Training Advice and Opinions Please (Read 886 times)

First off...Great to see another MS Delta guy here. I am from G-ville. Your times do seem slow for how long you have been running. I would say, if your log is correct, you have too many easy runs. I would put one workout a week or every 10 days where you really push the pace, maybe just below what you feel race is. Then after that set your easy runs based on your hard run pace. Does that make sense. You might also want to try some track work...200's, 400's, 800,s. Also, June 7th there is a 5K in Leland...and on June 21 there will be a group beginning to train for the St Judes Marathon in Memphis on Dec 6th. Group runs and advice will be part of the weekly schedule...it's $100 bucks but you get a book, singlet, weekly runs, etc... BTW, I just started back but there some folks that will surely post that have been running awhile and can give some great advice.

If y'all do St.Jude's you'll love it. Probably my best race expereince ever. It's hilly and the roads aren't the best but the organization is top notched. I'm running the half again this year just because I had such a great time....plus free beer and pizza at the end.

Without a goal stated all I can see is two things. First, slow down, with a 10k race pace of over 10mm, an easy day should never hit anywhere in the 10mm range, or 11mm for that matter. Second, run more. Slowing down will allow you to run tons more. So now, we need a goal, this will get you even more advice. Some of it is bound to be good.

With your current race paces where they are, 30 mpw will probably not get you where you want to go, but it is a valid goal to try to get to 30 mpw. To get the times down to where you want them, you are going to probably need at least 50 mpw. Speed sessions are only needed for peaking for goal races. You can do striders year round, like 6-10 of them after any run, but that's up to you. Seriously, at your current speed, a I would even hold off on tempo runs until it comes time for peaking. Even then, I would not do more than one every other week. Keep in mind that I am uber conservative with speedwork, you just really don't need a lot of it when you first start up. Most of your mileage should be slow. Yep, it's boring, but at the same time it's calming. And you do get faster just from upping the base mileage. I had goals like that once. It's really not that hard to get there, the hardest part is sticking to the training. After that it just comes together.

In 4 months time you can lose a lot of your running fitness. It's unreasonable to expect to be at the same level you were before you had to take the time off. My suggestion would be to ease off on the racing this summer and focus on a lot of long easy miles. The point of this is to build your base back up to where you had it or even better what you had before. Use your HR monitor and train in your aerobic zone which is typically 70-80% of max for your base building time. If you can increase your miles a bit that would help as well. Good luck Terie

So, I do not plan on racing for a while and I will start scheduling more runs to get my millage up. The Tupelo 14.2 Miler is towards the end of August and will probably be my next race. That gives me 15 weeks or so to build the millage up. Hopefully, I will be able to check back in a couple of months and have something to show for all of the hard work.

msdelta - If you enjoy the racing, it's not necessary to take off completely from running them - just don't make them the focus of your training. In other threads here you will see mention of picking your "A" race, and planning for that. This is the race you want to do your best in, and which your training is focused on. Then pick "B" races to evaluate where you are and how you are improving with your training, but without putting out 100% race effort (more of a tempo effort). Some also pick "C" races, which they do as part of training, run at a training pace, mainly for the fun of the race environment, and/or to support the cause the race is benefitting. Plan your B (and C) races into your mileage for the week. For example, if you plan to do 6 miles on Saturday or Sunday morning, and there's a 5K you want to do, schedule it in. Do a 1-1.5 mile slow run before the race (as a warmup), then do the race at a tempo speed, then do the rest of the miles you need at a slow pace again. Use your race time to see your improvement from the last B race you did. The other advantage to this is going to races helps you practice racing, if you haven't done it much - dealing with the pre-race logistics and figuring out a routine for yourself, running with lots of other people in your way at the start, not going out too fast, etc. If you like racing, do it - but keep your focus on that "A" race and resist the urge to really race top speed in your B/C races.