How many miles did you run today?

strangely, fourth consecutive day of running (which I seldom do), didn't sleep all that well, popped off 6.7 miles in 47:35, even splits. It was fairly cold (mid-40's) and pretty dry out there, which helped.

I passed by one gent walking his dog early on, and he asked if I was at 7-minute pace. I said 7, 7:30 or so, figuring I had just run an unusually quick loop and would come to earth soon enough. Didn't happen: the miles flew by, it was pure enjoyment. Strides were smooth and purposeful, hardly thought about hamstring/calf timing.

Considering this, I'm going to check my training log to see whether this pattern hold up, and if so I may reconsider the whole idea of tapering before a race. I'm reading Matt Fitzgerald's Run which is finally connecting the dots for me on the mind-body connection.

Hoping to get some noob advice. I've never liked running. At all. However, I signed up for the local warrior dash and, even though it's not a "serious" race, I'd prefer not to embarrass myself. I've got about three months to prep.

I'm early 30s, 6' tall, 165. In order to determine a baseline, I went out and ran a mile last night, which took about ~7:20.

Any suggestions for:

1. A training plan - I'm thinking of just doing c25k though it seems to focus on people who are in worse shape than myself. Also, I'd like to incorporate more sprinting and hills (which would be easy enough just to tack on to the existing plan)

2. A good site that'll offer suggestions on the basics (breathing patterns, running form, etc.)?

^^ nvm. read ur post again. durrr.

anyway, c25k is probably fine but consider the length of the warrior dash in establishing your training patterns. Consider a 10k plan to get over the 3-mile 5k.

A 7:20 mile is respectable - particularly if you've not been training. I'd focus on getting your distance covered before any speedwork.

As for sites: Runnersworld.com and runningtimes.com are both informative. Letsrun.com is more racing-oriented and news-centered, but you can sometimes find good training info on the message boards - once you get past the teenage XC snark. (If you thought CE was bad...). There was a document called Hadd's Approach to Distance Training on Letsrun.com that was really damn good about the what and why.

Anyway, that's my first-draft $0.02.

^Thanks Thomas. You're right; I forgot to mention the fact that the event is 3.5 miles (not to mention the hills and obstacles), so a 5k doesn't quite cover it.

C25K lists both time and distance options and is a 9 week program. My though was to do it based on time rather than distance, and cover more mileage. For example, the final run is 3 miles or 30 minutes, so I'd set a goal to cover at least 4 miles in that 30 minutes and then go beyond that in the last 2-3 weeks. I just don't have any idea what a reasonable goal should be in terms of progression over the time period I'm working with.

I'll be checking out those sites you recommended.

^^ one of the big questions here is this: after running a 7:20 mile, how did you feel? Were you huffing and puffing? Could you do another mile right afterward at the same pace? That, to me, will dictate your beginning mileage and pace, and where you go from there.

As for the time/duration, given that it's an obstacle course, I'd have to think that you'll be out there a good deal longer than the time it takes to run 3.5 - you might see if there are any prior year results out there to get a feel for the finishing times. If the winners are finishing in 1 hour, then you can guess that your effort would be 50/50 running/obstacles - and train up to your likely finishing time, because that's how long you'll be out there, on your feet, running and crawling and climbing and so on - all the while building up an oxygen debt on the obstacles and using your running to recover from the previous obstacle. Given that, I'd put priority on the base mileage and only add hills once you've had a few good weeks of mileage.

Good luck, man.

Originally Posted by Thomas

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^^ one of the big questions here is this: after running a 7:20 mile, how did you feel? Were you huffing and puffing? Could you do another mile right afterward at the same pace? That, to me, will dictate your beginning mileage and pace, and where you go from there.

As for the time/duration, given that it's an obstacle course, I'd have to think that you'll be out there a good deal longer than the time it takes to run 3.5 - you might see if there are any prior year results out there to get a feel for the finishing times. If the winners are finishing in 1 hour, then you can guess that your effort would be 50/50 running/obstacles - and train up to your likely finishing time, because that's how long you'll be out there, on your feet, running and crawling and climbing and so on - all the while building up an oxygen debt on the obstacles and using your running to recover from the previous obstacle. Given that, I'd put priority on the base mileage and only add hills once you've had a few good weeks of mileage.

Good luck, man.

Huffing and puffing a fair amount, but not about to collapse either. There was a slight incline the last couple hundred yards that didn't do me any favors. On a flat track, maybe I could have knocked out another mile at close to that pace - but not much point for me to be training on a flat track.

I must have a deviated septum or something. I can't run any sort of distance breathing only through my nose, and historically if I'd run a mile my throat would end up hurting like hell at the end and for a couple of hours afterward. This is a large part of my aversion to running. Yesterday I alternated each breath between nose and mouth, always exhaling from the mouth, and did not have any throat problems, so that's encouraging.

Each of these events are different, and I haven't seen past times for the PA version but it looks like the top finishers usually break 20 minutes and the slowest folks come in at around 60 minutes (I'm ignoring some stragglers at the end). PA at 3.5 miles is slightly longer than most.

I want to say my goal is 35 minutes, but suspect I'm reaching

advice on 5k.

Well, 2 ish years ago, I had never run. I started at 1 mile, then added a half, and so on.
My first 5K was run about 6 months into running, and I knocked out a 27:42. Now I can run that in about 21 minutes. I focus on much farther distances now, but 5k is where it all stays.
So, if you are capable at running a 7:20 MM, then I would say, a few things:
1. You need to work on endurance, long runs build that. Set your goal at 5 miles, then a 5K will be a walk in the park.
2. You have speed and that is easy to work on, once you have some level of fitness and endurance built you can return to that focus.
3. You will need to find your natural pace. This changes over time, but I would say its not 7:20 as Thomas eludes to. More likely its say 7:45 or something like that.
4. As you build endurance, you will want to do negative split runs, where say for a 3 mile run, your first mile will be your slowest, your last mile will be your fastest. This is a very effective way at learning how to overcome lactic acid issues, pushes your fitness, and will give you closing speed in a 5K race.

I hope that helps.

2.4 miles on the treadmill during lunch at work in 30 minutes..

Getting better at this!

antirabbit - thanks, good advice. I think getting to the point where I'm comfortable running 5 miles is a good goal.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^I I would keep it casual, but goal oriented. When I ran my first Half Marathon, I was already over 25 miles on my long runs. the 13.1 distance was no big deal and allowed me to have fun, focus on pace-not just finishing, and also execute some strategy.


Finally outside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7 glorious miles to the lake and back (you have all seen the pics, so im not posting them).
Averaged about a 7:45 MM pace. That is way way way faster than I have ever been.
My feet hurt a bit from the PF, but I think I have the upper hand now.
I will stretch and ice, short run tomorrow and hit a 10+ on Sat.

7.86 miles in CP this morning in 51:03. Trying to get some solid mileage in before taking it easy next week in preperation for the NYC Half.

i am not so good at running but usually i do jogging or running for 1 miles only.

Originally Posted by mylesmyles

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7.86 miles in CP this morning in 51:03. Trying to get some solid mileage in before taking it easy next week in preperation for the NYC Half.

come say hi at the Aid station at 57th next week, i've foolishly volunteered to hand out water. 9 miles for me today, two bridges, great weather.

5k

Today, two weeks out from the half-marathon, and after a rest Friday, 5.3 miles in 38:03. Had a slower first loop as I started getting loose, and after that I settled into a 7-minute pace, pushed it a bit at the end but nothing crazy. I definitely ought to add some speedwork or hills, but not until after this race.

playlist:

Gorillaz - White Flag
The Clash - Koka Kola
Morrissey - You Know I Couldn't Last
Goo Goo Dolls - Stay With You
Husker Du - Could You Be The One?
James Brown - Super Bad
Elvis Costello - Tear Off Your Own Head
John Frusciante - Ah Yom
Janelle Monae - Dance or Die
Elvis Costello - Couldn't Call it Unexpected No. 4
The Clash - What's My Name (live)
The Clash - Wrong 'Em Boyo