Hey letsrun - I need some help figuring out setting some goals for some upcoming races. Just to give a little background...
Age-28. I starting running more than just occasionally (aside from half-assing track in high school) in summer of 2012. In fall-2012, I did my first HM in 1:19:21 on 45-60 mpw. A couple of weeks later, I time-trialed a 5K in 16:58. After that I started marathon training, got into the 70s for weekly mileage, but then got hurt in spring of 2013. I had to forego the marathon. Then I had surgery (something unrelated to running) and had to take a couple of months off in the summer of 2013. In Nov-2013 after a few months of painfully building mileage back up (60 mpw), I ran my first marathon in 2:48 (1:25/1:23).
After the marathon, I took a couple of down weeks and have since built mileage up now to 70 mpw, and I feel like now that I have had some consistent training I'm in way better shape than I have been before. I have also started figuring out how to train better. I'm listening to my body, recovering when I'm beat up, pushing when I feel good, and not "racing" workouts.
I have some races coming up and I'm trying to figure out some realistic goals to set for these. It's tough for me because I have a limited racing background, but I know I'm in better shape than before. I have a HM in mid March, and then in april I'm going to race a 5K or two as well as maybe a mile. As far as workouts go, up until recently, I have mainly just been doing a weekly hill session and a weekly tempo and trying to get some extra mileage with doubles. The tempos have been controlled and at the right effort and have gone as follows:
3 mi - (5:38 pace)
4 mi - (5:44, 5:48)
5 mi - (5:52, 5:48)
6 mi - (5:55)
I just started doing some interval sessions and have done the following:
- 10 x 400 (average 78s each with the last couple around 74s; 2 min rest) - this felt easy, just easing into things
- 8 x 800 (average 2:40 with the last couple in 2:30s)
- 16 x 400 (average 78s each, last one was 73; 1:45 rest)
I plan to do some longer repeat sessions in the next couple of weeks to start to get ready for the half in march (5/6 x 1 mi, 3 x 2 mi et) and maybe throw in an occasional 5k type workout. And then in april drop the mileage and focus mostly on sharpening for a 5k/1 mi.
Any thoughts on my plan from people who have been doing this much longer than me? What HM time can I shoot for in March? What about 5K/mi? Any advice appreciated. Thanks.