Added more hard, hilly, long runs.
Added more hard, hilly, long runs.
I started nailing 5/6 mile training runs. Generally put more quality in than quantity. Then ran 3.45 pb in 1500m. Enjoyed my running/training more that way too.
Mr Anderson wrote:
More days off; 40 minute tempo run on occasion instead of interval workout; one long run per week.
Mr. Anderson, how are you going to run if you don't have any legs?
Graduated from college and became the sole decision-maker of my training and racing schedule. Started running in neutral shoes (had been in overly supportive clunkers). Stopped running as many interval workouts. Increased my mileage. Decreased the length of my stride / increased running cadence. Moved to Colorado. Recession hit. Worked for a friendly running store. Flexible schedule. Trained for a marathon. Many more miles at threshold pace.
Lowered my 10K best by two minutes.
Good input here, Sam. I have done some of this, too, and have had success. I hate intervals, but love LT pace.
Stopped weighing myself and worrying about my weight as much.
I transferred from a D3 to a D1 school for academic reasons, but was able to walk on to the CC and Track teams. D3 program was heavy on speed work which (in hindsight) left me pretty flat. The summer between, I did a lot of 5mi hard runs. Volume was nothing special at around 60mi/wk.
Arrived at D1 team practice for workouts of 8x1000m w/1min jog, 5xMi w/90sec jog, 20x400m w/45sec jog. Paces were not that fast due to short rest, but very close to race paces (5k-10k). And longer solid paced runs(10+mi). Long run moved up from 90min to 120min. Total volume of 75-80mi/wk. 8 weeks of that and I was 50sec faster over 8K. I was never beaten again by anyone from my D3 team where I had been 5th-7th man in CC.
Now (in my 40s) when I want to get in shape, I do lots of "steady state" runs. I get up to 10mi at a solid pace. I do a long run on hilly terrain (1:30-2:00). Do some strides and drills a few times a week. Then when I want to peak, I do 8 weeks of focused intense speed work ranging from 100m-1000m repeats. I typically do occasional workouts (every 3 weeks or so) at a 90% effort or 10k type pace other times of the year just to not lose it completely. My mileage rarely goes much above 50/wk now, but I could still beat my HS self at any distance.
Interesting story. Those "steady state" runs are very beneficial.
NobodySpecial321 wrote:
I do a long run on hilly terrain (1:30-2:00).
I do this same long run, and I believe it to be the core of my training.
Mr Anderson wrote:
Also, running solo has its benefits. Running with others often leads to every practice becoming a competition and burn out.
Save racing for the races. Worry about hitting your pace at practice and not somebody else's.
I'm surprised you feel that way. Running solo may have some benefits, but I don't believe that's one of them. I think most of the post collegiate runners here would like to have a training group to run with. It's a whole lot easier to hit your own pace in practice if you have 10 other guys also aiming for that pace, racing in practice shouldn't be a problem unless you are running with junior high kids.
Biggest thing I did was to cut down on my volume and focus on speed. Ran my 15:37 5k pr off that and came back and had a great cross country season my junior year of college. However, it was more like I cashed in on years of high volume and solid aerobic training, then that speed work at the end really, really sharpened me up. Kinda like when Ritz rocked the 12:56 American record when he did all that speed from a place of rock solid aerobic base work. My problem was, I didn't realize this at the time and should have used my summers and off season to maintain to really good aerobic work I was doing. I convinced myself that "less is more" and never came close the that time again. Moral of the story? There are times/seasons when cashing in off big miles will pay huge, but just be aware of where the foundation came from in the first place.
PRs after sophomore year- 27:06 (8k), 15:39, 9:02 (3k), 4:08 (1500), 2:01.
PRs after JR year- 25:39, 15:21, 8:43, 4:21 (mile), 2:00, 53.2 (HT)
That summer after my soph year I made a ton of changes. I took my time off after the season and got more serious than ever before.
That summer:
-I started my routine of at least 100 push-ups a day (it was about an avg of 300 that summer)
-Became anal about doing abs 5-6 days a week.
-I started lifting upper body only 2x a week every week, something I still do
to this day (I'm in my senior year).
-I built up my mileage higher than ever before. I was in the 70s by the beginning of July and hit 100 by the last week of August.
-I started my streak of running at least a mile every day (hit 2 years and 4 months a few days ago).
-Something that I also think helped significantly was I started serious triathlon training. By that I mean biking 40-80 miles and swimming about 2 miles a week, all in addition to the build up in running miles.
-I went from what I did my soph year to running sub 26 three times (25:39 pr) and although I ran like shit at nationals, I still got to run.
-Something that also helped for me is I switched running shoes. I got a pair of Kinvara 3s and it changed my foot strike from heel/midfoot to forefoot, which made my stride much more efficient and strengthened my calves.
-Thankfully I've also been able to avoid any major injuries, which has allowed me to now have almost 8 years of consistent training.
For 4 weeks, I did the classic Lydiard hill circuit:
3 x's a week bounding / springing up a hill and 3 x's a week leg speed
I ran doubles on the other days. Then, I moved on to 6 weeks of track and tempo runs. I improved from 15:35 5K to sub 24 8K.
I have had the chance to speak to a few athletes, such as Meb,Alan Web, to name a few and I have asked them all the same question, how do I get faster, all of them gave similar answers. Hard work, dedication, and the biggest part is consistency.
ccrunner627 wrote:
I used to do too much. I did core every day, drills, hurdle walkovers, push ups, lifting 2x a week, and swimming 2x a week. I then just started running higher mileage, doing hurdle drills, and sleeping more. Works every time
could you explain hurdle drills? are they for hip strength?
Doing morning runs as a freshman 5:04 miler. 4 miles. And weekly long run of 12 miles, then a year later 15 miles, all year round.
No drills. Ran more and year round without 1 or 2 month breaks.
And was fortunate to not get stress fractures at that age.
Screw the other stuff. Get to 65 miles a week by your junior year if you aren't a phenom that ran 4:30 in 8th grade on hardly any training. That shows talent that should be groomed and held back.
That's all I did to go from a freshman 10:46 3200 runner to a 9:23 sophomore. And 8:47 as a senior.
R2D3 wrote:
Added more hard, hilly, long runs.
I'll second this one.
Hills. What heel? Any heel!
I am going to have an 800m and 1500m breakthrough in 2015.
elmore345 wrote:
I started nailing 5/6 mile training runs. Generally put more quality in than quantity. Then ran 3.45 pb in 1500m. Enjoyed my running/training more that way too.
that´s also what i have changed. once i upped my mileage and did doubles. not good for me, but for others.
sunndy d wrote:
More mileage
Doubles
Cruise intervals (5xmile@thresh w/1min rest)
Tempos (20 to 40 mins @ thresh)
50m sprints (4x50m twice a week)
10 sec hill sprints (6x10s once a week)
Strides almost every day
Easier running (7 min pace or slower)
Mine was very similar. Start by running by feel (often means slow), while fitting in as many doubles as my schedule permits.
After a couple of weeks, start adding some basic quality - the goal is to cover the basics and prepare your body for harder workouts and races without being particularly stressful. Starting with something like strides and progression runs, then add hill sprints and tempos, then short 800 pace to vVO2 Max type intervals with lots of rest (mostly just to get your legs used to running those paces and keep in touch with those systems) and cruise intervals (to push down into slightly faster paces from the aerobic end). Hill workouts can serve as variations on some of these. The exact mix of workouts will depend on where I'm at in the season, but usually the workouts will be biased towards tempo runs and steady states.
Once all of the elements are in play, I'm usually in pretty good shape once a month or so has gone by. When the peak race approaches the more race specific stuff will be emphasized, and workouts will get a little more intense and spaced out.
Results? After an injury plagued college career doing lots of hard, VO2 max and race pace type workouts, I went from a 4:42 1600 and 10:08 3200 (HS, but never improved upon) and 27:03 8k XC to an 8:57 3k and 15:55 road 5k (neither of which were races I feel fully represented what kind of shape I was in, but for different reasons) off of about 3.5 months training that followed over a year off from running. The last bout was encouraging but I know I could have done more. And going forward, I know I can do even more once I've got a prolonged period of training under my belt.