Hey, I was hoping to get some insight on my training. I’m 20 and have been running off and on for about 3 years now. High school times were not that impressive, 4:40 mile, 2:05 800, 14:00 at van Cortland 2.5 junior year. I’ve never really had a span of more than 3 months where I’ve been healthy so I think there is some room for improvement in these distances. I have no grand aspirations, but I love running and would like to run a few quick mile/5k times over the next several years and then continue with running from there on out, moving up to longer distances and possibly doing for triathlons. I’ve always had trouble with shin splints, but I feel that they are avoidable if I don’t overdo it too soon, plus I’ve stopped running on the roads and integrated some light weight training to try and curb any lower extremity injuries. Below is my current training regime and some goals for the next year, any insight would be great. Keep in mind that I’ve started training consistently about a month and half ago.
M,W,F: Pool running for 30 mins at 140 HR
Stationary bike for 30 mins at 140-170 HR
Abs and lower body workout 30-60 mins
Stretching
T,Th,Sat: Trail running for 25-30 mins at 130-160 HR
Stationary bike for 30 mins at 140-170 HR
Full upper body workout 1- 1.5 hrs
Stretching
Sunday: Usually a day off or just a light run.
How does this regime look for someone in my position, any changes that could be made? Is there a better balance between the three cardio workouts that I could be achieving while still avoiding injury? If things were perfect I would be running 80 miles a week, but I doubt if I’ll be able to do that for a while. All said and done I am working out about 2.5-3 hours a day, is this too much too early, will I get burnt out? Should I not increase my time on the bike so as to not gain too much muscle mass?
Goals over the next few years: 4:20 mile, 15:45 5K, 33:00-34:00 10K,
I’m 5’11’’ and currently 160 pounds. I don’t want to get super skinny, and would actually like to be up around 170.
I plan on running a few 5k’s and miles this spring and early summer and then start doing some heavy base work, maybe even running a ½ marathon or NYC marathon in the fall just for fun, with the hopes that I can run some faster indoor times in the winter.
Thank you.