My prog/times advice please

racso1975

Started running 12-13 weeks ago having done nothing for approx a year and having put 1 3/4 stone on in weight:o

Any how tried running 2 miles today as a test to see what kinda time and really pushed myself. I did first mile in 7:48 and my second in 9.02 resulting in overall time of 16.50 i just wondered how this was and plz b honest bout it.

My weekly routine is to run 3.8km on monday(22.15mins), run 3.8km tuesday and include 1.6km of interval running within that,rest wednesday and run 5k thursday (29-31mins aprox), rest friday and do approx 15-20k cycle sat.

What are people opinion of this prog?i acknowledge there is obviously alot of room for improvement but not sure if i'd be that interested in running further distances i.e. 10k as kinda happy with 5k running

thinking of entering 5k road race in dec and really dont want to be last!!!!!

Thanks for lookin and feedback

--amadeus--

Depending on the type of race you're very unlikley to be last - most short races have lots of walkers in them so even at 20 min / miles you wouldn't be last!

Averaging 8 min miles isn't bad but - if I'm honest - I think you're going about things back to front. Battering out a 7:30 followed by a 9:00 is pretty pointless (since the third mile would probably be in 10:00 or more at that rate!). You'd be better off (and put less strain on your body) by going more slowly but evenly, running at a constant 8:30 or 8:15 for example.

Mainly though I would ask what you want to achieve with your running? Is it to lose weight? To get fitter? To enter races or be able to run fast? The raining and advice for all these goals is different.

The program sounds fine by the way, good workout but you will need to shake up the intensity or distances to avoid a plateau.

Good luck!

racso1975

yeah i knew going out it was all wrong as was brething heavily:rolleyes:

my main goals are to lose weight and increse fitness and my main plan was to continue you doing what i am at but at greater intensity

did the first half of the 3.8k in 10.30 and goal is to get under 10mins by end of next week and did the second half in 11.45 and want to get that down to 11.30

Peckham

To be honest, as you are just getting into running I wouldn't worry at this stage about trying to force speed, this will come naturally as you get fitter. At this stage it's just likely to cause injury, and turn you off running!

The goals I think you should set are getting out for 20minutes, then 40 minutes, 50 minutes and so on. This should be done gradually over time (i.e. maybe only adding 10 minutes per week).

At the same time you could also increase the frequency of running. This will pay much bigger dividends in terms of fitness and getting you to a stage where you can confidently enter races of varying distances.

So something like....
Week 1: 3 x 20 minute runs
Week 2: 2 x 20 minute runs, 1 x 30 minute run
Week 3: 3 x 20 minute run, 1 x 30 minute run
Week 4: 3 x 20 minute run, 1 x 30 minute run (to allow your body get used to three increases in a row)
Week 5: 2 x 20 minute run, 1 x 30 minute run, 1 x 40 minute run
etc. etc.

All of these runs should be taken at a nice easy pace - there's no need to get out of breath. Most training is done at a level below this.

Also, make sure to take fluids on your longer runs (water or Lucozade Sport or similar).

Most importantly, make sure it doesn't become a chore - make it enjoyable in terms of where you run, run with other people if possible etc!

ss43

I'd have to question the need to bring fluid on a 40 minute run. Surely carrying the bottle and having to drink from it would negate the benefit - it's only a 40 minute easy run.

Stupid_Private

My advice would be to not concentrate so much on your times at the moment. Just get out and enjoy it, leave your watch at home. I do a fair bit of running and the only times my watch comes out is when I have to do interval training or a track session. Its a bit weird at the start as you're used to checking your watch and looking for improvement but you get over that soon enough. Good luck.

ecoli

if u lookin to do long distance and u gettin bk in i advise forgettin times and interval work and jus work on buildin a base cos that really important jus work ur way up to long runs at an easy pace there no point worryin about speed if ya dont have the strength to carry ya thru a race

--amadeus--

By now you may be seeing a pattern emerging in the replies...!

If your main goals are to increase your overall fitness levels and lose weight then hard running is generally not considered teh best approach. When you run flat out (as you seem to have been doing) your heart rate is close to maximum, your straining, working in O2 debt and teh whole thing is pretty uncomfortable. Generally you want to keep your workout at around 70 - 80% of your maximum available heart rate. This is the aerobic zone and is proven to be the correct effort level for maximum cardio gains. As it happens it's also best for fat burning! If you don't have a heart rate monitor then a rule of thumb is to run at a conversational pace - if you can't talk you're going too fast! This might mean slowing down and even taking walk breaks at first. This is nothing to be ashamed of, racing your training runs is pointless, time only matters in a race!

On that point timing your training runs is often a bad idea as you do look for constant improvments. If they aren't there it's easy to get demotivated and it can lead to every day being a hard training day as you strive to knock a second or two off and that's a sure way to wind up injured.

Good luck and keep us informed!

racso1975

thanks for all the advice folks was kinda thinking the same today when running as the 5k i have now done in 28 mins and i keep thinking the faster i do it the less exercise i am actually getting plus i am becoming a bit preoccupied with the time element:rolleyes:

will defo keep ye updated and will let ya know how the race on dec8th goes!!!

p.s dont tell the brother hood or i'll gat a serious beatin:D