Ok, so I got suckered into a corporate 5K race in 8 weeks. I am old (52), fat (35 lbs over my running weight), and out of shape (I have run only 37 miles this YEAR, all of it as slow as sh!t). In order to not embarrass myself too much, I need to spend the next 8 weeks doing whatever I can to get "ready".
I was never fast, but 8 years ago in my mid 40's I was sub 3 marathon, and 18 min 5K. Ran a lot (>50 miles/week for about 4 years). That has petered off since then and I've not had a month of running over 25 miles in 4+ years. I suspect an all out 5K right now would be a very ugly thing, ending in a death crawl, injury and a time north of 25 minutes.
So what should I do to fix this? I am willing to follow the best/consensus LR training plan.
Obviously losing weight is goal #1 (Lost 5lbs already, can probably shed 15 more over next 8 weeks) - so at least I'll have a shirt that fits, but it's not gonna be a shirtless run!
Equally obvious is that not getting injured will be key, so I cant jump back to 50 mile weeks.
- How quick to build up the runs/miles?
- When to add quality?
- Am I just sh!t out of luck here?
Thanks - Old Slow (Fat) Guy