pepepekdks wrote:
get up to 35-40mpw in singles first
So I'm doubling my mileage but in singles only. Can I ask why because from reading, doubles are less stressful on the body and given my injury last year (it was a heel) I want to be careful.
pepepekdks wrote:
get up to 35-40mpw in singles first
So I'm doubling my mileage but in singles only. Can I ask why because from reading, doubles are less stressful on the body and given my injury last year (it was a heel) I want to be careful.
Hey man - I can relate to your post. I never really ran until I hit my late 20's (more into lifting and would just jog 3 miles to keep body fat low). I was/am 5'10", 175-185lbs. Since you are basically starting from ground zero, you need to hit both distance and speed every week. Don't worry about getting too technical with running formulas right now, you just need the basics. If you like running every single day, that is great...for me, I needed complete days off (plus I like lifting weights). If it were me, here is how I would structure your week (days of week are hypothetical):
S - track (1 mile, 800m, 400m)/(400m x 6) alternated
M - 3 miles easy
Tu - off
W - 3 miles timed, go for personal record
Th - off
F - 7-10 miles long run
S - 3 miles easy
Over time you can add distance to each day. Some may argue with the "3 mile time trial" every week, but I think this will help keep you focused on your goal of getting faster over a prolonged distance and help with pacing. To me, I think the hardest thing for novice runners to force themselves to do is run fast. You are so intimidated by the distance and making sure you can run the whole way (plus running fast at new distances is freaking hard if you're not used to it) that it's easy to ease back and coast at a comfortable pace. Like Arnold said in Stay Hungry, you have to burn if you want to grow. You never want to be "too" comfortable.
Benson St. Wales wrote:
Hey man - I can relate to your post. I never really ran until I hit my late 20's (more into lifting and would just jog 3 miles to keep body fat low). I was/am 5'10", 175-185lbs. Since you are basically starting from ground zero, you need to hit both distance and speed every week. Don't worry about getting too technical with running formulas right now, you just need the basics. If you like running every single day, that is great...for me, I needed complete days off (plus I like lifting weights). If it were me, here is how I would structure your week (days of week are hypothetical):
S - track (1 mile, 800m, 400m)/(400m x 6) alternated
M - 3 miles easy
Tu - off
W - 3 miles timed, go for personal record
Th - off
F - 7-10 miles long run
S - 3 miles easy
Over time you can add distance to each day. Some may argue with the "3 mile time trial" every week, but I think this will help keep you focused on your goal of getting faster over a prolonged distance and help with pacing. To me, I think the hardest thing for novice runners to force themselves to do is run fast. You are so intimidated by the distance and making sure you can run the whole way (plus running fast at new distances is freaking hard if you're not used to it) that it's easy to ease back and coast at a comfortable pace. Like Arnold said in Stay Hungry, you have to burn if you want to grow. You never want to be "too" comfortable.
Also - for the track day, on the weeks you do the 1mile, 800m, and 400m, I would do these as time trials, basically 100% to see how fast you are. On the 400m weeks, I would just do these at your 5k pace, with 200m jogs in between...eventually you can add to the 6 over time.
Why not just follow the Daniels fitness plans for awhile?
Given where you are at I would start with the fourth stage of the white plan (4 weeks) -- easy runs and strides -- then move onto the 16 week red plan -- which adds some threshold workouts in the early stages.