My goal is to make it to the 2020 Olympic Trials in the Steeple and I will do everything I can to achieve this goal

A suggestion I have is that you try to lose weight in the meantime. Like going on a 1000 calorie diet or something. It's just a thought tough, maybe it's not good for you because of you're appendectomy, so if you take up on it, maybe check with your doctors first. But my thoughts were that since it's hard too keep up good quality training while losing weight, it would be a good idea to lose weight now that you're not running anyway.

Have you been thinking about what you're optimal racing weight is by the way? Losing weight could potentialy give you a huge performance boost. Im like 10kg(22 pounds) over my ideal racing weight(but it's probably my most healthy weight), i'm obviously way faster when im in my racing weight. You should over the course of these years experiment with what might be your ideal racing weight, it could be much lighter than you think, and you could potentialy see alot of improvment from losing weight. What's your weight and height?

Update #34

I’m back!

Gonna keep it short; not much to tell. Started running Friday, March 24th.

Week (and a few days):

F: 30min, 3.39mi, 8:51/mile

S: off

..

S: 30min, 3.4mi, 8:49/mi

M: off

T: 30min, 3.57mi, 8:25/mi

W: off

R: 30min, 3.54mi, 8:29/mi

F: off

S: 30min, 3.5mi, 8:35/mi

Total (week): 120min, 14mi

..

Comments:

Getting back into it. going off of HR and RPE until I can run a time trial and get some paces. Next six weeks just about building up miles slowly and then getting into some training blocks.

Been doing a lot of reading and researching about running during my break; half because I’ve got a High School team to coach and half because I want to learn more. Most important thing I’ve learned thus far is doing what works for you, no matter what the books say. Books have guidelines, but as I learned with the foot issues, I can’t jump right back into 40+ mile weeks. So, if I gotta do a long buildup, then that’s what I must do.

I'm late to the party but really enjoyed reading through the thread.

Your determination is infectious and I'm sure I'm not the only one who is interested in your progress. Keep it up man!

Are you on strava? It's be cool to follow your progression and there's lots of good support there as well.

Update #35

4/2-4/8

S: 40min, 4.79mi, 8:21 avg.

M: off

T: 40min, 4.83mi, 8:17 avg.

W: 40min, 4.72mi, 8:28 avg.

R: 40min, 4.88mi, 8:12 avg.

F: off

S: 40min, 4.83mi, 8:17 avg.

Total (week): 200min, 24.05mi, 8:19 avg.

4/9-4/15

S: 50min, 6.31mi, 7:55 avg.

M: 40min, 4.81mi, 8:19 avg.

T: 30min, 3.66mi, 8:12 avg.

W: 47.5min, 6mi, 7:55 avg.

R: 40min, 4.84mi, 8:16 avg.

F: off

S: 40min, 5.02mi, 7:58 avg.

Total (week): 247.5min, 30.64mi, 8:06 avg.

..

Comments:

Good two weeks of work. Have a rough plan of mileage laid out and adjusting it based upon how I feel. Pace is progressing as well; using a combination of RPE and HR on the easy runs, keeping my effort below 150 for much of each run. It was a bit harder to do that today, though, as it was 80 degrees and 22+mph winds. Eh. I keep it under control.

Looking to run every day next week and looking to hit 35-40 miles, based on how I feel. Looking to hit mid 40s before I take a down week for recovery and then introduce some intensity. Plan on keeping it low key at first, just hill repeats, highly aerobic-light tempo runs, and anaerobic maintenance work.

I thought about this thread as I was running today. Came back and glad to see you are running again. Keep at it!

Update #36

Week:

S (Long): 70min, 8.84mi, 7:55 avg.

M (Easy): 40min, 4.97mi, 8:03 avg.

T (Hills): 35min, 4.34mi, 8:04 avg.

W (2ndary): 50min, 6.11mi, 8:11 avg.

R (Easy): 40min, 4.8mi, 8:20 avg.

F ("LT"): 50min, 6.63mi, 7:32 avg.

S (Easy): 48.5min, 6mi, 8:05 avg.

Total (week): 333.5min, 41.69mi, 8:01 avg.

..

Comments:

Tuesday Hill Workout: 15min warmup over to hill, 10 x 100m hill hard (as fast as I could while holding perfect form) recovery being the jog back down. 15min cooldown.

Friday “LT” workout: 15min up, 20min @ 160bpm-165bpm (ended up at 6:41 avg), 15min down.

Took a look at the calendar last week after I posted and did some planning. I’ve decided on 5-week long meso-cycles with 2-14 day microcycles and 1 - 7 day recovery microcycle. I had been feeling pretty good/antsy with just mileage I decided I could probably handle a small jump in miles & intensity with the week outlined above.

My current plan is to hold this pattern for three more weeks and on the fourth week, work in some easy days, a long time trial (3200m or 5k), a 400m time trial, and a couple more easy days in anticipation of the next block.

Right now, will switch between all-out-speed workouts (flying 30s) and hill workouts (10 reps, 100m hill) on Tuesday and stick with a HR of 160-165 on the “LT” workouts. The goal of the Tuesday workouts is to lay the foundation for workouts at vVO2max and faster than race pace. The goal of the Friday workouts is to lay the foundation for actual lactate threshold work in the weeks to come.

@remembered

Will do!

Coebra,

Looks like you are coming around again. Good work.

Igy

Update #37

@ Igy

Good to hear from you! unrelated, but I have a newfound respect for coaches like you now; having to be on top of my coaching game for ~8 hours after working all day is much tougher than I imagined. And you did that for 19 years?

Week:

S: 70min, 9.01mi, 7:46 avg. Long

M: 40min, 4.92mi, 8:08 avg. Easy

T: 50min, 6.06mi, 8:15 avg. 10 x flying 30m sprints 3min rest

W: 50min, 6.18mi, 8:05 avg. Secondary

R: 40min, 4.9mi, 8:10 avg. Easy

F: 50min, 6.77mi, 7:23 avg. 20min @ 165bpm-170bpm (~6:20avg)

S: 41.5min, 5.19mi, 8:00 avg. easy

Total (week): 341.5min, 43.0mi, 7:58 avg.

..

Comments:

Quick post because I’ve gotten shitty sleep the past week and want to make sure I start off this week well rested.

Good week; Good progress on the long run (staying at or below 155bpm hr). Glad I survived the sprints on Tuesday; they were interesting. Didn’t really know how my legs would feel doing that workout and handling the mileage but things seem to be moving right along.

Friday’s workout was also good; when I have vVO2max paces to work with this tempo will be at 80% of vVO2max and during this phase of the training I will alternate between that at 75% and 80%. When I have time to figure out better HR data I will also use that to establish “zones” for each of these tempo efforts because that seems to work well.

Another good week in the bag and the overall weekly pace seems to be coming down nicely. Just gotta keep doing things the right way, put in the time, and the results will come.

On a somewhat related note; I really underestimated how much time I would be spending at track meets as a HS coach. Fvck those things can go late into the night. Much prefer cross country meets to this.

Coebra,

Yea coaching is a tough job. I once had an assistant coach started counting the hours he worked, I knew at that point the career would be short. Well your season should be closing soon, so keep it up.

Igy

Update #38

S: 70min, 8.71mi, 8:02 avg. Long

M: 40min, 4.87mi, 8:13 avg. Easy

T: 50min, 5.96mi, 8:23 avg. 10 x 100m hill, walk back recovery

W: 50min, 6.26mi, 7:59 avg. Secondary

R: 40min, 5.05mi, 7:55 avg. Easy

F: 50min, 6.82mi, 7:20 avg. 20min Tempo @ 160bpm-165bpm (~6:23avg)

S: 40min, 4.87mi, 8:13 avg. Easy

Total (week): 340min, 42.5mi, 8:01 avg.

..

Three weeks in the bag and feeling good.

LONG RUN: Was out late on Saturday the 29th with friends and didn’t turn into a puking zombie the next day (finally, progress!)- just took it easy on the long run going off heart rate. Sounds stupid but I keep feeling like I’m figuring out how to do an easy run for the first time—like, having it actually feel easy, nothing being forced, and having comfortable mechanics. Kept it like this on the run and I was actually surprised when I hit the turn around point. Only problem on long run was that the path I was on was super muddy in one direction (after having torrential downpours the night before).

HILLS: Took a half day at work to get this in before the HS meet that night. It was tough, but focused on going as fast as I could with perfect mechanics; straight back, hips underneath, great turnover and good arms. I’ve been wearing racing flats for Tuesday workouts and they seem to help increase the strength of my foot.

TEMPO: or, more accurately, the tempo precursor workout. Still operating off my theory of doing lighter lactate threshold work before moving up in intensity, I switched back to 20 min of running with a heart rate from 160-165bpm. It was actually difficult to keep my heart in this range at first and unless my hrm wasn’t working correctly, something happened between Wednesday and Thursday that just flipped a switch and all of a sudden, my body was on another level. Did this in flats too (all workouts will be in flats/spikes) and felt weightless.

All in all, another good week. It makes sense that I would be feeling better now; the body usually makes 90% of its adaptations to a given workload over a period of 18-20 days and that would fit the time frame of my experiences above. It was more of a pleasant surprise, I guess.

One more week of this and one week of recovery and TT then up to 50 miles for 4 weeks.

Update #39

..

S: 70min, 9.31mi, 7:31 avg. Long

M: 0min, xmi, 0:00 avg. Off, Sick

T: 40min, 5.0mi, 8:00 avg. Easy

W: 50min, 6.23mi, 8:02 avg. Easy

R: 40min, 4.96mi, 8:04 avg. Easy

F: 50min, 6.55mi, 7:38 avg. Easy-Med, hills harder

S: 40min, 4.85mi, 8:15 avg. Easy

Total (week): 290min, 36.9mi, 7:55 avg.

..

This week was pretty crappy. Got sick with a cold Sunday night and felt like running on Monday would have made things worse. Took it day by day and kept track of how I felt for future reference.

Obviously skipped the Flying 30s on Tuesday and thought that the tempo Friday would be too much too soon. Not too worried about missing one or two workouts here and there to keep consistnency rolling instead of possibly putting myself into a hole.

Part two of the crappy week was me randomly having back issues; woke up with a really sore low-back on Wednesday; luckily the same day as my chiro and massage appointments. I would have done the Tuesday 10 x 30m sprints on Friday but that also felt like it was too much too soon with the crappy lower back.

So, where do we stand? Still a decent week mileage wise-missing one day. Next week is recovery and time trialing; going to do a 3200m time trial to set vo2 max and LT guidelines and a 400m all out time trial to set anaerobic paces for speed maintenance.

Given my relative inexperience (being a 10th grader) I won't be able to provide much specific advice. However, I will say that you have so far accomplished the hardest part, which is sticking to your dream no matter what obstacles get in your way. Appendix? Just a speed bump.

I think that it would do you a lot of good to not look to your 2020 goal for the time being. You should work towards smaller goals first, like sub-15 5k, 8:30 3k, then work towards your SC goal, 9:00, then 8:50, then 8:40. Thinking about baby steps has helped me a lot.

Just my 2 cents.

Also, whoever suggested trying to get a HOKA sponsorship isn't too far off the mark. They seem to hand those things out like candy. Once you get pretty close to the standard you should look into it.

Update #39

@alabama runner

Thanks for your thoughts! Lol, I'll remember to call hoka when I get close

5-14 thru 5-20

S: 60min, 8.05mi, 7:27 avg. Long

M: 30min, 3.72mi, 8:04 avg. Easy

T: 40min, 5.09mi, 7:52 avg. Easy

W: 45min, 6.22mi, 7:14 avg. 3200m Time Trial (10:45-3200m)

R: 35min, 4.38mi, 7:59 avg. Easy

F: 40min, 5.13mi, 7:48 avg. Easy

S: 40min, 4.8mi, 8:20 avg. Easy

Total (week): 290min, 37.4mi, 7:49 avg.

5-21 thru 5-27

S: 80min, 10.47mi, 7:38 avg. Long

M: 50min, 6.27mi, 7:58 avg. Easy

T: 60min, 7.23mi, 8:18 avg. Hills (10 x 100m hill)

W: 60min, 7.66mi, 7:50 avg. 2ndary LR

R: 50min, 6.02mi, 8:18 avg. Easy

F: 60min, 8.09mi, 7:25 avg. Tempo Run (20min @ 158-162bpm)

S: 50min, 5.95mi, 8:24 avg. Easy

Total (week): 410min, 51.7mi, 7:56 avg.

..

General Comments:

5-14 thru 5-20

Good week. Reduced volume with a time trial.

TT was… interesting. I forgot what it was like to run that hard. 83, humid, and 20+ mph winds; not exactly conducive for time trialing but I don’t get to choose the weather. First mile was okay, but second mile was shitty. Eh. It’s a data point to measure progress against.

The effort put me out for a couple days. I had originally planned a 400m time trial two days later but didn’t feel like my body was up for it at this point in time. Maybe when I’ve hit peak mileage.

5-21 thru 5-27

Long run bump up to 80 went well; just more of the same, keeping it chill and under control. Been going a little faster during the last few miles but all under lactate threshold.

Hill workout Tuesday was surprisingly tough; legs were super heavy the next day during the secondary long run; took 3 miles to warm up to the run and felt marginally better on the way back.

Tempo run Friday was good too – goal was to keep HR 158-163. Simple out and back, nice and hot out… yeah. This is training. Just plugging away. Lol.

Update #40

Week:

S: 80min, 10.36mi, 7:43 avg. Long

M: 50min, 6.42mi, 7:47 avg. Easy

T: 60min, 7.14mi, 8:24 avg. Flying 30s

W: 60min, 7.84mi, 7:39 avg. 2ndary LR

R: 50min, 6.26mi, 7:59 avg. Easy

F: 60min, 8.02mi, 7:29 avg. Tempo Run

S: 50min, 6.04mi, 8:17 avg. Easy

Total (week): 410min, 52.1mi, 7:52 avg.

..

Comments:

LONG & SECONDARY LONG RUN: Both were good. For the first time in a long time I ran with someone else for my long run. Did it with one of the kids I used to coach and had a jolly good time. 2ndary long run just felt good.

ALL-OUT-SPEED: did 30min warmup, 1200m of stride straight and jog turn, 10 x flying 30 w/ 3min rest, then ~20min cooldown. I will be sooo happy when these workouts are replaced with VO2max intervals. Iced after.

TEMPO: Good, but tough. 25min up, 20min w/ HR between 164bpm and 168bpm, and 15min down. This hurt more than it had in the last training block and I think I’m feeling the cumulative mileage, lol.

RECOVERY RUNS: just keeping it chill, all under 150bpm. Great run Monday on the limestone trails; not as relaxing run Thursday at the local forest preserve, and chill as fvck run Saturday in the woods to refresh and relax. I was absolutely destroyed on this run

STRENGTH/SUPPLEMENTAL: did weights on Wednesday, nothing too major.

OTHER: adding another massage appointment per week; feel like I need it. gonna be 2-45min sessions instead of 1-60. Feel like this is an important part of recovery process so worth the extra money spent.

Coebra,

You seem to be making some progress. Keep up the work.

"A few minutes to run, forty years to remember."

Igy

Update #41

Thanks Igy; think you summed up everything i'm trying to do in 9 words. Definitely making progress, check these last two weeks out:

6/4-6/10

S: 85min, 11.07mi, 7:41 avg. Long

M: 50min, 6.49mi, 7:42 avg. Easy

T: 53.55min, 7.0mi, 7:39 avg. Hills

W: 55min, 7.04mi, 7:49 avg. 2ndary LR

R: 50min, 6.28mi, 7:58 avg. Easy

F: 60min, 8.12mi, 7:23 avg. Tempo Run

S: 50min, 6.17mi, 8:06 avg. Easy

Total (week): 403.55min, 52.2mi, 7:44 avg.

6/11-6/17

S: 80min, 10.67mi, 7:30 avg. Long

M: 50min, 6.4mi, 7:49 avg. Easy

T: 56.16min, 7.25mi, 7:45 avg. Flying 30s

W: 60min, 8.0mi, 7:30 avg. 2ndary LR

R: 50min, 6.41mi, 7:48 avg. Easy

F: 60min, 8.31mi, 7:13 avg. Tempo Run

S: 50min, 5.93mi, 8:26 avg. Easy

Total (week): 406.16min, 53.0mi, 7:40 avg.

Comments:

6/4-6/10:

Long run & Secondary LR runs were good; went a little over on the LR because I misjudged the route. For secondary; was going to be late for PT so did 2ndary LR on treadmill at PT’s place, cut 5 min short b/c of time.

Hills were good: did 12 reps instead of 10 to keep the progression going; those last two killed me. Tempo was also good; more of an upper-end aerobic run so just did it all as one long run instead of warmup, 20min in the target zone, and cooldown.

THE CLICK: I don’t know what else to call it… but halfway through the third week of the training block I just felt like… something clicked and my body finally got ahead of curve. Like… the second week is pretty shit and tiring, which is to be expected. But mid-way through the third week it felt like my body caught up and my HR dropped and suddenly it took my heart less effort to run at the same RPE as the week before.

6/11-6/17

LR & 2ndary LR – Long Run was excellent. Felt strong. Just.. those fvcking bugs! Lol. 2ndary LR was okay too… just felt super dead after it b/c of the flying 30s the day before.

FLYING 30S- did 10 x 30m all out sprint with a running start. Rest was 3 min. Been wearing my steeple spikes for this and the last flying 30s workout to try and get used to wearing spikes again. Kinda half-like this workout; like the sprinting part but get super nervous about the slowing down part and all the stress on the shins.

TEMPO: this is where the click thing comes back. So, found a new place to run that has limestone trails in the shape of a peace sign, with the perimeter being 1.14mi long. All flat and looks like it will be a great place to do workouts. Did my tempo there, LT-2 with hr between 164 and 168. It was difficult to push myself past 165 on this workout. Also managed to take off 12 seconds a mile from my previous tempo two weeks ago, which is great.

..

BUT, that’s not really what I’m after. I’m after better fitness and my pace per mile keeps dropping, but I’m just trying to get the mileage up to appropriate levels. 70-85 seems pretty prime, at least for the first year.

This week, 6/18 thru 6/24 is a down week and then we increase again. I’m going to do everything I did this last four weeks again… but this time, with doubles in the morning. I’m nervous and excited at the same time. After four weeks of that and a rest week, I’ll put the finishing touches on mileage and then it will be time to increase intensity. 10 weeks until the real work begins. Can’t wait!

I'll be 100% honest here, I gave up on this thread after the appendix thing. I figured, this guy has potential but between injury and things like the appendix problem, he will never get the training he needs to achieve that potential. I'm eating my words now. Saw the title while scrolling through and read through everything that I missed. All I can say is I'm thoroughly impressed. Going from no training to 10:45 2 mile TT in only weeks. Unbelievable. Good luck with future training. I'm gonna start following this thread again.

Still absolutely loving this thread, every week I look forward to seeing your progress. Still think you should look into getting a coach/advisor, I feel like it'll help take some mental stress off when workouts begin to get more race specific/complex. Also have you thought about moving to altitude? Places like Gunnison/Pueblo/Alamosa have really low cost of living and great training environments.

Update #42

Comments:

Jayordan: Thanks for coming back! This week's TT results might make you want to rethink your decision to follow the thread again... but I'll still update it either way.

UATC: Thanks! Considering the coaching part of it, but still have a few months before the race specific workouts begin so, yeah. Time to think about all that. I have thought about moving to altitude... but I've tied myself down in my hometown for the next few years. I want to coach my brothers through High School and that's 2 years on the short end and five years on the longer side of it. Still, anything can happen and I'm keeping my eye out on job openings in Los Alamos, Albaqurque, Flagstaff, etc.

Week:

S: 70min, 8.46mi, 8:16 avg. Long

M: 40min, 4.9mi, 8:10 avg. Easy

T: 40min, 5.03mi, 7:57 avg. Easy

W: 50min, 6.9mi, 7:15 avg. Time Trial (3200m – 10:44, overcast, 79 degrees, breezy)

R: 40min, 5.09mi, 7:52 avg. Easy

F: 50min, 6.38mi, 7:50 avg. Easy

S: 40min, 5.22mi, 7:40 avg. Easy

Total (week): 330min, 42.0mi, 7:52 avg.

Comments:

Didn't feel good running easy until Wednesday.

Time Trial: 3200m, 10:44.

So, let's get acknowledge the elephant in the room: that's a pretty shitty time for a 3200, especially after training an additional 250mi. I'm not pleased with how the time turned out at all and 1 second improvement after 5 weeks of running sucks.

BUT

At the same time, I just can't beat myself up about it. I tried, I mean, I legit tried to bash myself on my cooldown but I just felt tired. I think it's because I knew. I knew that this was today's performance, after it happened.

Additionally:

-This Time Trial was essentially the last one run backwards. I started out slower and more controlled, and sped up in the last laps. It's not good that I went that slow in the beginning, but this was a much better way of running than busting your nut in the first 800 and then holding on for six more laps.

-This time trial felt waaaay easier to do than the previous, perhaps for the reason above. Also, previous time trial left me sore 2 days after; this one had zero soreness the next day.

-My primary focus right now is gaining mileage. Not improving LT, VO2max, or anaerobic capacity. I have to be able to handle 70-80mile weeks if I want to have a serious chance at this and after I reach that (in 10 weeks or so) THEN I can improve the upper end. (My VO2 and LT should improve as a by-product, but it's not the main concern)

So, yeah. Shitty, but mileage has always been my weakness and I feel like i have to establish that first, and bring in intensity second.

Plan for the next four weeks is to do mostly the same as the previous bloc's training, except with 20min runs every morning (except Sunday).

This is the second to last major jump in training and probably the most critical. Going to be cautious on the morning runs and go a little bit on the slow side and see how my body adapts. Things are going well—easy run pace is dropping and workouts are going better.

The only nitpick is that I need to try extra hard to get to bed on time and get that extra hour of sleep that usually gets wasted dicking around on my phone/computer.