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Training For The 'Right' Distance
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Mikasa
Well done so far. You are demonstrating 2 of the most elusive things for most runners - patience and consistency. I'll pop back in a week or so to suggest some quality sessions.
In the meantime it would be a good way to crown your 4th week of 20m with a park run if you can find one. Always nice to put a stake in the ground fitness wise semi-regularly.
Obviously the suggested progression on the first page was a general one. Your schedule of additional cycling and "2 matches" at the weekend adds a bit of intrigue and, assuming you're playing in the matches, may affect the quality work decision.
The cycling also gives you the potential option (which is entirely up to you) of increasing your mileage (or at least not dropping it) if you were willing to drop some cycling. Your overall load is the overriding factor.
I'm still lurking.
Great to hear what you are doing Mikasa and Soupdragon!
All my plans are out the window. My hubby is away this week and I have four little girls so can't do any running until he's home again to baby sit. Compensating by cycling with toddler on the back and Davina McCall DVD's. Not a patch on running but it is hilarous to watch my children do the moves!
Chilibean
I will have been doing about 10 miles a week towards the end of the beginner program so I'm half way there but to double that will take some building up to. I've suffered with shin splints these last few years so I need to take it easy. I think its been a case of to much to soon and when it's struck I've stopped running but carried on playing football which resulted in more injury when starting again, stupid I know.
Hi sibyrne and good luck on the 20 mile week plan. If its any help, I found getting there and keeping to the distance became much easier when I slowed my pace down. A heart rate monitor has helped quite a lot.
On moraghan's suggestion to mikasa about a park run I decided to put a stake down on a 5k run. Can't do a park run as other things planned this weekend so I did a measured 3.5 mile measured run round the block as fast as I could. Okay, so its a bit over 5k but it took me 36mins which is 1min short of a pb that I got 2 years ago on the same route. My heart rate was pounding and I'm feeling shattered now but felt good to push myself.
Hmmm,after 'bragging' I usually kept the same pace for the same distance, yesterday's run ended up being a lot slower than normally. 4.6mi in 52min (11:19m/m - usually 48min) without strides as it was way too dark. Was the best run I've had so far though. Legs felt fresh,breathing was great and it just flowed beautifully. The funny thing was, it really didn't feel slow and was quite surprised when I got back home. so what kind of pace do you think would be right for my build up period Curly and generally for easy/long runs. RW calculator says 10:40m/m for easy runs and 10:40-12:00m/m for long runs. Mcmillan is 10:19-10:49 and 10:19-11:19 respectively. So do you think I should keep it closer to the 11m/m?
Thanks Moraghan. Well, it's easy to keep motivation at the start isn't it? Only on the third week...And I think patience might come from not having great expectations/goals. But I'm plugging away and enjoying it. Great news about the park run, have one 2miles down the road so no problem finding one. I was actually wanting to do one after this period, just to see if any improvements have taken place. Cautiously hoping for under 26mins but we'll see on the day.
I don't actually cycle that much atm and only to work and training. Work is 1.5mi each way (which I would like to increase at some point) and training 2miles away. Only have matches about once a month now, playing indoor volleyball. Depends how much court time one gets,but sets are usually 20mins long and you have between 3-5 sets and usually two games. You play pretty hard whilst you are on court and you have to keep your concentration at all times.But it's stop start so not really an endurance sport.
Second run this week earlier tonight. In the rain and again in darkness so no strides,plus it was pretty wet and slippery with the leaves on the paths. 5mi in about an hour. Some of the 'extra' time was spent when I encountered a closed park gate and stopped to think what my options were. Decided to go over and continue my usual route hoping the gate on the way back again. That probably took less than a minute though so very slow run though legs felt nice and fresh yet again.
Welcome aboard sibyrne,look forward to hearing about your progress. And Chilibean,unlucky but you'll get back into it when you have time. Bed time now,bit tired baking cakes as it's my birthday tomorrow.
Hey SD, good going on the run. Sorry, I was labouring so long on my post that I did not see you posted before me.
Sibyrne - thanks. It's sometimes difficult to keep the pace down when you're feeling reasonable. Do you have a garmin or just using a normal watch? Just can't believe how suddenly in my last two runs I'm going so much slower...But it's all good. Must be something to do with it being so dark, maybe it feels like I'm running faster as I can't see too far ahead.
You are on the 5k in under 25mins thead aren't you? Been lurking there, maybe I should out myself?
Mikasa - I find the Mcmillan cal a bit fast for easy runs (agressive is perhaps a better word)...I would go with the slower one, but honestly try not to think about the pace too much and just see what comes out afterwards! It will vary day to day
Good luck at parkrun
I've been lurking on RW for ages! started posting on the 5k thread a few weeks ago, you should pop in and say hello. I've not long registered with parkrun because Liverpool should be getting one in the new year which isn't too far from home.
Walking like mr soft today it's amazing how quickly your fitness drops.I thought I'd be ok while away because I was surfing everyday but my thighs are like jelly after last nights run.
Having looked back at my training record I am horrified at how little running I have done over the past few weeks. But hubby comes home tonight and I have made an 8 week plan to get my weekly distance up and begin introducing some of the 'quality' sessions. Shall see how I go!
All the best to everyone else this week.
Chilibean
Don't worry about it Chilibean,sometimes life gets in the way..
Did my long run today as weather was good. Didn't think I'd be 'into' doing strides but managed them and made me feel better. The park was closed again but as it wasn't dark, I noticed there was a stile on the left of the locked gate so went over that (last time I did it the hard way..). Unfortunately I got stopped by a van coming the other way and told the park was closed because of the fire works and I needed to get out. Thankfully, they let me go back the same way as I'd just past the 3mi mark so it was easy to keep the right distance.
Think it was closer to 6.5 though and took me 70mins. Which makes me wonder...All the runs I've done this week are a lot slower than the previous two weeks and I haven't made a conscious effort to slow down...so could it be that I'm now coming down to my 'natural' pace for my 20mi week? As a relative beginner whose just taken up longer mileage. Has this happened to anyone else?
I went to my physio over shin pain/splints a few months ago and he told me I needed orthotics and to ask my doctor to refer me for them. When I asked my doctor over being referred he just told me to go to Boots! My doctors are rubbish, I once went to see them over swelling in my ankle which hadn't fully gone down since twisting it 18 months earlier and it was hurting while running. When I explained to the doc what was happening he told me to stop running.
So more stretches today then I'll run tomorrow and see how it goes.
mikasa - mileage increases tend to take a couple of weeks to catch up with you, hence the initial 4 week recommendation. It may be that or settling into a natural pace.
sibyrne - sounds like a new physio. I'd be very wary of physios who don't spend a fair amount of time trying to deal with the actual issue and instead go the orthotics route almost immediately.
Thanks Moraghan - I still forget that although I've been running a year, I've never run this consistantly or this mileage. And it's still in the eary running pace for me so it's all good. I'm not in a hurry.
Today was week 3's last run. 4.6miles with strides. I started off too fast as didn't want to spend too long amidst the footie fans coming back from the match. And I never got that easy flowy pace back. It wasn't a struggle, just not smooth. Strides didn't work for me either, was heavy legged and there just wasn't enough power to propel me forward. Was ready to finish after set 4 but sometimesI'm a bit of a stickler and had to do the last two. Took me 50mins so 10:53m/m.
Next week planning to run 4.6 on Tuesday,6 Wednesday, 4.6 Friday and then make the park run the 5miler with a 2mi warm up.
Btw reading Born to Run atm. Very interesting, didn't know lot of the stuff before. Ultrarunners are amazing and aweinspiaring but completely nuts of course!
mikasa - you sound to be doing really well in keeping up a consistent milage. I have to confess I haven't done much at all for the last week. I went away for a few days, then to visit my Mum for the weekend and my routine has just gone out of the window. Today I have a mountain of housework to catch up on (honestly, its embarrasing) so if I can tear myself away from the forum to actually clean my kitchen I'm hoping to pick up running again tomorrow.
Question for moraghan - I work 5 miles from home and I'm thinking about running there and back (slowly) one day a week. Is running twice a day a good or bad idea? At the moment I get the bus in once a week to run home but I hate the bus journey. The other alternative is to leave my bike overnight but I'd worry about it. Thanks.
Thanks Soup Dragon. So far ,I've found it quite easy to fit in my running but sometimes it gets bit tricky to fit other life in as well. Imagine the people who do 60-70mpw (or more)....
Well done on your run sibyrne!
I went out yesterday and did a really slow 4.6mi in 55min. Knee seemed ok but am taking it easy and having a rest day today,also because meeting up with a friend. So plan is to run on Thursday, then run as a w/u to parkrun and then have the last run of the week on Sunday.
Good running Mikasa, have you got any races coming up?
Well, I'm several weeks behind but I have finally managed to start with the aim to build up to 20 miles. This week I have done four runs. They were all pretty short but I need to build up slowly again after the my lack of running the past two months. In total I've run about 11 miles. And feel quite pleased that I've managed that much!
Look forward to hearing how your ParkRun goes Mikasa
Chilibean
Mikasa good luck with your parkrun today.
Glad to hear you've got out running again Chilibean.
First would like to thank the OP (sorry forgot the name) as he helped me make a few decisions. I am 34 and have been out fo training for a while. Getting older and a bit fatter I needed to do something and decided to take up running. The marathon has always been an ambition of mine so I thought right I will do a Marathon next year. Then the first couple of runs really discouraged me as I barely managed just over a mile and a half. I read this thread and decided to change tack. I want to run 5k and 10k next year. As soon as I focussed on that it seemed much more achievable and every run really feels like I am getting closer.
I also invested in a running watch, heart rate monitor because I had a suspicion I was running too fast. Set off and found out that my idea of pace was way off. When younger I was much more a sprinter/short distance runner and found that what I thought was a slowish pace (compared to a sprint which is what feels natural to me) was just under 6 minute miles and my heartrate told the story well in that I was really pushing too hard to maintain that sort of pace. I conciously slowed down to try and hit 10 minute miles and suddenly found I could do 5k. Okay my times were not great but it is a start. So that allowed me to chalk off one of my targets which was to be able to run 5k.
Last nights run was different. Went to try and go a bit quicker. The weather was awful with pretty heavy rain halfway round. I pushed myself and managed my first 5k in under half an hour. The sense of achievement was huge and I got really funny looks as I jumped up and shouted "yes" when I realised I had hit my target. That is my second target done with a 5k in under 30 minutes. I know it is very slow but again it is a start and if I was still aiming at the marathon it would have felt like nothing. My intention is to slowly up my mileage now while continuing to do one quick 5k a week. Next targets are to run 10k and get my 5k under 25 minutes.
So quick question to the people out there. the Great Scottish Run is in September next year and has a 10k and half marathon. Does September next year feel like the sort fo timeframe where I could properly run a respectable 10k?
Good luck on the park run mikasa - let us know how it goes
Chillibean - well done on your 11 miles. Sounds like a good plan to me to build up the miles steady.
Sibryne - running home after a night shift! Now thats what I call dedication.
Welcome Shasel - I'll let the experts judge about time it takes to run a respectable 10k cos I've no idea.
Well after a week in a lazy mood I finally got out and plodded yesterday in the rain. It was only 3 miles but it got me out of the door. I don't mind running in the rain, just don't like wind. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to my ususal schedule now. I feel like the real slow coach compared to the rest of you lot on here because my slow 3 miles took over 39 minutes. I wasn't really puffing at all though and I wonder if my slow runs are really too slow. I go by heart rate and when I checked the training pace calucalator on here that also said my slow runs should be 12.5 to 13 min miles which is what I'm doing. Just seems very slow.
Hey all! Will come back to you all but first park run race report!
Jogged to park run as a warm up,it's about mile and a half to the start. Did couple of strides. Wasn't feeling that fab and wondered how I'd manage to go faster. Got to the start and only had to wait about 5mins before we were off. Felt really good, stride was light and bouncy (in a good way) and realised all the strides I'd been doing obviously had a desired effect. Felt good till km 2 when I realised I'd maybe started a bit fast so decided to steady on a bit and kept that pace till 4k slowly overtaking a few people. Pushed the pace a bit but not much, was just behind a girl that was going about same pace as me but started gaining on her. At 400m I decided to leave her behind just by stretching my stride a bit. Still long way to go so didn't want to go too fast and let her overtake me again, At 200m she was nowhere near and I felt ok, 100m and I was sprinting as fast as I could, lungs bursting over the finish line.Waiting to give my chip I stretched and then jogged a kilometre as a cool down and then walked the last mile to home. It felt good and fast. Definitely my best park run ever regardless of time...which I have no idea about as I haven't found my watch! So will go and have a look on the website now if they've put results up yet. I wanted to do the report first, I felt good and even if I don't get PB, I'm pleased with my performance.
I am expecting a PB however, but you never know, I've been wrong before when I've felt really good.
Well done Chilibean on your 11mile week! I still have 4.6miles to go tomorrow.
That is dedication sibyrne, running after a 12hr shift, good going!
Soup Dragon - I wouldn't necessarily think your runs are too slow, probably most of them should be about that pace, do you do any faster work as well?
Welcome Shasel - it's definitely a good call to concentrate on 5k and 10k to start with. Just don't try to go too fast too early. Build your aerobic base as described on the start of the thread,the easy slow running is really important. I've had a build up period of 4weeks to get used to 20miles a week and I've run all my runs slowly. Hopefully we'll soon find out how much that has helped on my 5k time....