Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Relative new comer at 34 needing training advice
![[Deleted User]](https://wd.vanillicon.com/d37a70d60b52970cdb95188ff26a3e77_100.png)
First time poster, so please be gentle with me. I posted this in the beginners section, but thought imight get better feedbackon training specifically in this part (so apologies for any duplication).
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 focus me on not smoking and to have something to aim towards. Roll back 2 months and I could literally just about manage 100 yard before having to walk then run 100 yards etc... 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 weight - 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 at a time 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 special prep etc and no real thought as to how i should have the race. Getting that time has got me thinking thatmaybe i can improve and really put a decent time together.
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 their scratch and would like to better myself on my own for a while. I dont really have the confidence to approach a club yet tobe honest.
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 - 4 times a week (mainly in the evenings) and cover 4-5 miles each time. Any advice would be really welcome as to what i should be doing. I amthinking of trying to do a half marathon towards the end of the year, but that is a very scarey prospect at the moment.
Sorry for the long post, but any feedback / advice would be much appreciated.
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
Well done on the incredible time achieved in two months!!!
There is something wrong. It has taken me over two years to get to that time and I am over ten years older. My 14 year old son would struggle to achieve this time. He does run occassionally with me, but his fitness is off the back of football and running for the school.
Thanks for the replies. I have been really suprised at my improvement if i am totally honest. Especially after having previously smoked for so long - i feel like such an idiot now its untrue!. I had a nasty leg accident a year or so ago (nearly lost my leg) and i promised myself that if i made a recovery that i would start running and using my leg - thankfully the leg held up and here i am fulfilling the promise to myself.
So far it has been really encouraging how much i have come along in a relatively short space of time. One factor in my favour is my metabolism (i only weigh 9 stone at 5' 10" and always have doen) so i dont have to struggle with carrying weight while i am running which i think has been my saving grace and allowed me to get up to speed so quickly. Getting all the smoke out of sytem is the main problem though.
In terms of mileage i probably doing about 15 miles a week at the moment, so i guess stepping up to 20-25 miles seems like a natural progression. I will just have to add a bit on each run i do i guess. My real concern is what kind of structure i should bne doing. So far i have just ran whenever i have gone out, with no real idea about pacing / speed work etc. Is this something i should be aiming to introduce into my runs or should i just keep on running even pace runs at the moment?
Cheers
Chris
Well done on the fast 5k. The times should get faster as your lungsd recover! I would recommend no speedwork until you're comfortably running 25 miles per week, then introduce some faster running, depending on what you're aiming for. If you read some of the threads in the training section you will get an idea of what speedwork will work for you.
Seems I'm at a similar stage to you, started running recently and my 5k pb is 22:52, considering I'm a 17 year old whose never smoked (or atleast never regularly) your time is pretty amazing
Right now I'm just building up to a bigger mileage as I know at some point I'll want to try longer distances and apparently us newbies can get really good results just from running a solid mileage consistently. So my routine consists of a big long slow run at the weekend and a series of 30 min, 45 min and 60 min runs midweek. Eventually I'll add speed work but right now I'm just building the base. However I have been advised to add strides into my easy runs (distances of about 100m run quickly to get your muscles used to it).
putting your time into here you should be running at;
Recovery Jogs 9:23 to 9:53 (mins per mile)
Long Runs 8:23 to 9:23
Easy Runs 8:23 to 8:53
Thanks again for the feedback. In terms of progression from here, how long would be reccomended to train for a 10k race? I am still just doing about 4 miles per night at the moment in 7.30 / min pace and want to work up to do a 10k later this year. Ideally i would like to do one in a months time, but am willing to wait a bit longer if needs be. Me being me i dont just want to finish i want to finish well and think if i train properly i could do it in under 45 mins - so how do i go about achieving this? and how long is it likely to take?
Again, any advice would be really appreciated.