Weekly Schedule for a Low Mileage Runner

Just run, baby

Day 1: 30 miles

Then you have the rest of the week to do other things.

sun. 8 miles longer run (hard last 4 miles)

mon. 4 miles easy; strides

tues. 5 miles, 3 mile time trial (1 mile warmup and cooldown)

wed. off

thurs. 5 miles, 3xmile (faster than race pace)

fri. 4 miles easy; strides

sat. 4 miles (5k race, or 5K time trial)

FAST PACE or FASTER than RACE PACE on the hard days, don't shy away from the tough stuff and believe you have to run easy all the time.

simple wrote:

Day 1: 30 miles

Then you have the rest of the week to do other things.

hahaha Hell YES!!! I love this site and the posters in it.

Here is my sched:

Daily = warmup jog + strides + ? + cooldown jog, where ? = a single run brisk effort, organized over an 8 day cycle thusly:

3200m, 200m, 1600m, 100m, 800m, 50m, 400m, 25m.

Warmup + cooldown jogging usually totals 30min ish, give or take. If racing, race on Day 10, rest on day 9. This is about 30-35MPW. I hope to do 5k in 16:30 soon.

Before yoyu all make fun of me, ask yourselves: Do you know anything about me, my training history, my injury history, my life situation, etc etc etc.

I hope I have made my point.

Cheers

Skuj

Okay, got a question:

So there is a day where you warm up, do strides, then a 25m brisk run, then cool down jog?

And there would also be a day where you would warm up, do strides, then do a 3200m brisk run, then cool down jog?

IS this accurate?

There is a 3 day a week training schedule in the current issue of Runners World (seriously).

Twice per day over the course of the week run a 1/2 mile w-u, 1 mile timetrial and a 1/2 mile cool-down.

On Sunday add an additional 2 mile jog as your long run.

Weeks total: 30 miles - Congrats

(hey, it worked in that movie Jericho Mile)

4 days a week schedule on Sun, Tue, Thu, Sat:

10 miles easy, 6 miles easy to hard (by feel), 8 miles inc. 4 miles tempo or 4 mile repeats, 6 miles easy

3 days a week on Tue, Thu, Sun:

10 miles easy, 10 miles easy to hard, 10 miles inc. 5 miles tempo or 5 mile repeats.

Okay, got a question:

So there is a day where you warm up, do strides, then a 25m brisk run, then cool down jog?

And there would also be a day where you would warm up, do strides, then do a 3200m brisk run, then cool down jog?

IS this accurate?

.............................

YES!

That sounds so odd though. Only 25 m (brisk)? That is like not even half a block. I just don't see how that would do much, even if you did run a brisk 2 mile.

Am I missing something?

time is of the essence wrote:

Am I missing something?

Yes. You are missing the essence of sport. People who work 60 hour weeks find time to do well over 100 miles per week on this very site.

If you can't find time to do at least 50-60, don't ask for a training schedule. Just jog for health. If you have competitive aspirations, try actually training. Don't ask for dopey 30 mile per week "training" programs. That isn't training, and you won't run any good times with it.

In high school I ran high 16 minutes for the 5k off of 20 miles per week, so don't tell me it can't be done. I just want to run in the 17-18 min range. I have a family, I have a job, I have meetings, I'm a church member, volunteer time, etc. I like to run and just want to run around 30 miles, I'm content with that.

When I was in high school we just ran hard M-T, easy on Friday, then raced on Sat, and took sunday off.

No warmup or cooldowns either. That was stupid, I'm just trying to get a little advice, so if you don't want to give that advice, don't tell me I need to run more mileage, etc.

Okay, your basic weekday run is 30 minutes. Saturday long run is up to 90 mins. Sprinkle in strides on easy runs when you feel like it. Include hilly runs.

Here are some speed work samples, for when you are ready. All have about 1 mile warm up and cool down.

--- 3 or 4 times 3 minutes hard (5k pace), with one minute rest. Maybe 2 mins rest when you first start doing speed work.

--- 4-6 times 90s hard, about 1 mile race pace.

--- 15-20 minute tempo's. About 10k race pace.

--- Hills

--- 2 or 3 one mile repeats

Mix and match 1 or 2 of these speed sessions in during the week, and maintain the long(ish) run.

That sounds so odd though. Only 25 m (brisk)? That is like not even half a block. I just don't see how that would do much, even if you did run a brisk 2 mile.

Am I missing something?

................................

I was waiting for that question! :) Some may think it's a joke, but it isn't.

If someone tells you that you must sprint 25m as hard as you can, you must do a really good warmup for it. 25m and 50m sprints are my days off from hard, anaerobic, longer stuff, but thease short runs provide a focus for "warmup and cooldown", which is the "base" of my therapeutic and happy training.

For those who call us losers for not running 60MPW or 100MPW, screwem. What do they know about our reasons, goals, desires, limitations. Half of them can't equal my 10k PR anyway.

Cheers

Skuj

Skuj, I would like to know how (and why) you arrived at this particular training schedule. Have you had success with it? do you use it for races longer than 5K?

Thanks for any more detail you might give.

I don't want to bore you???....

....I'm 43. At 39, I got a major injury, and took a long time off. Since then, I've gradually become stronger, but I have found that I CANNOT do any significant amount of road running, or higher training volumes. I have decided to train only for middle distance, and never worry about 10km races again. I am not being defeatist. I know myself very well. Even hard interval sessions cause me grief. I decided that rather than doing a whole lot of hard running 1, 2 or 3 times a week, I will do a little bit of hard running every day. I personally feel that this was an absolutely brilliant decision!!! :)

How best to arrange it? The 3200-200-1600-100-800-50-400-25 is my solution. Average 800m per day hard. Tasty runs every 2nd day with "excuses to warmup and cooldown" on the inbetween days. A warmup is usually 4-5k jog with many strides. This in itself is good training. :) These hard efforts are all "2x to 4x pace". ie 400m at 800m to 1600m pace, or 1600m at 3200m to 6400m pace.

I used to run more, but never beyond 60MPW, usually 45MPW.

Irregardless of my injury / comeback issues, I am convinced that "weekly volume" has become the #1 training aspect for most runners. IMHO, this is an incorrect view of training.

I ran a 4:33 Mile this year.

Cheers, and thanks for asking.

Skuj

30 mpw for a 17m 5k runner.

M. 5ml with 2ml in 12m.

T. 5ml with 1ml 5.20, 2x400m 70s.

W. 2ml easy.

T. 5ml with 1ml up steep slope at 90% intensity

F. rest

Sat. 5ml with 3x800m in 2.30.

Sun. 8-10ml on hilly trails at solid pace.

I run 30-35 mpw

I'm 40 years old and have been running for one year after a 20-year layoff. Last weekend I ran 17:50 for 5K and feel like I have lots more improvement in me.

M: 8-10 easy to medium

T: 2-3 easy with strides

W: Fartlek or intervals (5 x 3 minutes on, 2 off) or 4 x 1200

TH: off

F: 2-3 easy with strides

Sat: Race or Tempo run

Sunday: 2-3 easy with strides

I started this program in January and have improved from not being able to run 7:00 pace on tempo runs to 17:50 last weekend.