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3 years of running = improvement! (Read 253 times)

akamuza


    I'd like to share my experience too.
    I started running in April 2013. I wanted to run 80k flat race in Belarus, just to try it) I had no running experience and that was a totally insane idea, as I know it now.
    So I decided to run 20k each day  4 days in a row just to try my running abilities. The idea was: if I can do 80k in 4 days - then I can do it in one day after a good rest.
    My first 20k was about 2hours. 2nd day - about 2:20. 3-d and 4th - were a total pain with a pace about 6:50/km. My legs were absolutely destroyed. It was so obvious - I have to train) I had a long recovery about two months just to feel ok to train.

    I read Daniels' "Runing Formula" and trained for 10k on October 2013. My mileage was about 150-200k in a month. So, my first 10k = 43:03.
    Then some easy winter months with a mileage 100k/month. And then starting from March I increased it to 250k/month. And in may I felt ready to run the race in Belarus, but not 80k - just 40k trail. So, I did. That race was full of suffering, I've learned much about sun, heat and dehydration. But I won it. My time was 3:50 - but keep in mind  that was a trail.

    Then in a month I finished sky trail - 56k with 3k elevation gain. It took me 9hours. Then I tried flat HM for fun and had 1:40. But it was not fun - it was very hard run for me.

    So, I decided to try a flat marathon, and I took a 12-weeks plan of Pfitzinger. I followed it strictly. Month mileage was about 300k/month. And in autumn 2014 during my tempo training I hit my 10k = 40:19.

    After 3 weeks tapering my marathon was 3:10:30, 5th October 2014.

    During October I had a recovery month with about 150k of easy running.


    And know I'm 34yo and I prepare myself for that trail run in Belarus 80k, which I wanted to run almost 2 years ago. But this time I'll try to win it.
    My current mileage is 450k for the January.  Currently I have a streak of 22 training days, and about 110 days streak remains. My mileage will increase to 550k/month.
    My last HM during training session was 1:30, 30k = ~2:20. My marathon pace runs are 4:15/km, that is enough to run marathon sub 3h.

    So, what I want to say. If you have a goal - just keep running, don't miss training days, just keep running. Slow run is much better than no run at all. You can do it.
    I hate winter, I hate snow, I hate morning and I hate when it's cold. And now it's February in Ukraine. Cold and snowing. Every morning I hate the weather. I hate it while running )) 

    ps
    Excuse my English.As you might understand - I'm from Ukraine.


    onefatchick


      Thanks for sharing Nathan--pretty inspirational.  I have to admit that recently this winter after a hard days' work outside in the cold, wind, and snow there are many times the only thing I want to do is go home and get my jammies on, have some hot chocolate with marshmallows and then go to bed.  Then I remind myself of a few goals I set so I suck it up and put in the miles.  And you are so right--putting in the miles does pay off, I am just getting a glimmer of that too, going into my third year.  Quite a ways off from hitting any high mileage though...

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