Will I Ever Be Fast? a training thread

Once you've built your base, or even now, I'd recommend following a beginning or intermediate running plan... There are a ton of well written free plans out there. It will keep you focused and on pace to hit milestones.

My current fitness is ~28 minute 5K done during a 6.66 mile run.

Last few weeks of training:

April 6-12

Tues 1.6 miles @ 11min pace

Wed 2.5 miles @10:36 pace

Thurs 3 miles @9:50 pace

April 13-19

Mon 2 miles @ 9:53 pace

Sat 3.1 miles @ 10:01 pace

April 20-26

Mon 3.1 miles @ 10:34 pace

Thurs 2 miles @ 10:01 pace

Sat 3.1 miles @ 10:14 pace

April 27- May 3

Mon 3 miles @ 9:46 pace

Fri 3.1 miles @ 10:19 pace

Sun 3 miles @ 10:31 pace

May 4-10

Tues 3.2 miles @ 10:09 pace

Thurs 3.1 miles @ 10:14 pace, fartlek with 6x1 minute fast in the middle portion of the run

Sat 3 miles @ 10:15 pace

Sun fully body lifting plus easy yoga

May 11-17

Tues 3 miles @ 9:49 pace

Thurs 3.2 miles @ 10:45 pace

Sat 4 miles @ 10:23 pace

May 18-24 - This week I think I'll push up another day to 4 miles in order get up 11 miles for the week.

Thanks, that's the plan once I get up to 4 days/week running. I'm thinking I'd like to do Pfitzinger's Base Training up to 30 miles per week program at that point.

May 18-24

Monday: 4.06 miles @ 10:58 pace (tried a new route, about twice the elevation gain of my other 4 mile route) plus easy yoga

Wednesday: 3 miles @ 10:29 pace with 5 strides throughout the 2 half.

Saturday: 4.16 miles @ ~10:45 pace. This one was particularly sunny and hot. I was visiting a new city and tried out a trail that had almost no shade. The last mile was a struggle.

Sunday: 40 minute lifting routine

Total miles: 11.2

This week was slow. I plan on repeating the same mileage this upcoming week although it is tempting to push the 3 mile day to 4 miles. No annoying niggles at the moment.

62s 400m as girl is blazing. That's faster than some of the elite HS girl distance runners. You have unlimited potential with that kind of basic speed.

Currently, your 5k pace is 134s/400, which is a utilization of only 46% of your basic speed, or more than twice as slow. This is of course terrible, but in line with how you trained in HS under the bad coach (lots of intervals, no foundation/stamina/endurance work, burnout).

With the right training you can utilize 70% or more of your 400m speed in races. 70% utilization would be 88s/lap, or a 18:20 5k. 80% utilization of your speed would be a 77s/lap, or ~16 flat 5k. That would already make you very competitive on a national level.

That's all assuming you are a balanced distance runner and not a sprinter.

LateRunnerPhil wrote:

62s 400m as girl is blazing. That's faster than some of the elite HS girl distance runners. You have unlimited potential with that kind of basic speed.

I was gonna say, that kind of speed means you have some serious talent!!

Build up that base and all your other times are gonna take off!

GOOD LUCK!

Looking forward to following your weekly log ?

Thanks guys! I hope with time that I can realize at least some of that speed - trying not to set my expectations too high as the reality is I'm currently plugging along at 10 minute pace haha. Thanks for joining in on my journey. If you have any advice or critiques along the way, I'd definitely appreciate it.

+1

Sounds like you're on the right track. You're taking it slow and easy at first, with a sensible approach to building up. Keep it up!

Have you looked around for a local running club? Having that community is a great way to make the long process more enjoyable and to gain more knowledge.

keroKEKbonytoe wrote:

Have you looked around for a local running club? Having that community is a great way to make the long process more enjoyable and to gain more knowledge.

There's a few near me, but none are meeting right now. I haven't joined in the past due to them meeting while I'm still at work. But if they start up again while I'm still working from home, I plan to try going!

May 25-31

Tuesday: 4 miles @ 10:31 pace

Wednesday: easy yoga

Friday: 3.25 miles @ 10:32 pace

Saturday: 4 miles @ 10:27 pace

Sunday: lifting routine

Total miles: 11.3

This week was a hot and humid but might as well get used to it with summer starting and all. I kept my mileage the same as I woke up Thursday with hip pain (wtf all I did was yoga the day before?!). However, thankfully it stopped hurting by Friday morning - the icing, compression, and rolling must've helped - so I was able to run both Friday and Saturday. No pain now either!

I'm beginning to think about when to add a 4th day of running in. Does it make since to add a small day now (2 miles?) or should I just keep focusing on increasing the mileage each of my current 3 days? Or do I do both simultaneously?

June 1-7

Tuesday: 4 miles @ 10:27 pace (ate curry before this run... felt it every step haha

Thursday: 5 miles @ 10:35 pace

Saturday: 4 miles @ 11:00ish pace... My wheels fell off on this run. Not surprising since I did everything wrong going into it (didn't sleep well, woke up late, ate breakfast shortly beforehand, and then went off into 87 degree (real feel 97) heat plus humidity. Honestly took a few breaks that last mile sitting on some curbs. GPS didn't record correctly. I mapped it out at 4.25 miles online but watch said 4.... just gonna leave this one behind me.

Sunday: lifting routine and yoga

Total miles: 13

Overall, I'm content with how this week went. Thrilled to not have any pain (I think lifting has helped) since in the past I've had a lot of problems with my hips. Plan going into this next week is to repeat the same mileage and maybe add in an easy 2 mile run same day as lifting to get up to 4 days as long as the legs feels good.

You could use the 2 mile easy run as a warm up for the lifting if that works out. I also think lifting is very beneficial to stay injury-free, especially exercise that strengthen the muscles around the hips and back.

As others have said, you clearly have the talent, and should see your 5km time quickly come crashing down. If you enjoy it, consider doing other types of aerobic fitness as well: cycling, rowing, walking, etc. Far less likely to get injured, and you'll still improve massively aerobically.

June 8-14

Tuesday: 4 miles @ 11:21

Thursday: 5 miles @ 11:16

Friday: 3 miles @ 10:52 plus 5 strides on grass

Sunday: 3 miles @ 9:11 plus 25 minutes lifting and probably will do easy yoga tonight

Total miles: 15.1

Another week of hot and humid training in the SE US. First 2 runs this week the dew point was 70 plus. Friday and Sunday the mornings were cooler which provided some relief. I ran with a friend today (Sunday) which is why the pace was faster than normal. Had a little bit of hamstring pain Friday but that's gone down since and I was able to play tennis Saturday & run Sunday with no pain.

Overall, I'm pleased with adding in the 4th day and getting continuing to build up the miles! Not 100% sure what I'll do this upcoming week, but I will at the very least maintain if not build in a few more miles. I need to do more strides too after runs. I plan on starting Pfitz's base building to 30 miles plan soon but want to get a little more acclimated to the heat first.

Btw on days I don't run I usually do some other type of activity at least a walk. It's super convenient these days working from home that I can go pop out for a quick walk.

Thanks for all of the comments guys! This thread helps motivate me for sure :)

try to dedicate a day to a "long run", which simply means a run that is more minutes than your other runs. 60-90 minutes is standard, but you could start at 45-60 minutes and work your way up. these runs help a ton in terms of aerobic fitness and leaves more room for lowering mileage if you arent feeling good on an easy day.

one thing i can only think to add (from experience) is to not get overly ambitious and injure yourself. only increase the pace when you are feeling good, and same with increasing consistency. if you play your cards right, i could see you going sub 21 in a couple months!

at this point, pacing doesnt have to be pushing it, as long as you build up to running 6 days a week (i wouldnt recommend 7, too much).

i think you are improving super fast, which is really good!-EGF

Your 400m time is light years ahead of your other PRs. What's your body type, height/weight? If you're suited to sprinting/middle distance you should play to your strengths. If not then you probably need an extended base of ~6 months to get your aerobic system up to speed. Just easy running like you've been doing and sprinkle in fartleks, hill sprints and strides to maintain speed. Maximise your mileage by doing injury prevention drills and stretches.