I ran XC and track in HS and I was reasonably good but not elite. 1mile @ 4:34, 2mile @ 9:48, 5k @ 16:14. I don't know my weight for sure but I'd say I was around 140lbs back then. I'm 5'11 or 6 feet tall for reference. I didn't run at all for about 7 years, but I did stay somewhat active in college by lifting weights and getting very strong and bulked up to 192 pounds of muscle and fat.
However, I'm 28 years old now and I've really missed running so this past August I started up again. My first run was 2 miles @ 8:25/mile and it was very hard. In the 5 months since then, I've progressed do being able to do a 2 mile tempo @ < 6:30/mile at about the same effort, so I've definitely gotten much faster, However, being able to get back to where I was (2 miles at < 5:00/mile) is still a long ways away.
I'm aware that it's probably going to take a minimum of a few years of running consistently again to even be able to think about those times.
I've been ramping up fro 2 or 3 days per week @ 10 miles/week to where I'm at now which is 5 days/week @ 30miles/week. I'd like to get back to 6 days/week like in HS, and maybe if I'm really motivated I can try to choose a weekend day every week to run twice. Now I'm doing a long run every week, 1 or 2 fast workouts (usually tempo, occasionally track workouts) per week, and 1 or 2 easier/moderate days per week.
I'm just curious if you guys think it's realistically doable given my progress. Do I need to drop more weight since I'm currently at 160? Do you think my training needs to be better/different? I'm just wondering if anyone here has had a similar experience and had success getting back into shape, or if anyone just has any general input or comments for me.
Thanks :)