A relative new comer at the age of 34 - advice please

[Deleted User]

First time poster, so please be gentle with me.

In a nutshell I have very recently just started to get into running again after not having done so i was a kid (well over 20 years ago) and even then i was never much of a runner. However, over the course of the last year i have managed to kick the 20 a day ciggarette habit and havent smoked for nearly 6 months now. I decide over the past of couple of months to give running a go to help deal with any cravings and to try to focus me on not smoking.  Roll bak 2 months ago i could literally just about manage 100 yard before having to walk then run 100 yards etcc... It was a real struggle to start but over the past 2 months i have really noticed a huge improvement in my running (and am still smoke free!). Despite having not done any real excercise for the past 20 years my natural metabolism has kept me very slim so i dont have to worry about carrying too much - i just have to worry about the pain i have put my lungs through!

 I have slowly been uping the miles per week and can now comfortbaly run 4-5 miles and try to do this about 3 times a week. So yesterday armed with my new found confidence i decided to enter my first ever race at the Cardiff Park run 5k event.  I think i managed a fairly respectable time of 21mins 10 seconds. This exceeded my expectations i have to admit and has really spurred me on to want to do more running and to train a bit more seriously / with a bit more structure than i am currently doing. My run yesterday was literally off the cuff - no prep, no food etc and no real thought as to how i should have approached it. 

So  i guess i am after a bit of advice on training etc... So far i have been reluctant to join any clubs because i dont think i would be up to scratch and would like to better myself on my own for a while.

So does anyone have reccomendation on  what kind of training programme i should be looking to introduce? At the moment i dont have any fixed goals or training plans other than to get out 3 - 5 times a week and cover 4-5 miles each time. Any advice would be really welcome as to what i should be doing.

[Deleted User]

21:05 'fairly respectable'?  Thats pretty bloody impressive based on your limited experience!  Get yourself to a club, you'll find your running will come on leaps and bounds with the encouragement, advice and support of your club mates.

As far as training schedules are concerned - I'm sure someone speedy will be along to help you soon.

[Deleted User]

Cheers for the reply. I know there is a local club nearby but have so far been reluctant to turn up to train with them. Unfortunately i am fairly shy so it was hard enough making myself turn up for the race yesterday, not sure if i am quite ready for joining a club yet.

The 21.05 was a bit of suprise to me too. Having timed myself over the past month or so i knew i was improving and could get to a 7min 30 sec pace per mile if i pushed hard, but i think the race conditions spurred me into action to go faster than i had done before. Typical first timer mistake of going out too fast according to my stats, but i managed to hand on until the end - even if i did slow up and couldnt finish strongly.

Anyone with any training plans for stepping up would be great too. Not sure i should be concentrating on pace now or increasing distance etc...

Simon Edward

Chris, the best thing you can do is educate yourself to the point where you are able to devise your own schedule. There are some absolutely dreadful ones floating around the web, and even the better ones can be - by nature of being pre-planned - too prescriptive.

It will also be useful to have a better understanding of training before joining a club, lest you end up following bad advice (unfortunately very common). it's great to learn from others, but you need the ability to discern good and bad information.

Anyway, a couple of books that I think are great, especially for beginners are HIT and Daniels'