High mileage, NO speedwork. How much will I lose?

Why not do the intense stuff on an elliptical type machine? Or even a bicycle up hills would work for getting your heartrate to 90% of maximum.

If you're not racing or chasing specific times, get anxiety and injuries with higher intensity, and just want to run and have fun.... Then just run long. No one is making you do any different.

There is an old book out there you might really enjoy. Long Slow Distance, by Joe Henderson. It follows six different runners who, for a variety of reasons, just run mostly easy. They all have different experiences, but I'd say all successful outcomes.

The style of training is not for everyone, but for some it definitely has its place. Especially if you're more concerned with enjoying the process and having fun.

Ever heard of Arthur Newton?

It's the planned intensity in general that gives me anxiety. Any kind of interval, threshold run etc that I know I won't enjoy. I've been doing threshold training on the bike until now and feel just the same about that.

I haven't. But am looking him up now. Sounds like an interesting case study!

Yeah, I guess I just read too much into things and put pressure on myself for no real reason. I am aware no one gives a crap how well I can run. I'm just afraid to let go of intensity I guess, even though it makes me unhappy

Thanks for the book suggestion! I've heard it mentioned a few times and may just have to take a look at it!

I’m male and twice your age, but I can relate to the anxiety of the pre-planned faster workouts in marathon training.

What I have done and continue to do is set up a “faster” day following an easy day. No strict pace, but start slow and go by feel. I usually find that 2-3 miles in, I’m ready to push the pace and it becomes a progression run with mile 1 at 8 min pace and mile 8 at ~6:30 pace with my current fitness. If I’m not feeling it that day, I’ll stay above 7 min pace.

One caveat is that I don’t touch 70mpw, I’m hoping to get 50-55mpw.

With that mileage, you don’t need a lot of speed work, but you do need some mileage at or slightly faster than goal race pace.

Thanks. I've tried this approach. It should work, but I still end up getting super worked up about having to run 'fast' that day. My mind seems to fight me all the way

Some other suggestions:

1) Have you tried fartleks once a week? Look them up, but as I understand the idea, you alternate easy running and short, somewhat faster (not all-out) stretches within the same run, but you decide how long and how fast the faster stretches are based on feel. The goal is to finish a certain total distance or time of running, with however much faster running feels right for that day. That might give you some faster running once a week without adding pressure.

2) It might be easier to run fast occasionally if you go with a partner or a group once a week. Just keeping up with the partner might be mentally easier than worrying about hitting a specific time.

3) As someone above suggested, a non-running activity (I like swimming) might be a way to occasionally get your intensity up with less anxiety.

If the suggestions in the thread don't work, then just keep doing long easy runs if that's what you enjoy. You'll keep most of your fitness, and if you try to run fast, don't enjoy it, and stop running, you'll lose a lot more fitness. Good luck!

You use a lot of words like fear, guilt, shame, etc. that are red flags for not having a healthy relationship to exercise. You're also running an unreasonably high volume for someone with no aspirations for competing.

You've put yourself in catch 22 of being afraid to lose fitness but dreading the work required to maintain fitness. If that's how you feel, you should consider finding another activity you would enjoy more.

You will progress up to a certain point.

This point will be lower than if you add speed work, and different type of intensity.

But maybe you don't care in which case that's fine.

if you're running purely for enjoyment, then yeah, the specifics of your training don't matter too much even if it's just longer, less intense stuff. but i'll also add that taking time away from the faster stuff (or even running in general) might change your perspective, and you might end up enjoying it again in the future. i struggled with problems similar to yours throughout high school, constant anxiety/dread surrounding workouts that was in my case due to severe perfectionism/a need for control. if you're truly struggling with mental health, don't be afraid to take time away- i took an entire year off to focus on healing my relationship with food and exercise. but now that i'm slowly easing back into training, i've found that i look forward to speed days again. i don't have any expectations for myself since i'm ridiculously out of shape, so i've come to realize it's actually pretty fun just getting to flick on the afterburners and rip a tempo after a long day. i think the key for me at least was letting go of expectations and comparisons with my past self, and just enjoying the feeling of running fast.

i always think of this comic whenever the doubts start to creep in. remember it's about having fun :)

JamesD2's #1 fartlek

Read his paragraph

Then look it up. Find something that describes true old style fartlek. Not the structured stuff that isn't really fartlek.

It's perfect for what you're looking for. Totally running by feel. Once a week or so. Only if/when you feel like it. Only as much as you feel like it.

Thanks for this, it's nice to know I'm not alone and that it can be sorted out. I know I can enjoy running fast. I used to, and had goals before the anxiety crept in. I'm hoping that if I can take some time away from intensity and structure that my desire will return and I can get joy from setting goals for myself. I think I will have to start with just setting the goal of enjoying every run and not falling into the trap of forcing things. I feel that is what has happened and it has sapped the joy out of running for me as I become too hyperfocused and regimented, forgetting that there's life outside the sport too and that it should be enhancing my life rather than adding unnecessary stress.

'constant anxiety/dread surrounding workouts that was in my case due to severe perfectionism/a need for control' - this explains exactly what I've been experiencing for years. I have a very 'all or nothing' approach to most things in life, and when things don't go to plan, I get thrown off, anxious and find it very difficult to adapt.

I'm working with a psychiatrist at the moment for adhd, MDD and anxiety. Running has always usually helped my mental health and I hope that, if I can sort that out and change my attitude, then things will get better.

Hi James, these are some good suggestions! At the moment I don't live nearby to any running clubs, tracks etc and none of my friends are interested in the sport so #2 may have to wait. I live in the middle of the countryside withour much around at all, which I don't expect helps the mental side of things.

The fartlek sounds like a fun way to add in some faster stuff, and I will try it out as soon as I feel ready for a bit of speed again! :)

My main goals really are enjoyment and slow, sustainable progress over the years, or even just maintenence. Ultras have always appealed to me, being a different way of pushing yourself without so much of the competitive side. I want to be running for decades to come and having fun with it, rather than becoming that person who 'used to run' at only 25 years of age.

This topic comes up here now and again:

And in other places too:

championseverywhere.com

Niko niko pace – the gentle path to success

René

Open link

There are people who've been quite successful doing what you're pondering. In the first link make sure you see the post about Bob Denies. And as I recall Cathy O'Brien did basically nothing but comfortable distance runs and made the 1988 Olympic team in the marathon. Ed Whitlock was arguably the best ever over 60 distance runner and he did only slow runs.

If you want to race well on this sort of training you will need to pay some attention to running faster but it doesn't need to be extensive. Whitlock and Deines raced frequently. Deines said that he knew racing sharpened him but wasn't necessary all the time. If he raced a mile after a long racing layoff he said his first race back would be about 4:27 but if he raced again the next week it would be 4:17. His best was 4:16. He said that ten second per mile improvement from first race to second was pretty standard.

Lydiard told me that you could do very well by "racing yourself fit" without doing the intermittent phases of his program. He didn't think it would work as well as doing his whole system but it would work. And you can do faster running without much structure. Genuine fartlek is totally unstructured. You run faster when you feel like it and ease up when you've had enough fast running then go fast again when you want to. Do your runs on a hilly course. Shorter called running over hills "speed work in disguise."