Out of shape former pro 1500m runner, challenged to run a sub 16 5k by the end of the year

Seems like a crappy bet for him.

He ran a 3:37 1500. Roughly 3:57 mile, he'll do it.

He'll do it if he doesn't spend most of the year with overuse injuries

Year to train?

He should do it.

He weighs 15 stone

Trackbot! PRs Colin McCourt

PRs for Colin McCourt:

800 m (Outdoor): 1:46.73 on 24 Jun 2006

800 m (Indoor): 1:49.24 on 26 Feb 2006

1500 m (Outdoor): 3:37.06 on 10 Jul 2010

1500 m (Indoor): 3:38.71 on 19 Feb 2011

One Mile (Outdoor): 4:17.94 on 25 Jul 2009

One Mile (Indoor): 4:04.97 on 5 Feb 2011

3000 m (Outdoor): 7:59.31 on 4 Jun 2008

3000 m (Indoor): 8:11.31 on 27 Feb 2005

Two Miles (Outdoor): 8:51.39 on 24 May 2008

I am a bot. Info: habs.sdf.org/trackbot

Bet should be sub 14 30 for it to be half interesting - just needs to loose the weight and like 10 runs & a couple of sessions for a sub 16. Sub 15 it's 2/3 months at 3/4 runs a week with no crazy stuff.

He has so much time and he is young enough that this really shouldn't be a challenge IMO. Four years is not that long.

3:37.04 is worth 3:54.75 for the mile

Just needs to cut weight and run like 40-50 miles per week with a bit of speed. He's golden!

Going sub 16 will not be a problem. The challenge should have been sub 15:30.

It depends on how much he weighs. I was a 4:15/14:46 mile/5k runner in college and a top amateur triathlete after college. I got fat during residency, going from 160 to about 210. It is really hard to lose weight. I started running 3-4x per week and eating a pretty good diet but still only got down to 190 after about a year. I started training hard again for triathlon (13-15 hours/week) and it still took me 5 months to go from 190 to 165. My running is finally coming around now that I have cut the weight, but it took a lot of embarrassingly slow runs to get in shape.

Pretty cool to follow I think. As a guy who was thin, then got fat, then got thin, then got fat again.

14:50 seems like a slow PR for someone with 3:37 speed. I suspect he just never ran them seriously?

Sub 16 should be easy for him. Probably doesn't even need to lose significant weight. Not saying it would be ideal though.

I'd suggest to him that he incorporate cycling into his "base phase." If he hits cycling hard from now until say mid-year, he would lose 50 pounds pretty easily. Then use a couple months of just moderate speed training and he'd be sub 16 easy easy easy.

Pretty cool to follow I think. As a guy who was thin, then got fat, then got thin, then got fat again.

14:50 seems like a slow PR for someone with 3:37 speed. I suspect he just never ran them seriously?

Sub 16 should be easy for him. Probably doesn't even need to lose significant weight. Not saying it would be ideal though.

I'd suggest to him that he incorporate cycling into his "base phase." If he hits cycling hard from now until say mid-year, he would lose 50 pounds pretty easily. Then use a couple months of just moderate speed training and he'd be sub 16 easy easy easy.

Pretty cool to follow I think. As a guy who was thin, then got fat, then got thin, then got fat again.

14:50 seems like a slow PR for someone with 3:37 speed. I suspect he just never ran them seriously?

Sub 16 should be easy for him. Probably doesn't even need to lose significant weight. Not saying it would be ideal though.

I'd suggest to him that he incorporate cycling into his "base phase." If he hits cycling hard from now until say mid-year, he would lose 50 pounds pretty easily. Then use a couple months of just moderate speed training and he'd be sub 16 easy easy easy.

I don't usually post on LRC, but when I do, I post 3 times! (sorry about that, proxy messed up I think).

I don't usually post on LRC, but when I do, I post 3 times! (sorry about that, proxy messed up I think).

I don't usually post on LRC, but when I do, I post 3 times! (sorry about that, proxy messed up I think).