Some years back I was prepping for the local summer racing season and used the following protocol (be advised I was coming from a hockey & football background not distance running):
week 1: 4 straight days of 3-mile runs at around 7:05 (which hurt the lungs) to 7:35 pace, a day off, a club run of 5-6 miles then another day of rest
week 2: 4 straight days of 4-mile runs, again pretty hard, the day off, the club run, the day off
week 3: 4 days of hard 5-milers, day off, longer club run of 10 miles, day off
week 4: 5 days of hard 6-milers, day off, solo run of 12 miles (which was as an easier pace, day off
week 5: 7 straight days at 7 miles per day, then a race of 5 miles in 30:20, my first of the season.
Over that season I ran sub-30:00 for 5 miles twice, 2 10K's in 37:22 and 36:59 followed by a marathon in which I blew up at 22 miles.
The 4 days of specified mileage were all run very hard.
My throat and upper respiratory system were banged up from it, as I had no clue how to train other than to go out and hammer: no pain no...etc...
Prior to the marathon I developed first shingles (a really wild experience), then a cold, which reappeared after the marathon. My long runs, which took place starting about 6 weeks after the 30:20 race never exceeded 18 miles.
However my shorter races were great. For me that is.
I wound up buying a pair of Converse minimalist shoes, this was in 1989, which absolutely killed my feet. Great pains. For the races and training I wore NIKE Air Pegasus.
I am not a fan of minimalist shoes.
Given this, and the subsequent illnesses, what changes would you have made to this program? I was discussing running with someone at work and recalled all this.
Thanks