Stroopy121 Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 No I haven't done a marathon, didn't even manage any half marathons this year due to the injury. My plan next year is to get my half marathon time under 2 hours and try and do 3 or 4 of them. Ideally I'm targeting our achievement level club standard time of 1:40. Also going to enter more hill races. I'm just jealous of your times really, don't worry about it. I've busted my ass running 3 or 4 times a week for a couple of years now, joined a running club, do everything you're supposed to do and I still haven't run under 50 mins for a 10k. Getting faster all the time (50:34 at Forres) though so I'll get there eventually. Speaking as someone who has no idea what the fuck he's talking about - all the literature I've read suggests changing up your routine - change 3 runs a week to a swim, a leg session at the gym (or a general leg-oriented workout) and a run. I read that's the best way to break a slump. But, my personal best for a 5k is around the 40 minute mark, as I usually need to stop and lie down and vomit halfway through, so take my advice with a pinch of salt! Well done Gladstone, pretty awesome achievement(s)! xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 Ah right - I get it. You were saying "no training" meaning, only really trained for a few months because you've been slogging away for a long time. I can totally understand that. But, as I said before, I've always maintained a really good level of fitness ever since I was a kid, not just focused training for running. It's been mainly football over the years, but have pitched in with other things and I used to walk and cycle everywhere when I lived in Aberdeen. So the focused training of earlier this year to get down to 42:01 on the back of something like 5 months training was the tip of the iceberg and honing the speed/endurance I guess. And during my training regime in the first half of the year, I was working out 6 times a week most of the time - running 3 times, cycling/swimming twice and doing strength exercises another time. (Following the "Run Less, Run Faster" programmes - I would recommend!) I'm now trying to run 6 times a week with some swimming / strength training added on. It's been a bad couple of weeks with holiday last week and then not feeling great at the start of this week, but I'll get back on it on Monday. Swimming 3 mornings a week, strength exercises the other 2 mornings, running 4-5 lunchtimes and a run on a Saturday... I'm gunning for sub 40 minutes at the Garioch 10k in March! Sounds like you're making great progress too - the sub 50 will come surely if you're down at 50:34 now. Pick a flat one and go for it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 Speaking as someone who has no idea what the fuck he's talking about - all the literature I've read suggests changing up your routine - change 3 runs a week to a swim, a leg session at the gym (or a general leg-oriented workout) and a run. I read that's the best way to break a slump. But, my personal best for a 5k is around the 40 minute mark, as I usually need to stop and lie down and vomit halfway through, so take my advice with a pinch of salt! Well done Gladstone, pretty awesome achievement(s)! xxI would disagree with that actually. You can't get faster at running 5k / 10k / any distance by only running once or twice a week once you get down to the sort of pace that Chris is already running. Adding intervals sessions, tempo runs and more miles (not all at the same time or you'll injure yourself) and perhaps adding in cycling / swimming to help with general endurance will help - BUT, Chris is in a running club and has been doing this for much longer than me so he'll know that already!! I wasn't going to advise him how to get faster because he'll already know how to get faster and is getting faster all the time - so he isn't in a slump! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroopy121 Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 I bow to superior knowledge on the subject. I think "Run Less, Run Faster" is probably what I was getting at. T'has been a while since I followed any kind of fitness regime since having to bail out of the Edinburgh marathon due to various broken bits. xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 Aye I'm not in a slump, I've improved consistently over the last 2 or 3 years, just started from a really slow base when I picked up the running bug! I've slotted in a lot of cross training this year (again due to the injury meaning I couldn't run) and have started cycling and indoor climbing. I also do a bit of hill walking. My running routine is pretty varied - 5k loops round Banchory as tempo runs or fartleks, intervals up Scolty hill, long slow runs at weekends (either flat along the railway line to Drumoak or a long run in the hills) and interval training with the club on Tuesday nights. Also occasionally park a few miles from the office and run in. What I think has held me back the most is that I've been quite conservative with regards to pushing my training. Sticking doggedly to the "don't increase your mileage by more than 10%" mantra and limiting my time in the hills. After the trip I was on in Assynt a few weeks ago and seeing how my clubmates approach a lot of their training (i.e. don't overthink it, just get out and run in the hills) I'm going to start spending more time doing tough hill runs and try and push myself instead of sticking to the easy option of loops round the streets. That should hopefully stand me in good stead for the racing season when it starts again in the spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroopy121 Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 Aye I'm not in a slump, I've improved consistently over the last 2 or 3 years, just started from a really slow base when I picked up the running bug! I've slotted in a lot of cross training this year (again due to the injury meaning I couldn't run) and have started cycling and indoor climbing. I also do a bit of hill walking. My running routine is pretty varied - 5k loops round Banchory as tempo runs or fartleks, intervals up Scolty hill, long slow runs at weekends (either flat along the railway line to Drumoak or a long run in the hills) and interval training with the club on Tuesday nights. Also occasionally park a few miles from the office and run in. What I think has held me back the most is that I've been quite conservative with regards to pushing my training. Sticking doggedly to the "don't increase your mileage by more than 10%" mantra and limiting my time in the hills. After the trip I was on in Assynt a few weeks ago and seeing how my clubmates approach a lot of their training (i.e. don't overthink it, just get out and run in the hills) I'm going to start spending more time doing tough hill runs and try and push myself instead of sticking to the easy option of loops round the streets. That should hopefully stand me in good stead for the racing season when it starts again in the spring. Is fartlek a typo? Because if it's a thing, I want to do it because the name is ace. xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 Is fartlek a typo? Because if it's a thing, I want to do it because the name is ace. xx It's a Swedish thing. Basically intervals without specifying a set time or distance. So you go for a run, nice and steady, then throw in a sprint to a bus stop 300 yds away or blast up a small hill, then do a few things like that so you've done 6-8 fast paced segments over the length of your steady run. You can vary the distance and the pace of the segments. It makes it a bit more interesting than just waiting for your watch to beep every minute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroopy121 Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 It's a Swedish thing. Basically intervals without specifying a set time or distance. So you go for a run, nice and steady, then throw in a sprint to a bus stop 300 yds away or blast up a small hill, then do a few things like that so you've done 6-8 fast paced segments over the length of your steady run. You can vary the distance and the pace of the segments. It makes it a bit more interesting than just waiting for your watch to beep every minute. Ahhh, sounds like a good idea - beat the monotony a little. Plus it's fun to say. FARTlek. FartLEK. FaaaarrrrRRRrrrtlek. That's my morning's entertainment sorted. xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 Aye - Chris, I think there's a fine line between being happy to progress very slowly and pushing yourself a bit harder to get quicker gains. I've normally gone for the latter and have fallen foul a couple of times with minor injuries - had a scare a couple of weeks before the half marathon - thought I had a stress fracture which turned out to be nothing of the kind...!! I was training for a sub 1:30 half marathon, which in hindsight was stupid because I was nowhere near ready for that. If I'd trained a tad more sensibly and then set out at a slower pace, I reckon I could have gone sub 1:35 but I lost a couple of weeks of training due to injury and I set out too quickly over the first 4 (uphill!) miles and had a less than enjoyable subsequent 9 miles...!! The week in question that I injured myself, I ran 15 miles on the Sunday at sub 8 minute miles, then did a tasty intervals session on the Tuesday, chucked in a recovery run (4 miles maybe) on the Wednesday (this was the downfall I think - an extra run that I never ever did at any point in the training programme!) and then a 10k tempo run on the Thursday (43 minutes I think). After the 10k tempo run, I had a really bad pain on the inside of my shin which I thought was a fracture - it was just shin splints, but it taught me a lesson. Either increase mileage or increase pace. Don't do both at the same time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 I ran 15 miles on the Sunday at sub 8 minute miles, Is that supposed to be a LSR? Seems a bit fast. Do you use runkeeper or strava? I love running/cycling stats so always put up every session onto them. Great for tracking progress and competing with friends. http://runkeeper.com/user/chrisoff/http://www.strava.com/athletes/2110768 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 Is that supposed to be a LSR? Seems a bit fast. Do you use runkeeper or strava? I love running/cycling stats so always put up every session onto them. Great for tracking progress and competing with friends. http://runkeeper.com/user/chrisoff/http://www.strava.com/athletes/2110768The Run, Less Run Faster LSRs are a bit aggressive - but I was training for a 6:50 per mile HM, so 8 per mile (well it was a tad less than that actually) isn't that slow. I strapped on a heart rate monitor after that and discovered that I should be doing LSRs closer to 9 (or slower). I use Garmin Connect to track my training - http://connect.garmin.com/profile/calumcrighton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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