Giving up running due to body type?

IMHO do whatever makes you happy. You could be much better at sharp shooting, or whatever else, but if running makes you happy and that does not....

Have a goal and shoot for it.

Body type does not make it impossible to be a runner or a lifter or anything else....it only makes it harder.

If you're only running 20-30 miles a week then make it mostly intervals/hard runs, lift weights, eat clean, and you'll still be able to run decent 5ks.

Alan

Some people are destined to fail at running. You are one of those people.

From your OP it sounds like you're a powerful, slow twitch individual.

You should give rowing a try. They do a fair amount of running for training, but the essence of the sport itself is long-duration power work.

Crew is also one of the very few true "team" sports.

OP, I feel your pain, and at age 25 I might be able to offer you some perspective. Also, I'll put it out there right now that I'm 5'6" and 150lbs, much of it upper body muscle (I don't lift anymore) and large leg muscles. I've never had a serious body fat % analysis, but the scales tell me that I'm about 14-15%, which seems high since I almost have a 6-pack. I'm an honest 32" waist.

Anyway, I ran in HS and wasn't good at all. I only broke 20 minutes three times in XC, and my mile PR was 5:20. I once ran 19:13 in a 5k road race. Like you, I acceled later in workouts and in longer intervals. I recovered very quickly from hard efforts, but had a lower top speed than most of my teammates. That is still true today, on my club team.

I spent my first two years of college lifting a lot and getting fat- at one point I weighed 191, and was benching 275. I looked ridiculous, even though my waist "only" got up to 35" ("only" because 191 at 5'6" is absurd). I got sick of hating myself during winter break of my sophomore year and decided to lose weight, and I lost 30 pounds in 3 months. I still lifted, but ate very sensibly and did 30 minute progression runs on treadmills, working down to about 6 minute pace. 4 months after starting to lose weight, I ran under 20 minutes in a 5k. My only running were 2 or 3 of those progression runs a week and 1 or 2 other runs of 4 to 5 miles. I maintained this training through the summer and ran 18:34 that September.

I kept similar routines through college, although I added maybe 10 to 15 extra miles per week my senior year. I had fun, kept my weight at about 155, and stayed in pretty good all round shape. When I moved to graduate school, I joined a running club, and started running 50 to 60 miles per week, mostly easy with one hard workout. No weight lifting. My 5k time didn't change too much, but I ran a half marathon in 1:22:10 and was amazed with myself. I also dropped 5 pounds of fat. I upped the milage to 60-75 for a few months and dropped my 5k time another minute, down to 17:30, where it's stayed for almost 2 years now, but that's probably more because I don't run many 5k's or train specifically for them than because I've never been capable of running faster.

I'm very happy with the path that I've followed. I'm running 65-80 miles a week, 50 miles per week when I'm not seriously training, eat whatever I want and stay at about 150 pounds. One of these days I will try eating healthy and losing 5 or 10 pounds, but I'm not ready yet. It gets boring sometimes, but being on a club team keeps me in touch with other runners who motivate me and frankly running for 60 to 90 minutes a day is much less time consuming and ultimately less boring than working out in a gym. There is nothing more boring than staring at a clock waiting for your next set. Of course, I'm also 25 now; the gym is a great place in college where there are many hot skantily clad women you will never talk to. As for racing, I'm planning to run the NYC Marathon this fall, hopefully in under 2:50. I ran a disaster of a debut marathon two years ago, crawling in at 3:15. 5k's are still fun, but I more enjoy the day to day rhythm of training and traveling a few hours to 10-mile races and half marathons than busting my ass in interval workouts 3 times a week to beat the washed up, naturally talented aerobic beast in a meaningless neighborhood 5k. The choice is up to you, and I recommend you explore your options while you're in college, but know that while you'll never be a "fast" marathon runner or, in all likelihood, a "fast" runner at any long distance, you are probably able to do things down the road that will amaze you, and as long as that is your goal you should be very happy if you continue to run.

To the OP...also consider your long-term health. I think there are alot of guys who lift while they are relatively young/healthy and can get by with minimal cardio work. Those same guys seem to be the ones who eventually neglect their workouts, lose their high metabolism, and watch their muscle turn to fat. I'm not saying that will necessarily happen to you, but I think that maintaining a good amount of cardio work will encourage healthier habits later in life. I personally think that establishing healthy routines earlier in life (such as regular running, cycling, etc.) may make it easier to stick with these activities into your later years.

Just a thought...

I'm glad you posted this. There is one major problem with my school's gym in that they only have machines and just a preacher curl bar/dumbbells up to 40lbs for free weights. There is a nice freeweight gym with 6 squat racks, tons of benches, etc. but it's for atheletes only (I ran xc for a week and we were in there twice a week) so I can't use it.

Maybe I should try training for a longer distance race (half-marathon most likely) and see how I do?

The rowing suggestion also kind of interested me. I don't have much strength because I don't train it but I'm sure i could gain some easily. I was a sprinter at first and was always able to keep pushing the pace in longer 10x200 workouts when many of my team started falling off. Maybe I should try training for the 800 or hell, the 400? Plus I've always been a vicious kicker though my times were only in the lower 20s for 5k xc, I would still kick pass 5 or 6 kids in the last 200m. Plus, I would always pass literally 20-25 of them in the last mile of a race.

It seems so odd to me, my bodytype seems to suggest I would be better at power stuff but I seem to do better at the stuff the "ectomorphs" are best at. Another thing I'm very good at (probably was the best on my HS team) is pacing. I decided to run a 5k on the track after my xc season just to see how fast I could really go for the distance and aimed for a certain time. I hit every single split either right on, or only a second fast or slow. Every single 400 was near perfect. That's how it's always been for me, it just kind of comes naturally.

I would love to try breaking 3 in the marathon or 1:30 in the half-marathon. Perhaps I can still lift heavy but just eat a LOT of protein and don't expect to gain much muscle, but keep the little I have now?

A club team sounds awesome. I would run XC here, but I already tried and didn't really fit with the team so I decide to stop. Plus I had a terrible summer base so training was horrible.

I was never a sprinter, but also like you, I was able to pass a bunch of kids at the very ends of races. I usually went out too hard so couldn't run fast the entire last mile, but the last 800 or so, yeah, I caught people. I can still out-kick most everyone of comparable ability in road races, inside the last couple hundred meters. And as for pacing, I'm the same. As long as the pace isn't 100% all out, I can hit it very consistently. As of now, I can run intervals between 5:40 and 6:00 pace seemingly forever, and am working toward holding 6-minute pace for the ten mile distance and then a half-marathon. I think both are achievable, the ten mile run within the next few months.

One thing that I will tell you is that I have a suspicion I'd be much faster if I a)lost 5-10 pounds and b)still lifted weights and did a little more interval work and cut my mileage to 55 or 60 a week. It's tough to adjust to that training after really enjoying high mileage and unlimited food and beer, but for 10k and shorter I'm 90% sure that's the way to get faster with our body type. For lifting, and I recognize the limitations of your gym, which sucks, I'd recommend bench press pyramids of 12-10-8 working up to your body weight in 10-15 pounds increments. You can do similar exercises on the sitting chest press machine, but the weight will need to be a little higher to compensate. Couple that with low weight, high rep shoulder presses and moderate-high weight triceps push-downs and you're good to go. Also, be sure you focus on core work- our body type necessitates a strong core because we're going to be more top heavy than the skinny guys. And, lastly, doing strides and pick-ups in the middle of an easy run is a fantastic way to keep your turnover. Don't underestimate the value of them, no matter how short the durations. Even a block or telephone pole's distance pick-up or stride, done on and off a few times throughout an easy run, really helps guys like us.

Maybe try the Javelin? There is at least one good larger distance runner who had pretty good success as a javelin thrower.

Let's see, in your words: you "hate training" and you want to follow a plan to "eat a LOT". I predict eventually you will be a fat obese dude sitting on the couch in 20 to 30 years time.

3/10

Ask Flagpole how he coped.

A couple things...

1. If you want to be leaner then stop eating crap. If you're running around an hour a day and still are 10-15% (the top portion of the abs that most think is a six-pack can be seen at around 15%) then you need to eat better. You will rarely ever see a runner with a true six pack. It amazes me the amount of running people do or exercise in general and they are still not lean because their diet sucks.

2. Eating clean: Drop carbs, increase protein. I'd say 100-200g of carbs (starches/sugars) split between breakfast and post-workout. Everything else is protein and veggies. Earn your carbs or you'll always be "skinny fat". Earn your carbs in the morning because you just slept and were basically on a 6-8hr fast. Earn your carbs post-workout because you just worked out. Protein? 1x your bodyweight in pounds. 150 pounds? 150g. Start with that. When in doubt, decrease carbs further/increase protein further.

3. Bench Press, Bicep Curls, and Tricep Extensions? Are we going to the beach. If you want to gain strength then do the best bang for your buck exercises. You have dumbbells up to 40lb? Then do the following 2-3x a week:

A1. DB Split Squat (NOT A LUNGE)

A2. DB RDL

B1. Bench Press (db's too light? use an underhand grip. no bench? use the floor)

B2. DB Row (bent over or on a bench or even the wt rack)

C1. Neutral Grip Front Shoulder Press (hold the dumbbells facing each other in front of you)

C2. Pullups. Just find something to pullup on.

No isolation arm work? Are you a bodybuilder? No? Then you don't really need it. Stick with compound movements for the best improvements in strength and body composition. Don't just throw the weight up. Control the eccentric (3-4s) and then explode (at least with the 'intent') on the concentric. Muscles don't care about weight, only about force. Muscles respond to force production through the entire range of the movement...not just throwing the weight up and down like a convulsing penquin.

As far as sets and reps go start with 3 sets of 10-15 for the first month (maybe wkout1 15, wkout2 12, wkout3 10) then down to 4-8 for the second month. Change exercises and repeat. 90s rest between each exercise. Perform all of 'A' before moving on to 'B'....(Bench, 90s rest, Row, 90s rest, Bench, 90s rest, etc). That's a good start I suppose...there are thousands of other ways to go about it.

When it doubt look up Poliquin, Wieder, and Rippetoe.

As far as weight goes....at 5'6' 145lbs 8.8% via 7site skinfold, I ran 15:43, 1:09:40, and 2:32:45. Weight is only a number.

Alan

Everyone, don't listen to this lunatic.

But he's one of the smartest lunatics on Letsrun...

Remember, the guy above just wants to remain a fit runner...not a world beater. A very competitive runner/college runner would do much less lifting volume and keep it pretty basic.

Alan