Sub 15:40 Goals

what is your training plan?

I’ll be able to get it up tonight and link it here. Should be interesting to see how it turns out. Was probably in the best shape of my life before I got my stress reaction but I know I’m quite out of shape now

Had a similar situation - was in top shape (probably <15 5k and <4 1500) but got a bad injury and took 5 months to recover - I recently ran a 15:40 TT in really bad conditions as well as a 32 flat 10k and I basically wrote my whole training plan myself - I'll add some input when u upload your TP

Ok here it is, should be available to view...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19d5HHgsCqLN31dNpGIFKxU5FD4gjS6rOdFSwM6lEKPU/edit?usp=sharing

For clarification, I didn't include specific mileage on days or for long runs. Weekly mileage is roughly around 50 all season and I didn't want to try to force myself to hit a number of miles every day, just going to set an upper limit on the week im going into for easy days and run how I feel. Long runs are going to be in between 60 minutes and 80 minutes. There might be some weeks where it's 85 or 90, but that would only be once or twice. T is threshold pace. The red blocks are really hard workouts. There are some workouts that are alternating 400s or 800s., I think there's one that is 600 on/ 200 off. These workouts have the first rep about 10-20 sec faster per mile than T pace and the second rep 10-20 seconds slower than T.

Other than that I think it's self explanatory. If there are any formatting issues let me know and I can try to explain them better/change them.

Oh, also the pool session will either be swimming or aquajogging, usually for a maximum of 40 minutes. Again like the mileage I'm not too concerned with the specifics, as long as im putting in the work. Same with the biking.

-Base workouts look good - personally I would ditch a couple bike sessions and replace them with doubles, but obviously that depends on your injury status and whether you feel comfortable with it, but I really recommend doubles - it can just be a 20' evening run, and it will make you a better runner than a bike session would. I'd also double during the season if possible.

-Try to reach higher mileage in base season. Is there a reason why you want to spend so much time cross training? It would be better spent running. If it's to avoid injury, makes sense, but try to transition away from so much xt and towards more running. The summer is really where you get strong for XC.

-Long runs should be 80 mins minimum, especially during the summer. You don't have to go crazy (6:30-7:30 pace is good) on them, but 60 mins isn't really a long run for someone of your age and ability.

-Do just one workout of normal difficulty (maybe cut a rep of 2 if tired) the week of an important race (9/28 week and state week)

-I would do some longer reps at 5k Pace in the late season, something like 3-6x1000m r4' or 6-8x800 r3'. It's good to cut down later in the season, but not to the point of exclusively running 200s and 400s. I'd keep the 12x400 workout, but switch the 10-16x200 with longer reps.

Overall the plan is good - good luck!

Yeah mostly the lower mileage is fear of reinjury. If I feel good I’ll definitely bump it up a little, but I’d rather plan it conservatively now and add on later. Long runs too should be longer, but it’ll definitely be a build up to those. Appreciate it man, thanks.

No problem! Concerning injuries, I've gone almost 2 years without a running injury (the one where I had to take 5 months off was from a random accident) after getting 3 injuries in 3 months, and the contributing factors to my lack of injuries were:

-Approaching interval workouts sensibly, which you are already doing

-Running on dirt 90% of the time , (when doing doubles try to do the short one on a grass soccer field, it can be boring it's short so shouldn't be too bad)

-Calf raises+drop all the time everyday, most of my injuries where calf/ankle/shin and these really help

Where I live there are very few options for soft surfaces. There is one crushed limestone trail that I could do my long runs on (it’s a bit of a drive) but it is pancake flat. Ill probably alternate between that and a regular hilly park every week

It is interesting to me too