The FastDay Forum

That's once a week, 5km @franglaise, not every day! I admit to running 5 or 6 days a week in the eighties, training for marathons and putting in the odd 70 mile week but that is probably what has led to my hips wearing out.

When I was last fit, late 2009 to mid-2010, it was as a result of getting out a couple of lunchtimes a week for 5 or 6 miles with proper runners then doing a solo 12-13 miles slow run on Sundays. This strategy managed to get me to sub-99 minutes for a couple of halves and 45:12 for 10k. More mileage would not have helped, pace was more important at that stage in my career! I'm impressed that you can warm up for 45 mins, I never did more than 5 minutes...

I'm impressed that you can warm up for 45 mins, I never did more than 5 minutes...

That is what we do with the club, I never do any warm up exercises at all and my warm up jog is always too fast (according to my coach!) I'm Madame Regular, I start at the same speed as I finish, incapable of accelerating at the end, I just do a regular speed throughout. So a very slow warm up jog (as I'm supposed to do) is difficult and I usually get through 8kms in a 45 minute warm up which is really too fast.

I only train 3 or 4 days a week, around 45 kms running in total

That sounds a lot like my schedule - I'd like to add, the "new" trend is "less is more", just like @CreakyPete said, there's a lot to learn from Mark at Mark's daily apple site. A short summary: The reward from too many hours on the road or too many miles seems to be very little in improved form and speed and a lot in a stressed and more inflammated body.
Most common mistake seems to be to go too many miles too fast (thinking it's more efficient training, while it is in fact slowly and surely breaking you down)

Gratz with the new PB @brougham!

That sounds a lot like my schedule - I'd like to add, the "new" trend is "less is more", just like @CreakyPete said, there's a lot to learn from Mark at Mark's daily apple site. A short summary: The reward from too many hours on the road or too many miles seems to be very little in improved form and speed and a lot in a stressed and more inflammated body.
Most common mistake seems to be to go too many miles too fast (thinking it's more efficient training, while it is in fact slowly and surely breaking you down)[/tag]![/quote]
I'd agree with all of that - in 6 months of training hard I haven't improved my performance at all, and I know I run too quickly during training - I find it really hard to run at less than 10kms an hour during long runs, which is what I should be doing (70% of race speed).
I'm off to check out Mark's daily apple site....

This is all really interesting! I'm off to check out Mark's site too.

For this half marathon, I was only running twice a week--one long run and one hill run (or a tempo run on the treadmill). But I was doing strength training usually twice a week, and intervals on the elliptical 1-2 times a week. Everything has been thrown out of whack by the sciatica, but my plan for the humid Okinawa summer is to do a lot in the gym--strength training, intervals, tempo runs --with the occasional early morning or after sunset long run if it ever feels cool enough.

My mileage per week is fairly low. I've done that on purpose to be kind to my knees. It's worked; they're much happier now.

If you are interested in lower mileage you can also check out the Furman Institute:
http://www2.furman.edu/sites/first/Pages/rlrf.aspx
Their book "Run less, run faster" has had a lot of hype and I think the principles are great - But I'm not sure i want to turn every run into a targeted exercise with a specific purpose.

A lot of the people I run with in the club (some of them very good, sub 3 hour marathons) only train 3 times a week and usually no more than 25kms on a marathon long run training session.
Unless you are a professional runner I'm not sure how you find the time to train 6 times a week with worthwhile workouts! But a lot of training programmes seem to be 6 times a week. I'm not sure that the 'easy day' runs are any better than a day of rest or cross training.

As my next few month's targets center around running 5ks I have dramatically reduced my mileage and upped the intensity of my sessions. It has felt odd to recover so quickly, from training sessions, and to generally feel more energised as opposed to being in recovery mode for at least 24 hours. Whether it proves to be effective or not I will see over the next 12 weeks.

I suspect, Simon, that you will be well under your old 25 minute target within the next few weeks - which means I had better get my finger out, last week's parkrun was 24:56!

I am not expecting too much at my next Parkrun which should be on 31.05, but the one that I have scheduled for the end of June is my target for a spectacular PB. The main problem with the Heaton Park run is the gruesome hill that comes at about 3.5k as it is a real muscle burner. Further complications arise as I am doing most of my training on a treadmill and I am not getting any practise at running downhill properly. Apart from that.....everything is on course.

I forgot to mention that one of the best parts is that I did not put on one single pound in weight while I was injured! All hail the 5:2.

-> Beginning to get back from marathon haze.
I think it's very good to do shorter and more intensive workouts, the quick recovery is a good sign @Simon Egan
I think someone said "It's not the training that makes you stronger, it's the recovery".
For me I had a great Copenhagen marathon today with a new PB of 3:49:14.
Everthing went quite well until the last 2 km's where rain started to wash sweat and sun lotion in my eyes. It hurt so much I couldn't keep my eyes open and I had to stop and try to wipe it out with my wet hands. That only made it worse and I blindly walked, wiped and stumbled the last kilometer. It probably cost me 3-5 minutes, but hey, it will make the next PB easier!

So I learned four things today:
- Gels are not necessary for me, I can go with the sportsdrink
- Sun lotion has to be tested for water proofness/reaction before race
- Carry a sweatband!
- If the forecast says rain, bring a water proof jacket for after the run. After changing into dry clothers I got soaked walking to the train home. And believe me, after a marathon you want warm cocoa and dry clothes, not another day at sea!

Congrats on a good race and a new PB!

At least in races where you are drenched you don't have to worry about blisters!

Did Kona a few years ago where it rained the entire race. We were going through town in ankle deep water! Switched to drys sock at mile 14; heaven - for a few hundred meters before being fully soaked again.

Well done Olsen, I thought you would smash it and you did! Shame about the rain, from the weather in East England I expected you to be overheating, not nearly drowning...

Here's to the next one!