a minimum of 90mpw. Up to 120mpw would be better, but would bring additional time restraints. Do you get leg injuries? The training intensity will be low, which might help. Can you sustain this amount of mileage over months? Any chance of semi-regular massage? (get your wife to enrol in a course now to involve her in your ambition?)

Answer all these and it comes down to sucking it up and getting it done. This leg development will occur best under completely aerobic conditions... which means slow. At least at first.

M-pace + 1.30 per mile (or slower) is probably best for you at present. If it feels like you have done nothing, go further. All you are trying to do is recruit your fibres under totally aerobic conditions, and then exhaust their fuel stores. And then move on to the next set of fibres...

If you were here, I would lactate test you wearing an HRM and then be able to give you a training HR range. With regular testing (you would improve very quickly in the first 3 months) you would soon see dramatic development.

Since we cannot do that, I suggest you begin as I have advised on this thread, doing one of the 3 mile, or 45 mins hard runs as often as your mood requires it (but never more than one of each in a week). Always be aware that it is the easy long running in the rest of the week that is doing the work you REALLY need. The 3-mile and 45 mins runs are just to lift your spirits on those dark days (which WILL come) when you wonder why the hell you are doing this...

In the meantime, wear an HRM on the easy runs to go slow enough and build up to a steady 75 miles within 3-4 months, and up to 90-100 miles by six months (cutting the mileage in half every 4th week for a breather). Start off with one-a-days (one 90 mins run is better for you than 2 x 45 mins) and only change to 2-a-days after 75 mpw.

And that's about it, for the beginning. Don't be daunted by the time-frame required, you need every single day of that year. Don't be put off by 100mpw, with some thought and will you can find a way to fit it into your life.

There is no easy answer. No quick fix with low mileage. But I am a great believer in chasing down your dreams and not getting to 50 years old and thinking, "I wonder what I could have achieved if I had....."

Hadd

When I was typing this monster post above, a whole bunch of ideas were firing off, demanding to be included. They didn't all make it, although there is obviously MUCH more that could have been said.

One thing I thought about and again forgot, but would like to suggest; as soon as your mood can do without them, drop the 3-miles-hard runs. There are good fun, but not really what you need in long term marathon preparation. They do more for your central development rather than the peripheral your require.