I want to make a comeback...

You know what you need to do -- start running every day. Cur out the pizza hut and beer, and drop the weight. Before you worry about running 90 miles/week, worry about getting out the door at all.

I ran in college and was really burnt out afterwards. I took 4.5 years off. In March of this year I was 202lbs and couldn't break 7min for a mile. In 68 days I lost 28 lbs and by July I was able to run a 5:10 mile.

You were in a lot better shape than me in college and are in a lot better shape than I was in March. A couple pieces of advice,

1.) lose weight 1st, training with extra weight is asking for injury.

2.) don't expect to recover like you used to, take it easy

"My question is this: if I dedicate myself fully to running (90 mile weeks/ healthy diet/ good sleep schedule) how long would it take me to get back to where I left off?"

When I was a couple years younger, I did what you are proposing. I never set a PR 800-5000 but I was close and did set PRs for 10k and 10 mile times in about a year.

Here is the thing. I was a couple years younger. In HS and college, I was indestructible and hadn't really started sitting at a desk, yet. After my amazing 28th year rebound, I got distracted again.

I tried it again at 33 after 3 years at a desk. I made it about six months and got hurt. I'm now about to turn 50 and still haven't really recovered.

I would set yourself up with a three year plan. The first year no matter what concentrate on cleaning up your diet, dropping weight to look like a runner, strengthening your hips and ankle/feet (see Magill's Building the Running Body and grass/sand running) and making 40 mpw with one MEDIUM workout a week seem really easy.

The second year, I would get all the parts of a summer of malmo working to build up to 70-80 mpw but keep on the hip and ankle strengthening.

http://www.bunnhill.com/BobHodge/rtp3.htm

The third year you will have to play by ear. Ideally, it should be a PR year but patience is better than a 17 year injury.

You should just give it a good shot

I was wondering how many miles a week you started out doing? And how you went about losing the weight I'm in the same boat you were 4 years off and now at 200 lbs. Did 19 miles last week and 100 on the road bike.

Thanks for the tips guys. I think losing weight is going to be my biggest challenge. I can tell that running at 165 is a totally different game than at 135. For those of you who have tried a comeback starting from almost nothing, did you build your mileage by 10% a week or what? And what is a reasonable weekly mileage goal in 6 months--40, 50, 60?

Bump.

Looking for update wrote:

Bump.

Back on the couch eating cheezy poofs, I imagine.

Follow the 10% rule forever. Rome wasn't built in a day and you didn't get fat in a day either, so don't be in a hurry. If you want to lose weight add some hill repeats, not too many or too fast at first at first. When you think you're ready run a 5k. Then use that time to start running intervals 4/6/8/1000m, whatever distance you want at race pace.

Then after a while you should find a training plan for whatever distance/s you want to race. Just don't go crazy and always follow the 10% rule.

And as another poster suggested work an strength conditioning, upper body, core and legs.

And lol your mid-life crisis. You have no idea what a crisis is. 20 years from now you'll feel a little bit silly for posting that!

Good luck!

H.J.

Or he got a life. Let's face it. He wasn't going to set any PR's. And even if he did, who cares? It's meaningless. And out of all the things there is to do in life, why run? How about career, money, women, kids,... so many things that he could do beside running. I imagine he decided the same.

no comebacks wrote:

Looking for update wrote:

Bump.

Back on the couch eating cheezy poofs, I imagine.