Hi, I had a question that I thought I would pose to Letsrun since there are always some helpful answers here. I'm in a situation where I need to race onto the college team at my school and I need to drop a bunch of time to be good enough for it.
I would be training for 3k/5k type distances. I put in a base for much of the summer, fall, etc. and did workouts sporadically during this time but got more regular with it in the winter. I have been consistently doing 50-60 mpw though I don't get injured very easily at all and am pretty sure I could go higher (highest I've gone has been 60-70). This is where I am wondering if I could run a bit more while still racing well.
I have done 2-3 races/time trials in the past month and I want to start racing or time trialing every week (racing if I can find a race, if not time trialing).
My schedule this week and last week looks like this (I put it together based on what I have read on Lydiard):
Monday - Lydiard 100/100 or 50/50 where you sprint 50, float 50, PM easy run (total ~10 miles)
Tuesday - Easy fartlek (~6 miles)
Wednesday - 800 time trial, then 200 time trial, PM easy run (~9-10 miles total)
Thursday - aerobic run (6-8 miles), PM easy (total ~10)
Friday - strides like 6x100, total 6 miles
Saturday - time trial, total 6-7 miles
Sunday - longer run
Should I just keep my Sunday long run around 90 minutes still? It has been less lately because I wasn't sure how long I need to stay race sharp but I know that if I keep it up I may be able to keep my endurance longer.
My question is basically, if I race or time trial every week, are there any workouts I should keep doing so that I can hold this racing form for a while? Should I keep the long run in there, and fairly long? Basically, how can I balance mileage with the fact that I need to be racing a lot, and can I increase mileage to 60-70 (say, with doubles) and could I see some good results from that (I'd like to race fast enough within the next 2-3 weeks preferably.. I am thinking this weekend to do a time trial or 5k race, then next weekend run a race such as 2 miles.. or 1 mile)?
Thanks.