Forums >General Running>Newbie here...getting back into running, need advice.
Hey guys...did a lot of running in the 9 years I was in the military. Got myself back in shape started back in June 2014 doing P90X Plyometrics and riding a bike then started doing strength training shortly after and now I am in the best shape of my life! I have now decided to try to start back running. The last time I ran was 2009 when I got out of military. My knees gave me some trouble on and off and then I just quit running all together when I did something to my left ankle and it has remained bigger than the other ankle for like 5 years now. Anyway, long story short...I decided I wanted to start doing 5K races. I ran for the first time three weeks ago since 2009 and ran 4 miles in 30 minutes. My calves were so freaking sore for like 4 days after that. I had some sort of delayed injury to my right ankle(not the one previously mentioned above)...it doesn't hurt, but just felt awkward and weak. So I rested for 5 days doing nothing. started back doing plyometrics again with no problems on the ankle, road the bike three times with no issues so I decided to run again this past weekend. Ran 2.3 miles in 19:17 on Sunday! No issues with ankle, maybe just a tad stiff. I rested on Monday, did plyo on Tuesday and I ran Wednesday(last night) a full 5K and came in at 25:52! Wow, already hit my first goal of sub 30 minute! Now my next goal is to win races...I want to be 20:00 5K. I want to stay healthy with my ankle(s)...knees are fine and nutrition and how to train to get to the 20:00 mark...sorry for long post.
heh.. I literally just read this before seeing your post. For a 20min 5k that would be quarters in at 6:24 per mile or in 1:36 and 1200s between 7:24 and 8:00 per mile pace. This might be a little tough to start off with.
Maybe start with traditional base building, tempos (20-30 min) and 5k workouts (2 min on / 1 min off or 3 min on / 2 min off). Im a bit surprised the ankle doesn't hurt when you do plyos. But, definitely keep doing those.
It would be helpful if your training log was visible.
And we run because we like itThrough the broad bright land
I don't know what any of that means hehe...sorry. What are tempos. Can you explain. I read that article sounds good just don't know what it means.
From the McMillan Running web site (https://www.mcmillanrunning.com/articlePages/page/21)
"Tempo Runs
Tempo runs are slightly more intense than steady-state runs and are designed to increase your stamina. As the name suggests, you really improve your running tempo or rhythm with these workouts. They last between 15 and 30 minutes and are run between your :40:00 (40 minute) and 1:15:00 race pace. Tempo runs are meant to be "comfortably hard" so don't push the pace. Your heart rate will likely be between 85 and 90% of max.
Like the steady-state run, tempo runs are continuous efforts but you must preface them with a thorough warm-up."
Ok. I guess I would use my results from the practice 5K yesterday as my base. My time was 25:52 and my 1 mile split was 8:14.
Ok, I think I am tracking now...so I wanna run a 5K in 20:00 as my next goal. That would be 1:42 for 400m repeat.
Hi-vis Gear Specialist
link to commercial site....
Chief Endurance Dork
I would inject one note of caution. From your times noted, it looks like you are running pretty hard on most of your training runs. This is really common for new runners -- we tend to gravitate to running nearly as fast as we can for the time we've set for ourselves. The problem is this tends to flatline our training progression and also is more likely to lead to injury. I call this "training in the gray area" - the gray area is the effort level just barely below our anaerobic threshold. Spend a little time here and you could be fine -- but spend a lot of time here and you might be asking for trouble.
Instead, try to vary your efforts --it can be as simple as alternating days: go longer and run much easier one day and the next head to the track and run short and much faster. I explain about some of this in Trickle Down Physiology.
Varying your efforts can help you build endurance and improve your running economy (by being able to get in more miles) as well as making you faster (because it gets you to run much faster than your goal pace).
endurancenerd.com