Running - Taking it to the next level
Discussion
So I've been running regularly now for just over a year. I currently train about 3 times a week plus a few other activities throughout the week. Over the last year I've done a fair amount of races, mainly 10ks with a couple of off road runs. Currently training for edinburgh marathon in May and have increased my distance to approx 15 miles.
Now I'm wondering, out of curiosity but also seriousness, to what sort of training regime would it take to become seriously good? And what sort of timescale? Now I'm not talking olympic standard, at 22 I'm pretty sure the olympic boat will have sailed a while ago, but to be a top runner within my club, say finishing in the top 5% races?
A bit more background, I'm approx 5 foot 10, weigh around 13 stone, which has dropped from 14 and a half since I started, my diet is pretty appaling, (student) has stayed the same so the weightloss is all down to the exercise. I'm pretty muscular already but still have a fair bit of puppy fat to shed.
Now I'm wondering, out of curiosity but also seriousness, to what sort of training regime would it take to become seriously good? And what sort of timescale? Now I'm not talking olympic standard, at 22 I'm pretty sure the olympic boat will have sailed a while ago, but to be a top runner within my club, say finishing in the top 5% races?
A bit more background, I'm approx 5 foot 10, weigh around 13 stone, which has dropped from 14 and a half since I started, my diet is pretty appaling, (student) has stayed the same so the weightloss is all down to the exercise. I'm pretty muscular already but still have a fair bit of puppy fat to shed.
Thats a really difficult question to be honest all depends on the work you put in and what level you are at now.
The first thing I would say is that if you want to really good then you will need to lose a fair bit of weight, 13 stone is very heavy for a distance runner and having the muscle is not really needed.
As an example of standard to be in the top 100 in the country at 10k you would need to be doing sub 31 mins, top 200 sub 32 mins so thats a good figure to aim for.
Ewenm on here is the best person to respond to this as he is very good and does the distances you are looking at, and is is a sub 31 min 10k'er. So would be able to tell you whats needed.
On average I would say most people who are that standard have been running/training for a minimum of 5-7 years if not longer. Some people longer some people shorter but the majority of good people I know started athletics at under 13 and have just progressed through the age ranks.
The first thing I would say is that if you want to really good then you will need to lose a fair bit of weight, 13 stone is very heavy for a distance runner and having the muscle is not really needed.
As an example of standard to be in the top 100 in the country at 10k you would need to be doing sub 31 mins, top 200 sub 32 mins so thats a good figure to aim for.
Ewenm on here is the best person to respond to this as he is very good and does the distances you are looking at, and is is a sub 31 min 10k'er. So would be able to tell you whats needed.
On average I would say most people who are that standard have been running/training for a minimum of 5-7 years if not longer. Some people longer some people shorter but the majority of good people I know started athletics at under 13 and have just progressed through the age ranks.
Massive subject - loads of books out there that deal with increasing training load to produce better times. The basic tenet that flows through most of them is increasing the base mileage while putting in quality sessions 2-3 times a week. A good one to look at is Daniels' Running Formula.
My first advice would be to increase your training frequency so that you're running 6 times a week, a standard plan for a 10k/10m/half would be:
Mon: Steady run 60 mins
Tue: Session with the club, faster work eg 6-10x1k with 2-3mins recovery.
Wed: Recovery run, easy to steady 50 mins
Thu: Session with club, longer work at 10mile(ish) pace. eg 5x2k with 2 mins recovery
Fri: Easy 30 mins/rest day
Sat: Rcae or hilly 1hr run working hard on the climbs, relaxing on the descents.
Sun: Long run of at least 90mins building towards 2 hours.
The next step on from there is to train twice a day. When I'm in full training my week is roughly like this:
Mon: AM - 30 mins easy + stretching/circuits; PM - 60 mins steady.
Tue: AM - 30 mins easy; PM - fast session of 8-10k of effort.
Wed: AM - 30 mins easy + stretching/circuits; PM - 60-70 mins steady.
Thu: AM - 30 mins easy; PM - longer session of 10-20k of effort.
Fri: 50 mins steady + stretching/circuits.
Sat: AM - Fartlek session for about an hour, offroad preferably; PM - 30-40 mins easy.
Sun: Long run 2+ hrs, 18-20miles or so.
Total of between 80 and 120 miles in the week depending what sessions and what races I'm doing. I'm just under 6ft and racing weight is 10st4 to 10st7 or so and as Bales says, have been racing competitively since I was 11 (33 now) and run sub-31 10k, sub-68 half marathon (hopefully improving both in 2010).
One big thing to remember is not to increase your mileage by more than about 10% a week (unless you're already used to it) as the extra stress can easily lead to injury.
My first advice would be to increase your training frequency so that you're running 6 times a week, a standard plan for a 10k/10m/half would be:
Mon: Steady run 60 mins
Tue: Session with the club, faster work eg 6-10x1k with 2-3mins recovery.
Wed: Recovery run, easy to steady 50 mins
Thu: Session with club, longer work at 10mile(ish) pace. eg 5x2k with 2 mins recovery
Fri: Easy 30 mins/rest day
Sat: Rcae or hilly 1hr run working hard on the climbs, relaxing on the descents.
Sun: Long run of at least 90mins building towards 2 hours.
The next step on from there is to train twice a day. When I'm in full training my week is roughly like this:
Mon: AM - 30 mins easy + stretching/circuits; PM - 60 mins steady.
Tue: AM - 30 mins easy; PM - fast session of 8-10k of effort.
Wed: AM - 30 mins easy + stretching/circuits; PM - 60-70 mins steady.
Thu: AM - 30 mins easy; PM - longer session of 10-20k of effort.
Fri: 50 mins steady + stretching/circuits.
Sat: AM - Fartlek session for about an hour, offroad preferably; PM - 30-40 mins easy.
Sun: Long run 2+ hrs, 18-20miles or so.
Total of between 80 and 120 miles in the week depending what sessions and what races I'm doing. I'm just under 6ft and racing weight is 10st4 to 10st7 or so and as Bales says, have been racing competitively since I was 11 (33 now) and run sub-31 10k, sub-68 half marathon (hopefully improving both in 2010).
One big thing to remember is not to increase your mileage by more than about 10% a week (unless you're already used to it) as the extra stress can easily lead to injury.
All of these are helping so far so thanks guys, I'm going to draw these plans around my own schedule and see what I can come up with. Also had an idea of keeping this thread as a diary, mainly for myself so I can see where I'm improving with time and so I can look back over a week and see what I was eating and how well I was running etc.
Might be of interest to other people in similar situations?
Might be of interest to other people in similar situations?
If you want to keep a diary there are lots of good specific forums where training journals are very common and you will get some good advice from other runners/coaches which perhaps have more experience than PH! 
My favorite two are charlie francis and elitetrack, however these are more shorter distance based but still have lots of good info on the longer stuff.
I take it your a member of a club? If not try and join a decent one so you can get a good level of competition and training partners as it makes a big difference.
My favorite two are charlie francis and elitetrack, however these are more shorter distance based but still have lots of good info on the longer stuff.
I take it your a member of a club? If not try and join a decent one so you can get a good level of competition and training partners as it makes a big difference.
bales said:
If you want to keep a diary there are lots of good specific forums where training journals are very common and you will get some good advice from other runners/coaches which perhaps have more experience than PH!
My favorite two are charlie francis and elitetrack, however these are more shorter distance based but still have lots of good info on the longer stuff.
I take it your a member of a club? If not try and join a decent one so you can get a good level of competition and training partners as it makes a big difference.
Will bare that in mind cheers. My favorite two are charlie francis and elitetrack, however these are more shorter distance based but still have lots of good info on the longer stuff.
I take it your a member of a club? If not try and join a decent one so you can get a good level of competition and training partners as it makes a big difference.
Have been a member of st albans striders for about 6 weeks now. Interval trainin once a week, medium distance, then a long distance. Is helping keep up the motivation and pushing me harder than I probably would myself is good. The track sessions are killer though! Nice to have people to run with to.
Gassing Station | Sports | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff