In school I was one of the worst in sports. I was actually enthusiastic about running and at times did think about doing some training outside school so I could be fitter. I was also interested in gaining lots of muscle by weight lifting but again I never bothered. When I was 22 I decided I wanted to be fitter so occasionally I would run on a threadmill and go to the gym. I did this about a dozen times maybe and just stopped, but I was keeping fit from cycling. When I was 23 I decided I wanted to do a marathon. I signed up for one 3 months before the start and bought my first pair of running shoes. At the time I guessed I should easily go sub 4, maybe 3:45. I ran 3:20, and was after being injured for half of those 3 months.
After the marathon I was on/off injuries for over 1.5 years. I didn't know how to train so pushed too hard all the time when I should have been recovering. I attempted a marathon the year after my first, and dropped out after 14 miles. I was slightly faster than the 3 hour pacers when I dropped. I hadn't run for over 2 months before the marathon, and was training entirely through the elliptical machine and also walked/cycled plenty. This was the craziest thing I ever did. My legs were completely destroyed and took a few weeks to walk normally again.
I joined a running club when 25 and started training properly and became consistent and ran regularly/smartly. Over the next 2 years I got the 5,000m down to 15:57, mile 4:40, 3,000m 9:13, 800m, 2:08, 10k road 34:30, 10 mile road 55:36. The following year I went downhill with sickness and inconsistent training. I haven't run a PB in 4 years at this point. I want to improve again. I have been running very consistently this year(and most of 2017 and 2018), but I don't know why I can't seem to run fast now. I haven't gone sub 17 for 5k since the end of 2015. I am always disappointed with my results. I know I should do better and can. I did my first and only half in 75:16 in early spring, which suggests that I am better than 17 for 5k. There doesn't seem to be much difference between my 5k and half pace. I want to move to the marathon again soon and run it properly. I should probably join a club again as I have been training alone since 2017(did so for most of 2016 too), which may be my main problem. It is hard to judge your training on your own.
Another thing I have started to fix only the last week is my terrible diet. When I started running it was very good, and I think that is what helped me to make my initial quick improvements. I believe that fixing this long term will help me, because I started eating very badly in 2015, and afterwards my performances fell apart.
I’m going to log my training here as much as possible, so that I can keep track of everything, and hopefully it will help others, or maybe people can see what I am doing wrong.
Sunday: 10 mile race in 58:02
Monday: Off
Tuesday: 20k run at 4:32k pace