Forums >Running 101>Where should I go from here? Up miles?
Goals: stay healthy, keep weight down, run faster 5k's, run faster 400's, enjoy running.
Currently: 48m, almost down to my weight goal of 165 (currently 168.6). Been running since September 2013 when overweight and mixing walks and slow jogs (30 years before that was HS track).
Typical current week:
Saturday 6.2mi in 1:07 (recently moved up from 5.4 miles in 1:01).
Sunday 3.5mi with a big hill in 36 min.
Monday indoor exercises for 30 min.
Tuesday 3mi in 30 min.
Wednesday 3mi in 30 min.
Thursday 3mi in 30 min.
Friday rest.
Note that weekdays the runs are before work, so not likely to lengthen them in that time slot, and difficult to do anything in afternoon and evening due to family stuff. The midweek order can vary depending upon weather, and sometimes a run day gets converted into an exercise day if the weather is bad enough The mid-week runs are sometimes at different paces, sometimes interval like, but average out to about 30 minutes.
Race 5k is just under 27 min.
Practice 400m (a month ago) was 85 sec.
Given what you've got to work with, what changes if any would you make?
Really for now just keep adding a little mileage where you can would be about as beneficial as anything IMO.
If you want to start mixing things up, I think lengthening your long run on the weekend would be good (but not too much or it is going to get out of whack with the rest of your running - ideally you would want it to represent no more than 25 - 30% of your total mileage) and if you wanted to make Tuesday or Wednesday a hard workout day you could start adding some Tempo runs or Intervals or fun stuff like that.
Don't forget to run easy on the easy days. Conversational easy.
That's my 2 cents.
Age: 50 Weight: 224 Height: 6'3" (Goal weight 195)
Current PR's: Mara 3:14:36* (2017); HM 1:36:13 (2017); 10K 43:59 (2014); 5K 21:12 (2016)
My suggestion would be to have one day on the weekend dedicated to a long run, and increase that mileage every few weeks. Also, make one day a week an interval day with active recovery. The long run will increase stamina, the interval will increase speed and help with the weight loss, both will increase speed over a distance, which is what I try to do in order to race a little faster. Also, I find the interval runs to be a challenge, and break up the monotony of everyday long slow miles.
Post High School PRs
5k - 18:35 10k - 40:07 Half Marathon - 1:31:22 Marathon - 3:14:23
2015 Goals
5k - 18:32(HS PR) 10k - Sub 39 Half Marathon - Sub 1:30
kween
Goals: stay healthy, keep weight down, run faster 5k's, run faster 400's, enjoy running. Currently: 48m, almost down to my weight goal of 165 (currently 168.6). Been running since September 2013 when overweight and mixing walks and slow jogs (30 years before that was HS track). Typical current week: Saturday 6.2mi in 1:07 (recently moved up from 5.4 miles in 1:01). Sunday 3.5mi with a big hill in 36 min. Monday indoor exercises for 30 min. Tuesday 3mi in 30 min. Wednesday 3mi in 30 min. Thursday 3mi in 30 min. Friday rest. Note that weekdays the runs are before work, so not likely to lengthen them in that time slot, and difficult to do anything in afternoon and evening due to family stuff. The midweek order can vary depending upon weather, and sometimes a run day gets converted into an exercise day if the weather is bad enough The mid-week runs are sometimes at different paces, sometimes interval like, but average out to about 30 minutes. Race 5k is just under 27 min. Practice 400m (a month ago) was 85 sec. Given what you've got to work with, what changes if any would you make?
What is 48m? Is it a typo and that is your age? You think you are old? Go away and come back in 10 or so years. I will tell you about being old.
Nolite te bastardes carborundum.
Yes, age 48, male.
Latent Runner
Hmmm, annoying, I made a post about an hour ago and it isn't showing up.
The gist of what I wrote was, up your mileage (not a surprise coming from me).
Long story short, it sounds like, as your speed increases, you should be able to fit between 25 and 30 miles per week into your busy schedule and yet still have plenty of time for you and your family.
FWIW, prior to yesterday my last "all out" 5K was done in early September. As you know I'm a 56 year old (for two more weeks), 5'8", OFS bretheren of yours, and back then I was hovering just above 200 pounds, I was putting in lots of LSD runs and totalling between 45 and 60 miles per week, and under those conditions I managed a 23:39 5K. Yesterday after averaging just over 200 miles per month since then (most weeks were between 60 and 75 miles but a couple were zero due to lots of travel and weather), and getting down to the mid 190s I managed a 21:57. By this coming September my goal is to be down to ~175, and if I can hit that weight, I'm hoping to crack the 20:00 barrier as a 57 year old (not so) fat (as I used to be) dude.
Fat old man PRs:
old woman w/hobby
+1 48 old
I am totally not an expert but 18.52 miles a week isn't very much.
steph
Oh, I get it.
You're not old.
Why are you unable to run more than 30 min before work?
Also - when the weather is bad, run anyway. I would avoid lightning, hurricanes, locusts, etc., but most other conditions you can run in. And/or get access to a treadmill.
And yeah, 48's not old. It better not be, I'm 49.
Dave
Why are you unable to run more than 30 min before work? Also - when the weather is bad, run anyway. I would avoid lightning, hurricanes, locusts, etc., but most other conditions you can run in. And/or get access to a treadmill. And yeah, 48's not old. It better not be, I'm 49.
What Dave said, all of it, is perfect. Except I even run in the presence of locusts.
Definitely you can carve out more than 30 minutes to run before work -- that's just a question of desire.
48 better not be old because 48 is going to happen to me in July unless something else happens first.
To answer your title question, yep, if you really want to get fitter and faster, adding some more miles is usually a good idea if you do it smart (gradually).
- Joe
We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.
I could run for longer time in the mid-week mornings, if I wake up earlier, which would mean I'd have to go to bed earlier. But that's not going to happen. 30 minutes is the time slot availability.
But what I could change mid-week is not take a day off. Seems like 1 day off a week from running or exercising is a good idea, but what do I know. Maybe it is not needed.
On the weekends I do have time, and can run longer. What difference does it make if your long run is 3 times longer than your daily runs? I don't know. Probably doesn't make any difference.
Bad weather doesn't completely stop me from running, but if I plan on running 4 or 5 days a week, then I can move those days around depending upon the weather. I would have thought everyone does that. But maybe not. I've just finished running all Winter, so I've run in a few bad weather days. I'd run down to 0F, but tended to move my running around the below 0 times. But to each their own.
Lots of good ideas. Keep them coming!
Proboscis Colossus
Disagree about the locusts. That's handy fuel, right there.
"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people
I could run for longer time in the mid-week mornings, if I wake up earlier, which would mean I'd have to go to bed earlier. But that's not going to happen. 30 minutes is the time slot availability. But what I could change mid-week is not take a day off. Seems like 1 day off a week from running or exercising is a good idea, but what do I know. Maybe it is not needed. On the weekends I do have time, and can run longer. What difference does it make if your long run is 3 times longer than your daily runs? I don't know. Probably doesn't make any difference. Bad weather doesn't completely stop me from running, but if I plan on running 4 or 5 days a week, then I can move those days around depending upon the weather. I would have thought everyone does that. But maybe not. I've just finished running all Winter, so I've run in a few bad weather days. I'd run down to 0F, but tended to move my running around the below 0 times. But to each their own. Lots of good ideas. Keep them coming!
Long runs are always a good idea as they help with endurance; gradually increasing your weekly long run to say 10 miles will pay tremendous dividends.
Running more than 10 miles, for example 11, would be a fun goal.
In my 1 year of HS cross-country, 10 miles was the longest practice run. I hated it. Not sure we even ran that whole distance, as the seniors used to take short cuts and start apple wars.
But since I appear to be competing with my HS self, it'd be fun to know I ran farther than I ever did in HS
I find it very gratifying and amusing that high school cross country teams (boys especially) must be fundamentally the same everywhere. I have never heard of a high school cross country team that didn't screw around and do stupid stuff (most of it harmless) when they were supposed to be out running. And it also pleases me to know that fundamentally apparently nothing has really changed in 30 years, either as I hear my kids occasionally telling me about the stupid stuff they do.
BTW, @BoilerTom90, this might explain why, as you always lament, it takes your kid's high school team 2-1/2 hours of practice to do a 6-mile easy run. I think it's the same everywhere!
Someday, I'm going to write up my list of "Top 10 things I love about a distance team." This will definitely be near the top.