Post Collegiate Running

I ran sub 15 5k and sub 25 8k in college as well. If I were you I would try to jump into some sea level college meets and see how much you can lower your 5k. Get used to running more on your own. Try to join a training group or get a training partner for workouts and long runs. If you’re having trouble finding some, then you may need to check local race results and Strava stalk some people and reach out. Once you’re done with the 5k, moving up to half and full marathons presents new challenges, adventure, and PRs.

You don’t want to give up running and get the itch to run again when you’re 30 and always wonder “what if?”.

Honestly that is so true... I do feel like I would have a hard time training myself back into sub 15 shape. That is where I want some sort of coach or group

I feel like if you’re in Boulder you should surely be able to find someone to train with.

In regards to whether you should give up training and competing, that’s up to you - if you’re motivated to keep chasing the dream and getting after it then by all means you should. But if you’re not motivated then don’t force yourself

Finding people train with isn't the issue, I just have no direction in my training. I'm sure if I signed up for a race and it went well I probably wouldn't feel as down on training. But sometimes its just hard to stay motivated.

Is there a college or even a High School in your area that you could train with? Even if is only on the weekends, since I assume you are working. Having a coach & other runners to bounce ideas off of could put some drive back into you. Pick a race, then some tune ups, build toward it. Maybe jump into a race just to see where you are. I found that nothing motivated me more than a disappointing race.

Join Boulder Underground and have Nicole Bush coach you.

Boulder bro

Over the years I’ve known many runners with prs in your range. Your 1500 is the best of the bunch but it’s tough to get to Olympic Trials national caliber level unless you’ve got some untapped speed. Sub 1:50 800, sub 50 400. You could give a sub 4 mile a chance. You need to get in the weight room.

There’s no magic training, just consistent mileage over the years and you could probably get to the Olympic Trials in the marathon... 5:18 mile pace.

Enjoy running and have fun with it.

Givetallugot wrote:

I ran sub 15 5k and sub 25 8k in college as well. If I were you I would try to jump into some sea level college meets and see how much you can lower your 5k. Get used to running more on your own. Try to join a training group or get a training partner for workouts and long runs. If you’re having trouble finding some, then you may need to check local race results and Strava stalk some people and reach out. Once you’re done with the 5k, moving up to half and full marathons presents new challenges, adventure, and PRs.

This is great advice. It's lonely being fast but not quite elite enough to be on an elite squad. There should be opportunities for you to train with people in the Colorado area. I think you're due for some sea level PRs. As someone born/raised in Colorado, you're probably used to altitude & might not see as big of a bump but should more/less be able to PR at every distance if you're in similar shape.

You're fast OP. I wouldn't rush to the marathon but you have an OTQ in you at some point. I would do what was suggested here and spend 2022 on the track in the spring/summer & think about some XC in the fall/winter. You can run in plenty of college meets unattached with your times. Grab some PBs this spring/summer. Think about trying a 10k. Target Club XC in December 2022. That's a race made for a guy like you & will be back in San Francisco.

Look up a list of the biggest/best road races that aren't marathons. There are a lot of good ones half marathon & under. You should probably wait until 2023 for a half (no need to rush) but there's a lot of stuff 10 miles & down that could be worked into your schedule. Most of those races will comp you or let you into the elite field. You'll have plenty of people to run with. Look at the national championship calendar on the roads & see if anything intrigues you.

aaaaaaaazzzzzzzzzz wrote:

Join Boulder Underground and have Nicole Bush coach you.

Nicole Bush, you sure about that?

You don't seem to have the right love and motivation for the sport. Just rum when you feel for it and in a healthy way.

BoulderPostCollegiate wrote:

Finding people train with isn't the issue, I just have no direction in my training. I'm sure if I signed up for a race and it went well I probably wouldn't feel as down on training. But sometimes its just hard to stay motivated.

Do you absolutely need direction in your training? I saw a quote from Nic Bideau once saying that if someone ran for an hour a day they'd be quite fit, if they stretched that run to an hour and a half or two hours one day a week they'd get even fitter and if they stretched another of those hour runs to 90 minutes or so they'd get fitter still. Now of you were to add some faster stuff to the mix... Just get fit and look for races that intrigue you as time goes on. As someone else said, if you focus on the marathon you'd have a good shot at a Trials qualifier but not everyone wants or needs to run the marathon.

I found the biggest challenge to running after graduation was getting into a routine where I just got my runs in every day even though the structure of being in a team and having practice at specific times was gone. Once I had that routine everything fell into place. But yes, the adjustment was a bit of a challenge at first.

Where They Have It Too Easy wrote:

aaaaaaaazzzzzzzzzz wrote:

Join Boulder Underground and have Nicole Bush coach you.

Nicole Bush, you sure about that?

https://www.tracksmith.com/journal/article/boulder-underground

So wacked, that group is HTS Elite 2.0 or Boss Lite, a bunch of neurotic chick and beta bros drama and little in the way of noteworthy performance. This coach is even romantically involved with one of his athletes, just like Hudson! Same ol same ol in Boulder.

It's a lot tougher trying to train at the same level as you did when in college. It also depends if you are working a full time job or not or going to grad school.

It's too bad that your team didn't travel to sea level track meets. Then you would have gotten your answer about how fast you could have gone.

I did the post collegiate running/training thing for about two years. I never went faster than my college PR's. I then packed it in. Took two years totally off and didn't run at all. Then I started running again but at a lot less volume and intensity. It was fun and I never looked back.

Sounds you like you ran for the famous Western State let’s just race po-dunk track meets until Nationals program. Anyways, it’s normal to feel lost after college especially when you were use to having the schedules set and made for you. I would fine some people to train with consistently and don’t be afraid to jump into races, especially competitive ones. Be as versatile as you can from roads to track. You might surprise yourself and that can help open up doors to getting into more elite fields and sometimes all you need is that one race to set the tone for the rest of your season or year.

surely in a place like boulder there will be plenty of post collegiate guys still wanting to train hard, look at track race results from last year and find teams with fast guys and reach out to them.