My road to Rio

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  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    Andy, did you start off as a 5k speciailist, but then added a huge amount of training?

    100miles a week is one hell of an input for the 10k and half times you quote...however, they look pretty soft compared to your 5k time, so should see an improvement soon I'd have thought.

    Have you taken advice in ramping up to 100miles a week, or got help in structuring it?

    ps Tricky was being ironic...seems the younger generation can't spot this these days!

  • I saw Asafa Powell puking in the Michael Johnson doc recently after a hard training session. I know he didn't quite make the grade on the day but I put that down to the ginger beard rahter than the puking.
  • DeanR7DeanR7 ✭✭✭

    to be honest at 21yrs old unless your times are in the 14mins i wouldnt be giving up women and beer.  some things are not worth giving up.  image

  • I thought it was a black beard with puke in it!image

    Mike Rushed On - just to give you a perspective of where you are there is a local 16 year old, Abbie Hetherington, who is currently ranked first or second U17 in country at 1500m - she was in local paper last night. Her ultimate dream is to qualify for the Olympic Games not in 4 years time but 8 years time.

    This is probably because she has been trying for a long time and knows how hard it is to improve and what a long journey it will be. This year she has run a 2:08 800m and a 4:26 1500m. She trains for 2 hours 6 days a week. However her PB times at both distances have only improved by a second over last year.

    Good luck and chase your dream but get some help to pick some achievable short term goals that will give you pleasure and excitement along the way just in case you don't ever get that Olympic Gold.

  • Mmm. Post race interviews with Olympic rowers were talking about boatloads of puke. Cyclists said the same. Sure, you don't run with the intention of throwing up, but I'm poetically pointing at the sort of effort levels consistently needed.... To get to Rio. Have you never thrown up after an intense run Andy? I have. Bloody painful it was too and I didn't enjoy it. And I am not even thinking about going to Rio as a spectator.
  • DeanR7DeanR7 ✭✭✭
    Skinny Fetish Fan wrote (see)

    Mike Rushed On - just to give you a perspective of where you are there is a local 16 year old, Abbie Hetherington, who is currently ranked first or second U17 in country at 1500m - she was in local paper last night. Her ultimate dream is to qualify for the Olympic Games not in 4 years time but 8 years time.

    This is probably because she has been trying for a long time and knows how hard it is to improve and what a long journey it will be. This year she has run a 2:08 800m and a 4:26 1500m. She trains for 2 hours 6 days a week. However her PB times at both distances have only improved by a second over last year.

    .

    Has she tried running a parkrun every week? image

  • But does she really, really want it? I think the X-factor mentality of people standing in front of the camera and saying " I really, really want this more than anything" has a lot to answer for. Talk is cheap.
  • Aimed at the OP and definitely not the 16 year old or the Welsh boy btw. Andy's report of his hard 400's this morning are far more impressive than "I really want a zigger zag har" rants.
  • The road is long
    With many a winding turn
    That leads us to who knows where
    Who knows when
    But I'm strongimage

  • Stevie G . wrote (see)

    Andy, did you start off as a 5k speciailist, but then added a huge amount of training?

    100miles a week is one hell of an input for the 10k and half times you quote...however, they look pretty soft compared to your 5k time, so should see an improvement soon I'd have thought.

    Stevie G - i started off as an average jogger just wanting to run but not really knowing why, first ever run was exactly a mile in 6 mins, like alot of people i made the classic mistake of thinking you have to do every run flat out to get to professional standards ha ha how wrong that approach was after about 5 months of this i had done no official races but did a 10k in training each week "PB"ing with 41 mins, then heard about the Snowdonia marathon, waited till 18yrs old then did it in 4:12 (massive struggle, off of 25-30mpw) over the next 3years the mileage just crept up by the smallest bit each week, it was only when i got to 20 it occured to me that to get good i need to start focusing on specific  10k`s and HM`s then the really good PB`s started to happen.

    Stevie G . wrote (see)

    Have you taken advice in ramping up to 100miles a week, or got help in structuring it?

    No i`ve been self coaching to be honest, though i have been watching these Forums/Threads to pick up any little bits of advice, well that and reading a whole range of Books about successfull people ie Charlie Spedding, Ron hill, Steve jones and the kenyans.

  • dean richardson 7 wrote (see)

    to be honest at 21yrs old unless your times are in the 14mins i wouldnt be giving up women and beer.  some things are not worth giving up.  image

    Sorry Dean i dont mean to be disrespectfull or anything but i think thats a bit of a defeatist way to approach things, if we all thought that there wouldn`t be any good runners anywhere.

  • PhilPubPhilPub ✭✭✭

    I think Dean was just trying to put some perspective on this particular situation, like a lot of people have attempted to do.  If the difference between a semi-elite runner becoming an also-ran or an Olympic contender was giving up 90% of their social habits, that's one thing.  If the Olympic thing is no more than a pipe-dream, for the time being you're better off trying to strike a sensible training/life balance and see where it takes you.  I don't think that's defeatist, I think it's pretty sensible.

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    I think the key to the OP developing a realistic approach will be the joining of an AC.

    It's one thing coming high up in your average park run, where the atmosphere is casual, and the standard is low, but quite another thing when you're surrounded in your own club by younger and much faster runners.

  • And sex is good for stretching your calf muscles after an LSR!image

    If Jess Ennis can have a fiance (lucky bloke!) and train for 7 events then surely you don't have to give up on a GF just to run - even 100 miles a week is only about 12 hours - just harder to find the right GF - join a running club - hey presto - lots of fit young totty that shares your interest - bingo!!

    Much better than being mentalled in a night club as a way of finding the right life partner.image

  • PhilPubPhilPub ✭✭✭

    So are we all agreed that Mike should join a running club?

    image

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    Skinny, who said you were allowed to leave your training thread image

    And I'm not sure what running club's you've been lucky enough to be part of!!

  • PhilPub - i think it safe to say Mike Rushton should make joinng an athletics club the next thing he does.

  • Haha - I've never been a member of a running club! But I've been married for 20 years to a girl I copped off with when mentalled in a night club!

    Mind you, I've got myself thinking about joining a running club now.....image

  • Giving up Sex? Did that lady who Mo Farah went to see at the end of the race look like the Virgin Mary?
  • Twins are a common result of IVF - he probably knocked one out when he was in his hydrogen freezer in an oxygen tank in Kenya and they flew them back to his wife as a Xmas present - about the right timing - think she's due next month.

  • DeanR7DeanR7 ✭✭✭
    andy the deestrider. wrote (see)
    dean richardson 7 wrote (see)

    to be honest at 21yrs old unless your times are in the 14mins i wouldnt be giving up women and beer.  some things are not worth giving up.  image

    Sorry Dean i dont mean to be disrespectfull or anything but i think thats a bit of a defeatist way to approach things, if we all thought that there wouldn`t be any good runners anywhere.

    philpub hit the nail on the head....for example Mo took a sacrifice to move to US to train away from his family to find that missing nano % that turns a 4th place into a gold. I think we would all do the same at that level.  

    But at the levels being discussed here i would be more worried about looking back over my youth in 10yrs and realising i hadnt been living them rather than worried i hadnt reached my potential as a runner.   A more rounded life will make a happier and faster runner in the long term. 

  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭

    Paul Evans ran 33 mins for 10k off football training and after a few months of specific training ran 29 mins for 10k on a grass track at the age of 26/27. He ended up running sub 28 mins. So I would say that if the numbers don't add up to something like this then forget the future Olympics. I would wager that a potential beating 10k runner could break 33 mins for 10k when totally unfit. Its called potential. Can't turn a cart horse into a race horse, just a faster cart horse.

    🙂

  •  

    dean richardson 7 wrote (see)

     

    But at the levels being discussed here i would be more worried about looking back over my youth in 10yrs and realising i hadnt been living them rather than worried i hadnt reached my potential as a runner.   A more rounded life will make a happier and faster runner in the long term. 


    Fair point but i think the whole idea of MR`s first post was to simply talk about how he could become that good, all to often the olympic champins aretalked about asif they are some special breed of Human, when infact these things are possible if youre prepared to practically put 10-15 years of your life into, yes i understand that theres less than a 1% chance of actually making it, but theres no harm trying, although i think to take MR completely serious he would have to do way more than he currently does in my opinion.

     
  • I don't think the likes of Redgrave and Hoy actually did start out with "ok lets spend the next 15 years dedicated to our sport and give up everything to become olympic superheroes." More liekly they took up a sport, became good, became really really good and then thought " lets take it up a few notches" got to an elite level and thought " lets see how far we can really take this."



    Probably something like that. More of a progression with success leading to an upping of the stakes and sacrifices.
  • Sussex i dont literally mean 15 years for everyone, some sports are different so may not take nowhere near as long as running, but some realise that there not massively talented and will therefore have to work alot harder an sacrifice more because the reward doesn`t come half as easily.

  • Mr VMr V ✭✭✭
    RicF wrote (see)

    Paul Evans ran 33 mins for 10k off football training and after a few months of specific training ran 29 mins for 10k on a grass track at the age of 26/27. He ended up running sub 28 mins. So I would say that if the numbers don't add up to something like this then forget the future Olympics. I would wager that a potential beating 10k runner could break 33 mins for 10k when totally unfit. Its called potential. Can't turn a cart horse into a race horse, just a faster cart horse.

    Ric - Good point - I've heard him tell that story a couple of times.

    I think in most instances it becomes clear pretty quickly what kind of potential a runner has. The best 2 or 3 runners I know were running 34:xx minutes for 10k within a few months of training. These guys have gone on to become really good club runners but they are still nowhere near Olympic standard.

    andy the deestrider. wrote (see)


    Fair point but i think the whole idea of MR`s first post was to simply talk about how he could become that good, all to often the olympic champins aretalked about asif they are some special breed of Human, when infact these things are possible if youre prepared to practically put 10-15 years of your life into, yes i understand that theres less than a 1% chance of actually making it, but theres no harm trying, although i think to take MR completely serious he would have to do way more than he currently does in my opinion.

     

    Andy I disagree. The olympic distance runners are "a special breed of human" in the sense that they are blessed with a level of genetic ability way beyond the norm. Sure they all work incredibly hard as well but someone can't reach olympic standard in distance running through hard work alone.

  • Tom.Tom. ✭✭✭
    Mr Viper: Agreed, If a runner has the potential it will show very early in his running career and at a level of modest training. Another good example of this was Dan Robinson who came into the sport via the treadmill at his local gym.



    And as you say these sort of guys are few and far between.



    Perhaps if the OP had spent his formative years running five miles to and from school each day, carrying his books in his hand he would be in a better position now to fulfil his ambitions.
  • mike rushton wrote (see)

    Nah im not trolling, infact I despise trolls, I am being serious.

    May I ask for some advice? What pace should you run intervals? Should I run them faster, the same or slower than my current 5k race pace? Im kinda torn on what to do, I want to do what benefits me most.

    I am currently a 17 year old running 14.15 for the 5km. If you have any hope of doing what you claim you want to do you need to join a club straight away and find yourself a good coach.  You will also want to start racing on the track at distances below the 5km because you willl find that at when running at a decent level all the best runners will have tremendous speed (i.e. Mo Farah runs a 53 at the end of 10k!). I can't begin to tell you how enormous a challenge you are undertaking!!!

  • Sorry, but I just have to say this once and for all in really plain language. In 4 years time Mike wants to race with the very best athletes in the world, the upper echelon. Maybe even to make Mo Farah redundant. He's been training for a month of two now and feels quite good about it and is pleased by his improvements.

    NO BL**DY WAY is it going to happen. Sorry. image

    How long to get fit enough to compete at elite levels? How long to impress selectors with your racecraft and prove yourself in major tournaments across the world? They don't give out Olympic places in 5,000metres and 10,000 metres to people with potential. They give them to proven winners.

    Sorry Mike, unless you start talking about the Olympics in Istanbul 2020, you haven't got a hope. The goal you have in your head is WAY more difficult than you comprehend. If you had more time, perhaps you could do it. But talk of Rio is utter nonsense. Stop making a monkey of yourself, join an AC and start working hard. Come back to this thread in a year's time and then tell us what your ambitions are, because right now, you don't know what you are talking about. And you blithley ignore the people that do have a bit of a clue...

    It might sound harsh, but it's the same when kids find out that Father Christmas is a fairy tale. However, it is healthy to understand what is real and what is not. Good luck fella, but get real. Please. image

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