Now that I have consistenly trained for 2 years and set my goal to race a marathon in about 11 months (my initial goal that I approached via half-marathon peak races and lots of 10k races) I am wondering how to assess my running so far.
I place great emphasis on "listening to my body", despite 10 years without sports I have been into endurance sports from age 5 to 20. I like the Lydiard approach for its between-the-lines "wisdom".
My question is how to judge my god-given ressources and how to adjust my training. Has any of you planned your later-in-life running-career around slow-twitch/fast-twitch estimations? I liked
http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=13397
for its approch, I believe this is good advice.
- I always thought to be a pure endurance guy, because I "could cycle for hours". Now people have commented on my running style ("have you been a middle distance runner?") and I know I can rely on a kick at the end of a race.
- I thought it was a mental thing to have a hard time in the middle of a race.
- I must have raced 25 10k races and half a dozen of HMs. I feel I have "understood" 10Ks but not the HMs.
= All in all I now believe I am at least to some extend a fast-twitch guy, my 75kg on 1.75m also hint at that (cyclists calves included).
After 1 1/4 years I ran a 10k in ~37:15 on <40m/week but lost 2-3 minutes in my goal HM to 1:25:30
This year I ran consistenly sub37 on base phase 50-75m plus frequent races, with the hard buildup to another HM just starting.
I want to run for 4-5 years in total, I might or might not return to cycling afterwards. I am not aiming for the 3h barrier in the marathon(s) to come but certainly below.
I wold love to hear if anybody has approached planning from that point of view.