Bumping this thread for fun. I'm back! (on letsrun).
I have been running to some degree the last few years. I have certainly had ups and downs with life / training balance and motivation, but have gotten some stuff more on track the last 6 months and am healthier and more motivated than I have been in a while.
Ran 2 indoor track races off of pretty chill training (~50mpw + some threshold workouts and semi consistent lifting) this winter. Mile in 4:30 (2:18 / 2:12 splits) and a 5k in 15:55 in which I went out a little quick and didn't have my best day, but is still my 2nd best 5k ever and fastest in like 6 years.
I have signed up for my first marathon recently, which will be in early October. I'm not fully transitioning to slow road races, though. I plan to give Mile-5k PRs a go again in track after my marathon, and barring injury, I am pretty confident I'll be able to crush some PRs. I'm not too worried about my speed, I have more than enough to run sub 4:20 in the mile and have been lifting well lately, and plan to lift most of the marathon block as well.
I am doing the marathon for a couple of reasons:
1) I know that it'll get me to train more consistently and with an aerobic focus, and I know that will get me in great shape at shorter events based on my physiology.
2) It's more exciting to give something new a try.
3) I have some friends in my running group who are marathoners and would like to get my name in the hat haha
4) I think I can do better than some people think. I have been practicing fueling on long runs and some longer workouts already for recovery purposes, and think that is an area I can really excel at compared to some of my peers in the marathon. That and the lifting aspect.
My goal for the marathon is going to be conservative. I would rather leave minutes on the table and finish strong than go for broke my first time out and blow up / run tens of minutes slower than I'm capable. I will refine my goal closer to the race, but for now we're just going to aim for 2:45-2:50.
Recent training: I ran that 15:55 5k 2 months ago and have been slowly building mileage since, with a focus on keeping the HR under control and being consistent with lifting, not too worried about workouts for now, but I have done a few threshold / tempo workouts. The last 4 weeks have been: 61, 60, 62, 66 miles, with the first 3 of those weeks being done in 6 days of running (1 day off). This is probably my biggest 4 week block in years tbh. I am taking a down week of 45-50 miles this week then aiming to build slowly to low 70s and am going to try to maintain that for a bit while I build the long run and focus on consistency. I'll get more specific with workouts 3 months out, but am most concerned with building mileage and the long run currently.
My rough weekly plan will look like:
Sunday - Long Run
Monday - Active recovery, most likely bike ride (no running)
Tuesday - AM short run + Lift
- PM Workout
Wednesday - AM medium length easy run
- PM medium length easy run
Thursday - AM short double
- PM longer easy run
Friday - AM short run + Lift
- PM Workout
Saturday - Medium easy run
The schedule might change slightly depending on life and weather, but this is my current ideal schedule. When I get more specific there will likely be a longer mid week run / workout instead of two workouts + long run, but we'll see as we go.