Ok, so here's the deal. I am a 27 y/o male who recently got back into running. I was a decent runner in High School and I have maintained an active lifestyle through surfing, weight training, paddle boarding, kayaking and social running... the kind of running where you suffer through 3 miles to watch girls jog by in yoga pants and enjoy a few brews at the end. After 4 months of weight training over the summer (no running) I ran a local 5K 'Fun Run' and I was absolutely horrified at my result. I ran 25 minutes and felt absolutely smoked at the end. To make matters worse my shirts no longer buttoned around the neck from the weight I gained while lifting. Clearly I needed a change....
In mid-October I decided that I would train for a Half Marathon in late February with a goal time of 1:45. I started out with 10 MPW and increased my mileage by about 10% a week. Over weeks 1-4 I ran 3 days per week and just focused on covering the distance. Over weeks 5-8 I started running 4 days per week and added in a longer run to the work out. Over weeks 9-12 I moved up to 5 days per week and added a hard workout (temp, fartlek, or interval) to the workout.
I am currently in week 13 of training and 7 weeks out from race day. Factoring in a 2 week taper that gives me 5 weeks of solid training to peak before the race. I am up to 30MPW, dropped 10lbs (currently 175 @ 5'10", ~12% body fat), and I’m feeling pretty good. My long runs are at 10miles, last week I ran a 6 mile at a 7:20pace (hard but comfortable), and yesterday I ran 4 x 2mile intervals at 15:01, 14:49, 14:40, 14:17 with 4 min light jog recovery between intervals. Over the next 5 weeks I plan on following this workout plan:
Wk13. Su-4x2mi, M-6Recov, Tu-XTrain, W-10LSD, Th-5, F-6Tempo, Sa-OFF (35 total)
Wk14. Su-3x3mi, M-6Recov, Tu-XTrain, W-12LSD, Th-5, F-5Fartlek, Sa-OFF (37 total)
Wk15. Su-OFF, M-6, Tu-12LSD, W-XTrain, Th-5Tempo, F-7, Sa-OFF (30 total)
Wk16. Su-14LSD, M-5, Tu-XTrain, W-4x3mi, Th-5Recov, F-8Tempo, Sa-OFF (35 total)
Wk17. Su-12LSD, M-5, Tu-XTrain, W-3x4mi, Th-5Recov, F-8Tempo, Sa-OFF (35 total)
Wk18. Su-15LSD. Start Taper.
*In between Wk 14 and 15 I am relocating from the Middle East, where I currently live, to Florida. Wk15 is an easy week to compensate for jet lag, getting settled into my new job, and finding a place to live.
So, what do you think of this training plan? I like running long intervals because it’s easy to keep my pace but I haven’t seen them featured in any training plans online. Will I see good returns off those workouts or should I substitute them for something else? What pace should I be running my long runs at (currently doing about 9min) and my post-long run workout (currently doing them at 8:30)?
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!