Speedwork will help you get your times down but I reckon with low miliage you'll platue before you reach your full potential. All top running coaches have advised runners to build up a base level of fitness (around 50mpw+) and concentrate on that for a while, then introduce the faster stuff.
I was doing around 20mpw some time ago with a lot of the faster stuff, it's good but I hit a stage where my progression got very slow. At the moment I'm concentrating on hitting 50mpw consistently, not yet, but eventually. The more you run, the more you'll function like a runner in my opinion.
Week One Mon 5M (miles) (approx 41 mins) easy Tue 1M jog, then 6 x 800m (or 3 mins) fast, with 200m (1-min) recoveries, then 1M jog Wed 7M (approx 50 mins) steady Thu 1M jog, then 3M (approx 21 mins) brisk, then 1M jog Fri Rest Sat 6M (approx 49 mins) easy Sun 13M (approx 1hr 47) easy
Week Two Mon 7M (approx 50 mins) steady Tue 1M jog, then 8 x 400m (or 90 secs) fast, with 200m (1-min) jog recoveries, then 1M jog Wed 7M (approx 50 mins) steady Thu 1M jog, then 3M (approx 21 mins) brisk, then 1M jog Fri Rest Sat 7M (approx 50 mins) steady Sun 13M (approx 1hr 33) steady
Week Three Mon 7M (approx 58 mins) easy Tue 1M jog, then 6 x 1M (or 6 mins) brisk, with 400m (2-min) jog recoveries, then 1M jog Wed Rest Thu 7M (approx 50 mins) easy Fri 5M (approx 41 mins) easy Sat 5M (approx 40 mins) slow Sun 14M (approx 1hr 40) steady
Week Four Mon 5M (approx 41 mins) easy Tue 1M jog, then 6 x 1K (or 4 mins) fast, with 400m (2-min) jog recoveries, then 1M jog Wed 8M (approx 57 mins) steady Thu 1M jog, then 12 x 200m (or 45 secs) fast, with 100m (30-sec) jog recoveries, then 1M jog Fri Rest Sat 1M jog, then 8M (approx 60 mins) fartlek, then 1M jog Sun 16M (approx 1hr 55) steady
Week Five Mon 7M (approx 50 mins) steady Tue 1M jog, then 2 x 2M (or 13 mins) fast, with 400m (2-min) jog recoveries, then 1M jog Wed 9M (approx 65 mins) steady Thu 1M jog, then 12 x 200m (or 45 secs) fast, with 100m (30-sec) jog recoveries, then 1M jog Fri Rest Sat 1M jog, then 7M (approx 53 mins) fartlek, then 1M jog Sun 13M (approx 1hr 33) steady
Week Six Mon 7M (approx 50 mins) steady Tue 1M jog, then 200m (or 45 secs) fast, 400m (or 90 secs) fast, 800m (or 3 mins) fast, 400m fast, 200m fast, all with 100m (30-sec) jog recoveries, then extra 200m (1-min) jog. Repeat sequence once, then 1M jog to warm-down Wed 10M (approx 82 mins) steady Thu 4M (approx 27 mins) brisk Fri 5M (approx 41 mins) easy Sat Rest Sun 10K Race
A lot of interesting discussion but in reality in my opinion speedwork is the icing on the cake. Yes you can see results with a bit of speedwork but that won't last for long without a good base. You wouldn't build a skyscrapper on a sandpit you need a good base and a good foundation later you can add the speed and it will take longer to plateau
I've been feeling a little tired myself decided to miss last nights run (6 miles) i did 3½ in the morning. Did 3.24 miles this morning it was always going to be a short run besides i overslept but i got out there i had a massage this afternoon. But i'll be back out there tomorrow. As it will take a while to get used to the new mileage but i do believe in it
Oh, if you do tempo workouts it should not exceed 10% of your weekly miliage and if you do Vo2 Max workouts it should not exceed 8% of your weekly miliage. So if you want to increase the miliage but include both of these then with a weekly miliage of say 50 it should look like this;
Easy Pace - 41mpw Tempo - 5mpw Vo2 Max - 4mpw
Not sure how accurate this is, but I heard it's from the Daniels formula. Anyone think I have a chance of dipping under 40 minutes in that 10k in 5 months time? I would say I'm currently a 42min 10k going by the race pace calculator.
I'm training to do half marathons. The longest training run was under 17 miles because the first half I done (only done two) I hit a brick wall at 10 miles and had to slow right down as I wanted to complete the course without walking. I follow the RW Garmin ready schedules, which I like.
As a thought, do half marathon training and your 10k times will come down drastically.
I agree with you on the long runs. My first half I also hit a wall at 10 miles meaning I was ultimately disappointed with my performance. People were harping on that you only need to do 10 mile or so training runs for a HM which I did beforehand, once venturing to 12 miles but ultimately it wasn't enough for me. I'm now always going to train over the distance I'm racing as I don't want that happening again. Fair enough if you just want to get round, but I'd rather put in the distance and do well.
Ockham Razor, when would you be starting your 12 week schedule? If your starting straight away it says after 2 weeks you run 13 miles steady in approx 1:33 which would be 6/7 mins quicker than you ve ever run that distance before? But it does look like a very good schedule.
I'm firmly in the Squall frame of mind, more miles = quicker times. Until i started reading the Eastleigh thread i was doing 20/25 mpw nearly all at half marathon pace or quicker and i just wasnt getting anywhere near to where i wanted to be, so upped the mileage slowly to 40+ and am now starting to see big improvements in 10k and especially the half.
Twiiix im sure you ll get your target in 5 months, you ve probably mentioned it before, but where is your race being held?
mee meep, it's being held in South West London if you are familiar with that area? I wouldn't say it's going to be as big as Eastleigh was - that was a big one! But there will still be near 1000 people racing on the day, so it's not a small event.
As I've got no races planned from now until October, I'm thinking of maybe entering a 10k inbetween now and then. Preferably a flat course, just to see how I'm progressing.
What area are you in mee meep? You entering any races yet?
I would also admit that the Eastleigh thread by Squall has been an inspiration to many, not just him setting that example but all the help and suggestions he got from experienced runners on that thread.
Le Gav, in a similar mind as you. Jog further than your intended race and do it a few times. You will be in a more confident frame of mind when you race.
mee meep, I'm on the second week and yes I'll be doing a 13 miler on Sunday, but not in 1:33. My easy jogs were at 8:30 they need to be 8:00 and steady jogs were about 8:00 but now need to be 7:10. I've seen the times coming down just in the two weeks of this schedule. For instance when I done the 1:40 half schedule my 3 miles brisk was 23 mins. Today the schedule said 1M warm up then 3 miles brisk in 21 minutes and then 1M cool down. Did not achieve the 21 mins but done it in 21 mins 49 secs. My legs felt really tired doing it but I still pushed myself. I use a route that is roughly 1.5 miles, the second 1.5 miles I was 4 seconds of the pace. (10:34)
I've read in the RW book that when your legs are feeling heavy it's because your muscle fibres are damaged and your brains sending out signals for you to stop so you don't cause permanent damage, So once your legs are feeling really heavy best thing to do is take it really easy from there.
Last few mornings I've woken up from I've felt quite rotten. Think it's the miliage increase. 40mpw steady is tougher than 20/25mpw with speedwork, much tougher!
I always feel fine, its just when I start jogging that my legs felt tired. At the back of my mind I wonder if I should have taken a few days off after the 10k race on Sunday as I needed a whole week off for my half marathon and then the second week was still a struggle.
For me, the biggest problem with mileage is the time it takes, and fitting it into a busy schedule.
40mpw will only be significantly tougher than 25mpw a week if you're running it TOO HARD.
I know I'm starting to sound like a stuck record Twiix, but I've done it twice now too successful effect, with Eastleigh being the most successful example.
What did you think of the Bob Hodge plan? I think it shows a fantastic way of building up the mileage. I'm still an advocate, like Rach was in her comment, of not running faster than 8:30 though.
"5-5-09: ran 1 mile only, just before bed, in a rainstorm. I couldn't see where I was running it was so windy!! When lightning struck within my sight, I headed back home. It was ok, though, because I worked 10 hours at the orthpedic clinic as a temp, watched our baby until at 9 pm while my wife filled-out job applications, and I was so beat that I seriously considered going straight to bed. At least I got out the door and ran a mile. I'd much rather run a mile than nothing.
Continuity of training is vital; human's benefit from consistency. The key principle to use in training is consistency. The second is moderation. The third is balance. The fourth is progression. The fifth is modulation/variation. The sixth is proper pacing. The seventh is what Bowerman and Dellinger called "callousing." All one has to do is pick up and old Bill Bowerman book to see those principles have been in use for decades. I've lived the above principles, and every time, over 30 years of running, that I've violated them the result was not good."
Squall, I think my sluggishness is here from the hard sessions I had a week ago.I've chucked out all these hard sessions and keeping to just one threshold run a week with the rest being easy runs. At the moment I've got two rest days a week for myself to adapt, but in 2 weeks time it'll be one rest day a week with another easy run slotted in.
Squall, your easy pace should be 7:36 to 8:06 going by your 10k result. Why not try out that pace for a while? May be tough at first but it's all about adapting to it, and before you know it that pace may be 'easy' for you!
That's alright, how did the run feel then? Are you doing 4.1 miles in the evening too?
What is your normal resting HR? I would have thought it would have been around 50bpm? I'll have to search you up on fetcheveryone, I've got an account too.
This Sunday coming? Good luck with that, is Netley a flat course aswell? If you put your mind to it, you can go sub 39 trust me. Make sure you are sub-40 though, you are sub-40 to stay there.
Strange question but how much do your trainers weigh? Honestly a pair of racing flats will supprise you how much quicker they actually are. Have a pair for racing and a pair for training, simples!
Squall - do you just measure your RHR in the morning, i have heard a few peeps say if they measure it in the afternoon it is lower. Sometimes if you wake up un-naturally your HR will be higher
Just done threshold run. Blew up straight after 3 miles at threshold, in the warm up I felt sluggish, in the tempo I just couldn't even manage threshold pace. Felt like all my reserves are gone, I need a very easy week next week because since last week I've just been far too tired.
Thing is I didn't feel out of breath, I just felt like my legs were heavy and had no energy. Have I fucked up my energy stores now? Whats the name of them? Glycogen stores or something? How do I go about getting it back to how it was? Weekend off?
Comments
No, think the times have come down because of the speed training.
Looking back at what I done, there was only two weeks of 45 miles and the rest were in the range of 24 miles to 37 miles.
Looking at the new schedule it has one week, just under 50 miles. Bloody hell, it seems to be in the range 40 to 50 miles.
Speedwork will help you get your times down but I reckon with low miliage you'll platue before you reach your full potential. All top running coaches have advised runners to build up a base level of fitness (around 50mpw+) and concentrate on that for a while, then introduce the faster stuff.
I was doing around 20mpw some time ago with a lot of the faster stuff, it's good but I hit a stage where my progression got very slow. At the moment I'm concentrating on hitting 50mpw consistently, not yet, but eventually. The more you run, the more you'll function like a runner in my opinion.
What's your current training program?
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/news/article.asp?UAN=3273
Do not have a Garmin.
Just a blank page O.R...
Hmm.......
It says done in the bottom corner which means it's done with loading but still a blank page.
Give me one week of what it wants you to do for example.
Week One
Mon 5M (miles) (approx 41 mins) easy
Tue 1M jog, then 6 x 800m (or 3 mins) fast, with 200m (1-min) recoveries, then 1M jog
Wed 7M (approx 50 mins) steady
Thu 1M jog, then 3M (approx 21 mins) brisk, then 1M jog
Fri Rest
Sat 6M (approx 49 mins) easy
Sun 13M (approx 1hr 47) easy
Week Two
Mon 7M (approx 50 mins) steady
Tue 1M jog, then 8 x 400m (or 90 secs) fast, with 200m (1-min) jog recoveries, then 1M jog
Wed 7M (approx 50 mins) steady
Thu 1M jog, then 3M (approx 21 mins) brisk, then 1M jog
Fri Rest
Sat 7M (approx 50 mins) steady
Sun 13M (approx 1hr 33) steady
Week Three
Mon 7M (approx 58 mins) easy
Tue 1M jog, then 6 x 1M (or 6 mins) brisk, with 400m (2-min) jog recoveries, then 1M jog
Wed Rest
Thu 7M (approx 50 mins) easy
Fri 5M (approx 41 mins) easy
Sat 5M (approx 40 mins) slow
Sun 14M (approx 1hr 40) steady
Week Four
Mon 5M (approx 41 mins) easy
Tue 1M jog, then 6 x 1K (or 4 mins) fast, with 400m (2-min) jog recoveries, then 1M jog
Wed 8M (approx 57 mins) steady
Thu 1M jog, then 12 x 200m (or 45 secs) fast, with 100m (30-sec) jog recoveries, then 1M jog
Fri Rest
Sat 1M jog, then 8M (approx 60 mins) fartlek, then 1M jog
Sun 16M (approx 1hr 55) steady
Week Five
Mon 7M (approx 50 mins) steady
Tue 1M jog, then 2 x 2M (or 13 mins) fast, with 400m (2-min) jog recoveries, then 1M jog
Wed 9M (approx 65 mins) steady
Thu 1M jog, then 12 x 200m (or 45 secs) fast, with 100m (30-sec) jog recoveries, then 1M jog
Fri Rest
Sat 1M jog, then 7M (approx 53 mins) fartlek, then 1M jog
Sun 13M (approx 1hr 33) steady
Week Six
Mon 7M (approx 50 mins) steady
Tue 1M jog, then 200m (or 45 secs) fast, 400m (or 90 secs) fast, 800m (or 3 mins) fast, 400m fast, 200m fast, all with 100m (30-sec) jog recoveries, then extra 200m (1-min) jog. Repeat sequence once, then 1M jog to warm-down
Wed 10M (approx 82 mins) steady
Thu 4M (approx 27 mins) brisk
Fri 5M (approx 41 mins) easy
Sat Rest
Sun 10K Race
As I do not have a track to go round I tend to use the times in this bit.
6 x 800m (or 3 mins) fast, with 200m (1-min) recoveries
I've been feeling a little tired myself decided to miss last nights run (6 miles) i did 3½ in the morning. Did 3.24 miles this morning it was always going to be a short run besides i overslept but i got out there i had a massage this afternoon. But i'll be back out there tomorrow. As it will take a while to get used to the new mileage but i do believe in it
Agree with you there Pammie.
Oh, if you do tempo workouts it should not exceed 10% of your weekly miliage and if you do Vo2 Max workouts it should not exceed 8% of your weekly miliage. So if you want to increase the miliage but include both of these then with a weekly miliage of say 50 it should look like this;
Easy Pace - 41mpw
Tempo - 5mpw
Vo2 Max - 4mpw
Not sure how accurate this is, but I heard it's from the Daniels formula. Anyone think I have a chance of dipping under 40 minutes in that 10k in 5 months time? I would say I'm currently a 42min 10k going by the race pace calculator.
Ockham Razor, when would you be starting your 12 week schedule? If your starting straight away it says after 2 weeks you run 13 miles steady in approx 1:33 which would be 6/7 mins quicker than you ve ever run that distance before? But it does look like a very good schedule.
I'm firmly in the Squall frame of mind, more miles = quicker times. Until i started reading the Eastleigh thread i was doing 20/25 mpw nearly all at half marathon pace or quicker and i just wasnt getting anywhere near to where i wanted to be, so upped the mileage slowly to 40+ and am now starting to see big improvements in 10k and especially the half.
Twiiix im sure you ll get your target in 5 months, you ve probably mentioned it before, but where is your race being held?
mee meep, it's being held in South West London if you are familiar with that area? I wouldn't say it's going to be as big as Eastleigh was - that was a big one! But there will still be near 1000 people racing on the day, so it's not a small event.
As I've got no races planned from now until October, I'm thinking of maybe entering a 10k inbetween now and then. Preferably a flat course, just to see how I'm progressing.
What area are you in mee meep? You entering any races yet?
Le Gav, in a similar mind as you. Jog further than your intended race and do it a few times. You will be in a more confident frame of mind when you race.
mee meep, I'm on the second week and yes I'll be doing a 13 miler on Sunday, but not in 1:33. My easy jogs were at 8:30 they need to be 8:00 and steady jogs were about 8:00 but now need to be 7:10. I've seen the times coming down just in the two weeks of this schedule. For instance when I done the 1:40 half schedule my 3 miles brisk was 23 mins. Today the schedule said 1M warm up then 3 miles brisk in 21 minutes and then 1M cool down. Did not achieve the 21 mins but done it in 21 mins 49 secs. My legs felt really tired doing it but I still pushed myself. I use a route that is roughly 1.5 miles, the second 1.5 miles I was 4 seconds of the pace. (10:34)
I've read in the RW book that when your legs are feeling heavy it's because your muscle fibres are damaged and your brains sending out signals for you to stop so you don't cause permanent damage, So once your legs are feeling really heavy best thing to do is take it really easy from there.
Last few mornings I've woken up from I've felt quite rotten. Think it's the miliage increase. 40mpw steady is tougher than 20/25mpw with speedwork, much tougher!
40mpw will only be significantly tougher than 25mpw a week if you're running it TOO HARD.
I know I'm starting to sound like a stuck record Twiix, but I've done it twice now too successful effect, with Eastleigh being the most successful example.
What did you think of the Bob Hodge plan? I think it shows a fantastic way of building up the mileage. I'm still an advocate, like Rach was in her comment, of not running faster than 8:30 though.
"5-5-09: ran 1 mile only, just before bed, in a rainstorm. I couldn't see where I was running it was so windy!! When lightning struck within my sight, I headed back home. It was ok, though, because I worked 10 hours at the orthpedic clinic as a temp, watched our baby until at 9 pm while my wife filled-out job applications, and I was so beat that I seriously considered going straight to bed. At least I got out the door and ran a mile. I'd much rather run a mile than nothing.
Continuity of training is vital; human's benefit from consistency. The key principle to use in training is consistency. The second is moderation. The third is balance. The fourth is progression. The fifth is modulation/variation. The sixth is proper pacing. The seventh is what Bowerman and Dellinger called "callousing." All one has to do is pick up and old Bill Bowerman book to see those principles have been in use for decades. I've lived the above principles, and every time, over 30 years of running, that I've violated them the result was not good."
Squall, I think my sluggishness is here from the hard sessions I had a week ago.I've chucked out all these hard sessions and keeping to just one threshold run a week with the rest being easy runs. At the moment I've got two rest days a week for myself to adapt, but in 2 weeks time it'll be one rest day a week with another easy run slotted in.
Squall, your easy pace should be 7:36 to 8:06 going by your 10k result. Why not try out that pace for a while? May be tough at first but it's all about adapting to it, and before you know it that pace may be 'easy' for you!
Only a suggestion...
Today:
4.1 miles hilly - 34'42"
Ave Pace: 8'27" per mile
Ave HR: 179bpm
Resting HR this morning about 71... weight about 141lbs...
That's alright, how did the run feel then? Are you doing 4.1 miles in the evening too?
What is your normal resting HR? I would have thought it would have been around 50bpm? I'll have to search you up on fetcheveryone, I've got an account too.
Last time I had a blood pressure test my RHR was measured as 58... but it never seems to go below high 60's when i test it with my HR monitor.
This week im just doing the AM run... race on sunday so I want to be relatively fresh. I'll get back on it properly next week.
This Sunday coming? Good luck with that, is Netley a flat course aswell? If you put your mind to it, you can go sub 39 trust me. Make sure you are sub-40 though, you are sub-40 to stay there.
Strange question but how much do your trainers weigh? Honestly a pair of racing flats will supprise you how much quicker they actually are. Have a pair for racing and a pair for training, simples!
I'm not sure my dodgy biomechanics would cope to well with racing flats!
Just done threshold run. Blew up straight after 3 miles at threshold, in the warm up I felt sluggish, in the tempo I just couldn't even manage threshold pace. Felt like all my reserves are gone, I need a very easy week next week because since last week I've just been far too tired.
Thing is I didn't feel out of breath, I just felt like my legs were heavy and had no energy. Have I fucked up my energy stores now? Whats the name of them? Glycogen stores or something? How do I go about getting it back to how it was? Weekend off?