I was able to read the google cached version thanks Sid.
Most of this seems to be fed by the tabata protocol. I've heard similar statements and would definitely consider adding tabatas in.
Just out of curiosity what are your plans/goal in regards to running? I know you have talked about longevity and running medium distance races in the future. Is this it? The problem with these different but specific training ideas is they are a little too generic to reach most peoples goals. No matter what they say tabatas are not going to prepare you to run a half marathon.
BTW maybe you should send a video with a check, for me to analyze, I've decided to take up coaching
On a weekly basis, I'd like to run 4-5 hours at a decent pace, like 8 mm or less, for an average of something like 30-35 miles per week. That's pretty much my plan or goal. Then do that for as long as my body will let me, maybe cutting back to 25 mpw when I get up in my 90s
.
The question is how to get there.
When I first started running consistently again, in spring of 2011, I followed the usual recreational runner's protocol of slowly increasing distances, with an attendant gradual increase in pace. But I was hampered by TOFP for much of time. A sports med doc told me in September of 2011 that it was a stress reaction/fracture. Then around March of this year it seemed to have cleared up, and I got up to around five miles at 9 mm pace soon after. That's about what I was doing in Chicago when I last ran consistently.
Around this time I started tuning in here at BRS on a regular basis and started hearing about folks running much greater distances. That piqued my curiosity. How far could I run?
I also started hearing talk of form, cadence, low heart rate, and all the rest, pretty much for the first time. One day I did spontaneous fartleks, before I even knew they had a name I think (could be wrong about that), and I liked the feeling of going faster and being winded and I also noticed that my form, to the extent I could objectively perceive it, felt a lot smoother at faster paces. Then I read that hills are good for increasing speed. So I started doing hills.
More reading over the summer, and I learned that most serious, competitive runners do a variety of runs, a mix of endurance runs, stamina runs (tempo or threshold type runs) and speedwork, like shorter intervals or hill sprints. Each kind of running trains a different aspect of running physiology and biomechanics. Cool. So at the beginning of September, I started doing intervals down at the high school track, and some tempo runs on my out-n-backs. My pace picked up pretty quickly. Then I got the random MCL injury at the beginning of October, and my running has been regressing since then, mostly because I've been impatiently trying to get back to where I was before the injury. This impatience, as you know, has provoked some ITBS, after a ill-advised attempt at 10 miles just a few weeks into my active recovery phase.
OK, I read up about ITBS, and everyone says it's due to weak hip muscles and/or sudden increases in mileage. People seem to be divided as to whether rolling and stretching help or if they just alleviate the symptoms. Then yesterday you post that link about how running faster can alleviate ITBS.
So, since I can't run far without risking ITBS anyway, it would seem to make sense to spend a few weeks focusing on lower body strength-training and running faster intervals. Then, after a fashion, I'll work my tempo runs back in and eventually my endurance runs, getting back to the three-times-a-week combo of endurance, stamina, and speed I had going in September.
Then, when the pace on my longer runs is starting to get decent, I may back off a bit on the speed work, maybe do it just a few times a month, and do more endurance or stamina running.
I'm not really interested in racing, but I thought it would be fun to check it out, since so many people here at BRS do it. And since Dutchie signed up for that half in August here in the Twin Cities, I thought it would be fun to do it with him, and Dama too, if she can work the trip into her schedule. So the goal is to work up to 13-15 miles as my max run by then, and, if possible, be able to do it in two hours or less.
But the main goal is really just to run decent distances at decent paces and remain injury-free. Once I get to a base-level of running fitness, I'll probably treat it more like strength training and stop obsessing about it so much.
If you or anyone else has a different or modified idea of how I can get there, given my recent running history, I'd appreciate hearing it. I just want to run fast enough that I feel smooth, and far enough that I can get into that nice, meditative zone several times a week, and sleep soundly at night. It would be nice to be a bit fitter too, but the doc says my gauges already look good, so that's kind of a secondary concern.
Do you accept PayPal?
