Hi all,
this is my very first post on this forum. I was reading quite a bit but I didn't really find an answer. Well, every person is somehow different and I thought it could be smart to start my own thread in order to explain my current situation. Here we go:
I'm an almost 38 years old male and started running about 1.5 years ago. I'm 5'10" tall and was very overweight at about 244 lbs.
I started a weight loss journey that was supported by running or better jogging. After a while and after I dropped some weight I really started to enjoy this sport and signed up for a race - my very first race a 10k in Chicago.
At the time of the race I was at about 200lbs and I finished the race with a time of about 58 minutes. I have to add, that I have had quite some issues with shin pain during training for the 10k and found out later, that I was running in slightly too large shoes :-(
After this first 10k race I took about a 2 weeks break due to my shin pain and started to ramp up my training again as I was planning to run another race - a 5k run into the new year kinda race - or a half marathon in spring or so.
Training for the 5k went well I think and I was actually satisfied when I finished the Run into the New Year in 24:42. At that time my wight was down to about 175lbs.
I kept running my weekly mileage of about 25-30 miles per week and was planning to ramp it up further to maybe run a half marathon in spring -unfortunately, this never happened as I was forced to take a longer break starting in March due to a disc herniation that eventually required a discectomy in late April.
My doctor recommended to take a 6 weeks break from all activities like running, lifting, twisting, etc. after surgery and after these first 6 weeks I was (after another doctors visit) allowed to slowly start walk/run/walk training again. Ever since I slowly tried to increase my weekly mileage, tried to run more but always on the safe side to avoid any issues with my back. I also added some strength training to my routine, mostly focusing on core strength to support my back. I was also talking to my doctor about a marathon or half marathon in November and he cleared me for a half marathon but not for a marathon. I was advised to also make sure to change shoes slightly more frequent and make sure I have decent cushioning.
Over the last months I ramped my weekly mileage up to about 35 miles per week and I'm planning on adding about 10% per week to peak at about 50-55 miles per week before I start to taper for race day (November 10).
As of today, I have 2 more months before the half marathon. I have no back issues or other problems and I currently run 5 days per week which includes 1 long run (up to 30% of my weekly mileage), 1 tempo run every other week, 1 fartlek run every other week, 1 recovery run at very slow pace and the other two runs at EZ pace.
I wanted to see where I am at and ran training 10k yesterday, which I finished in 51:48. So this is my current fitness level. My most recent weight is 159lbs as I thought it was smart to drop some weight to not only run faster but also to half less impact on my back.
I was planning on a 10k race in early October as prep. for the Half. My target time for the 10k is 48-49 minutes.
I was hoping to run the half in less than 1:45:00.
Is this a reasonable goal? Based on my current fitness level, is this achievable? Is my training plan ok? I'm thankful for fruitful discussions and help.
Thanks
flo12345