May 2013
11:22am, 30 May 2013
4,597 posts
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rf_fozzy
Oh, and I could never live 40miles from my job either. I hate commuting.
Half an hour on the bike is far enough for me!!
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May 2013
11:29am, 30 May 2013
3,342 posts
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HermanBloom
Oh I'd love cheaper races
I don't work THAT hard (hence being on here!) just that it's a hefty commute so it takes time away from other things. Two days a week I come back from work, have 10 minutes to get ready and then straight out to the running club, and when I'm back the missus is in bed and I'm knackered. Couldn't really do that three nights a week. The weekend is the only real time me and the gf get to spend together, so I can't (and don't really want) to take both mornings of the weekend out of that. So you are quite correct in that I guess I am prioritising other things.
Guess I just drop parkrun and go for a much, much longer run on the Saturday. Can't really see much else in terms of options.
Anyway, total de-rail, sorry Mole, I'll shut up now
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May 2013
1:04pm, 30 May 2013
1,488 posts
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Lisa T
I vote for quality as opposed to quantity. I got my sub 50 10k on less than 20 miles a week & my half time on just over 20 miles a week. I cycle twice a week too which compliments my running.
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May 2013
1:12pm, 30 May 2013
15 posts
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Davie Newbie 2
I'm in the wonderful position of being guaranteed a PB as next month is my first ever race. As such I have no advice to offer you. Sorry
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May 2013
1:30pm, 30 May 2013
67 posts
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magnumpti
I used the Runners World Smart Coach as well and have dropped my 10k PB from just under 55 minutes (my first ever race) in 2011 to just under 45 minutes in 2012. My best time this year was 45:47. I also trained for my first half in October using the Smart Coach and finished in just under 1.40. Training with a club doesn't fit in with my other commitments so I have to train myself and the Smart Coach does a great job.
In my opinion though the best way to speed up your time is, like others have said, to do plenty of tempo and interval training. Doing parkrun is also a good way to gauge your improvement and it also helps that there are other people to run against which will speed you up a bit, I've dropped my 5k PB by 3 minutes since I started doing parkrun when I can on a Saturday. I wouldn't say you have to do 30+ miles a week, I certainly don't and have seen quite an improvement.
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May 2013
1:33pm, 30 May 2013
5,643 posts
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Bazoaxe
I agree, you need to find what fits personally. I am lucky, I am less then 2 miles from work and there are showers. I cycle in, run home, run in, cycle home and run at weekends, early before the family are up and about.
I average around 55mpw now, way back in the day when my circumstances were different I maybe did 20mpw max and snuk it in when I could and that was tough and I wondeed how anyone could do loads of miles.
I aprpeciate a 40 mile commute makes that harder....can you break it up, travel 35 miles and run the 5 in...run at lunchtime etc
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May 2013
1:36pm, 30 May 2013
995 posts
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Nelly
The thing to remember is that as we are all individuals there will always be someone who is doing more mileage than you and/or training quicker than you, or has achieved a certain race time off less training miles than you. The one thing I've noticed is the people who make the most consistent improvements are those that train consistently over a sustained period of time, not just one training plan.
From the small amount of information we can see on your training log it appears that your training is a little sporadic. Hence, my advise would be to ignore pace/quality/distance completely for the short term, and get yourself into a regular weekly routine of running that fits into your family/work/life/running balance. I finds it helps greatly that I know, and so does my family, that I'll be out the door for a run on a Wednesday and Sunday nights as soon as our youngest is in bed, and so my wife doesn't make plans to go out those nights.
It was mentioned earlier, that commuting is a good way of getting in training sessions (even if it's the first or last few miles into work or home from the train station) without disrupting time at home greatly, or what about running in your lunch hour?
Once you've got into a weekly routine and found out how long you can regularly dedicate to training, you'll be in a much better position to choose an appropriate pre-defined plan and/or consider what sort of training sessions you should be doing.
Good luck
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May 2013
1:58pm, 30 May 2013
1,489 posts
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Lisa T
Some good points Nelly. My PBs could also definitely be attributed to a regular period of training without injury!
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May 2013
2:33pm, 30 May 2013
68 posts
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magnumpti
Forgot to add I also commute by bike every day and my Tuesday easy run is done during my lunch break. I also find it helps to run at different times of the day, I couldn't do any tempo or interval work first thing in the morning so tend to do my easy runs at that time.
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May 2013
2:56pm, 30 May 2013
74 posts
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Moleshome
Good stuff there Nelly. For one reason or another (illness/injury/fed up) training has been sporadic. I certainly found it easier when I was following a plan just from the point of view of having something laid down that I should be doing rather than randomly going out the door.
I work away from home mid-week, Tuesday & Wednesday my evenings are my own so going for a run is a good alternative to just sitting in a hotel room. Saturday Parkrun and Sunday long run just requires me to get my ass out of bed rather than having a lie in.
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