male or female?
male or female?
Male. And I forgot to add, I am flying to Virginia Beach to run the RNR Half in September.
dunder mifflin - Wow, you've only been running for 8 months and you're already at 70 mpw? I'm impressed. As far as your sub-3hour goal...I'd say, just keep doing what you're doing and you shouldn't have much of a problem. The main battle in marathon training is staying healthy...if you accomplish that, you're more than halfway there. You've obviously got some talent to be able to run 5 mi tempos @ 6:08 and finishing long runs faster than your goal marathon pace.
To answer your other question - It is completely normal to feel sluggish on certain runs. Not necessarily on just your shorter, easy runs...sometimes it happens on long runs, or even workouts. The important thing to remember is that this stuff happens and not to get frustrated over one sub-par run or workout...it's the whole body of work that matters most. Now if you're feeling like garbage for days (even weeks) in a row, then I'd say you're overtraining, but otherwise...it's just a part of training.
running4IAM - You're also very new to running and already showing signs of great talent. Is the RNR Half in VA Beach a "goal race" for you?...or just a race along the way to something else? Even though you're new to running, I'd still say that you could benefit from adding doubles. Just be smart about it, only 2-3 doubles per week, with the second run being anywhere from 3-5 miles...whatever you feel most comfortable with.
And BTW, if you're doing 9 mile tempo's @ 6:15 pace and long runs @ 7:10. I'd say you'll be anywhere from 1:17-1:20 at VA Beach.
pablo- Thanx! Im not sure what I want out of VA Beach. I actually decided to run it, to get 2 other brothers running, who are going to meet me there. I have lofty future goals, but not sure how a training cycle should go to get there. I see the huge mileage and prospective times you guys are running, and wonder what it takes to get there. While I have the time, it seems like I cant get past the measly mileage I am putting up. But, I'm sure you have many dedicated years invested. I wonder if I am starting this a little late (34 yrs old). I guess I will glean from you guys, and see if I can learn along the way.
Again,Thanx a lot!
I've said this before, but you CANNOT compare yourself to others here. You can only compare you to you. The best way to see improvement in yourself is comparing how your training has fared the past few cycles to what you're doing right now. Don't look at the mileage posted here and say..."I need to run that to get faster".
Right now you'll see huge gains in running regardless if you run high or low milege simply because you're still very new to it. You're right though, I do have a good number of years beneath me running...although I can guarantee you that there are others on this thread that have double (maybe triple) the number of years I have running.
My years running have progressed roughly like this:
High School (3 yrs running): 30-40mpw
College (5 yrs running): 70-80mpw
Post Collegiate (2 yrs so far): 80-100+mpw
This is the absolute most positive and productive thread I've ever seen on Lets Run.
As soon as I get over my foot injury and start running consistently again I look forward playing along.
Although , I am just a lurker on this particular thread, I do enjoy and like to follow all your progresses. Not sure what it is besides what the above poster said, but you all show great examples, especially Pablo and I wish you all the best. Sorry for the interruption.
Goal race : Chicago
Goal time : 2:38
Age: 48
M- AM 7+ ez 6:55 pace PM 5 ez 7:00 pace
T- AM 7 mi w/ 10 x 55 sec hill repeats. PM 5 mi ez
W - AM 8+ mi ez 6:45 pace PM 5 ez 7+? pace
T - AM 8 mi ,tempo for 4 middle miles. PM 4 ez 6:55
F - AM - 8+ mi ez. 7:15 PM off
S - 13+ mi in AM. 6:55 pace
S - AM 9 mi w/ 16 x 400m at track, 100m recover
About 80
Feel good. Like I'm getting fit. Eating everything in sight.
I sleep like a baby.
I plan to try a local 5k as part of my long run tempo next week. Run 6 miles to the start - race 5k, run 6 miles home.
Running4IAM: You're not late. If you are then I'm really late. Just FYI, while I have a running background (HS, d3, etc.) from the ages of 29-34 I ran ~5 mpw, if that. Be patient and see where the increase in mileage/workouts takes you.
All I can say is thanx! I truly appreciate all the good advice. It is hard not to be anxious when you see the talent on this board. Just hope one day to be able to get somewhere near these times.
goalrace: toronto
goaltime: 3:1x
45 miles with one tempo run (5k) and one workout (8x400) on 7 runs with no long run.
Return from spring illness is slowly progressing. Its a little frustrating to be running 400s at 30sec/mile slower than before, but at least I'm going in the right direction.
This week is my first 20 miler of the season. Its sound a lot easier after seeing a 27 miler on this thread!
Nice work everyone. Ian, I hope your legs don't fly off. That's some serious work the last couple of weeks.
Columbus 10/17 ~ 43 yrs old ~ Goal > sub 2:50
M ~ 7 mi EZ
T ~ Track : 2mi WU, 4 sets of 800m/w 100m Rjog ~ 300m/w 400m Rjog. 2mi CD
W ~ 15mi EZ on flat course
T ~ 2mi WU, 9 x Hill Repeats, jog down R, 2 mi CD
F ~ 7 mi EZ
S ~ 2 mi WU, 4 mi Tempo, 2 Mi CD
S ~ 20 mi Long Run on hilly course, working the hills.
Trying to follow this every week.
Solid thread going here...
I have definitely doubled in the past, but it was always inconsistent. I have been doubling more consistently this training cycle (4-5 days a week) and can't wait to repeat the benefits. Pablo, are you planning on totally cutting out doubles at some point? 2 weeks out?
running4IAM - I'm doing RnR Virginia Beach Half as well. It's 5 weeks out from Chicago so it's a good time to test the fitness. I also hear it's flat and competitive. Looking fwd to it.
NoleRunner24 wrote:
I have definitely doubled in the past, but it was always inconsistent. I have been doubling more consistently this training cycle (4-5 days a week) and can't wait to repeat the benefits. Pablo, are you planning on totally cutting out doubles at some point? 2 weeks out?
I'm also doing a half 5 weeks out from my marathon...it's the Spirit of Columbus half up in Ohio. I've never run a half marathon when I was in good shape, so it should be a PR regardless...I'm looking forward to it.
Yeah, it'll be more like 10 days out I'll completely cut off the doubles. What you do may depend on if you're planning a 2 or 3 week taper. I'm doing a steep 2 week taper, so my last three weeks will look something like this:
Week of 9/13-9/19: Normal week, around 100 miles
Week of 9/20-9/26: Start tapering, around 60-70 miles, reduce the second run from 6 to 4 miles, cut out doubles completely around Thursday or Friday.
Week of 9/27-10/3: Marathon week, no doubles at all, around 30-40 miles (pre-marathon)
Is it September yet? I can't wait...
Someone kick me in the nuts if I complain about running in winter weather again...
pablo [b/]- Thanks! ... That is a steep taper! I found that I don't race well with tapers like this. At least for short distances. I'll probably stick with a 2 week taper but not as steep. As previously mentioned, I'm planning to transition from quantity to quality in the next couple weeks so I won't be 100, 60-70, 30-40... Maybe something like 80, 55-65, 45-55.
Another [b/]- No problem. Can't stand the people in FL who complain about the winters. We have 2 months of the year were it's kind of cold, 2 months were it's nice most of the time, and 8 months of the year is brutally hot.