70% WAVA
67 watchers
Jun 2018
2:36pm, 11 Jun 2018
5,001 posts
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larkim
If it helps Nessie, I surprised myself just over a year ago when I ran my fastest ever 5k (at the time) of no speed work, just more miles. But you have to be realistic about how much the "juice is worth the squeeze". The targets are meaningless in and of themselves, but if they're a useful spur to other more important goals (whether that's general fitness, self esteem, weight loss, etc etc) then there is an equation of getting out what you put in which you have to manage for yourself!
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Jun 2018
2:49pm, 11 Jun 2018
12,442 posts
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Autumnleaves
I have used my best WAVA score in the past to build confidence - so for example when I managed my first sub 7 minute mile, swiftly followed by a good 3k performance it gave me the confidence to push myself harder at the 5k. Although I agree with Sharkie that my strengths are at the shorter distances, I did find that telling myself that if I could run a hard mile in 6.45, then maintaining 8.25 over a half marathon 'ought' to be doable with the right training. It wouldn't net me a similar WAVA, but would be getting closer.
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Jun 2018
2:50pm, 11 Jun 2018
12,443 posts
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Autumnleaves
Sorry missed a bit off that sentence - telling myself that helped secure a PB at the Half last year!
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Jun 2018
3:33pm, 11 Jun 2018
527 posts
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Nessie
Confidence is a big thing - I'm not all that good at pushing myself out of my comfort zone. Which sounds a bit odd given that I ran 3 marathons last year..... but all at a pace that I could probably have pushed further. I hit 50 last December, and my motivation is to not stay in my comfort zone and stagnate. I know I feel good about myself and my running if I've pushed hard (last Saturday's parkrun was my fastest since September last year, and it felt good), and now that the kids are almost at the age where I can leave them to get on with their various activities, hopefully I'll have a bit more time. It's the balance between pushing hard and getting a result or pushing too hard and crashing and burning that has always held me back. Parkrun has definitely helped with that, in that if it all goes t*ts up one week, you just do something different the next week, but I'm sure I can do more. |
Jun 2018
3:50pm, 11 Jun 2018
38,424 posts
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Velociraptor
Nessie, I read your first post on the thread a couple of hours ago and had a wee think about it while I was riding my bike. But larkim has said most of what I'd have said, only better. There was a time when I'd just have said, "Yeah, if I can do it anyone can do it, go for it," but I'm less sure of that now. There are so many factors that feed into whether an individual can hit a self-appointed target. Some, we can do nothing about. In your favour is your long running history - longer than mine, as I recall, even though there have been interruptions for happy events. You'll have long term adaptation to running that will benefit you if you *do* decide to do the training that would be needed to make the leap from 50% to 70%. First, though, do YOU believe you can do it? Can YOU see yourself finishing races ahead of people who normally show you their heels? Because if you're mentally comfortable with, "I'm slow, I'm a plodder, but I get to the finish," there's a risk that you'll subconsciously sabotage yourself. |
Jun 2018
4:05pm, 11 Jun 2018
13,398 posts
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Sharkie
Unless you are willing and able to do LOADS of miles I think there's always going to be an element pushing through your comfort zone - to the discomfort zone - if you wan to get quicker. Of course it 's absolutely fine NOT to be bothered about getting faster/improving WAVA scores or whatever... but if you join this thread then presumably that IS what you want! 'You' in the general sense not you specifically, Nessie! |
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Jun 2018
4:16pm, 11 Jun 2018
13,399 posts
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Sharkie
And we have to be realistic about how much time and energy we're willing to commit to something. Given that the first 400m I've run for years came in at 69.17% last July you'd think - knowing me - that I'd be keen to improve it this summer. Well, NO. My 400 PB gave me 75.4% - but that was nine years ago. Two years later and a second slower - 76.8% so I cando it.... but I'm not willing to put myself through the pain of running 400s. |
Jun 2018
4:27pm, 11 Jun 2018
9,942 posts
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FitterStu
I would like to think that I could have this is a goal. I'm a long way away from it though so it wouldn't come quickly. I think there are gains to be made; weight could come down, mileage could go up, speedwork could become more regular and I could target the events where I think it would be most likely. I think that the mile is the event that has shown the most promise in the past. My current best WAVA is at 5K though. One of those is probably the best bet with the 5K much easier to get target races at. |
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Jun 2018
4:45pm, 11 Jun 2018
529 posts
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Nessie
"First, though, do YOU believe you can do it? Can YOU see yourself finishing races ahead of people who normally show you their heels? Because if you're mentally comfortable with, "I'm slow, I'm a plodder, but I get to the finish," there's a risk that you'll subconsciously sabotage yourself. " This. I *want* to get past that mental barrier. Whether that is at 60% WAVA, 70% WAVA or something else, I want to be more....well, just more. But aiming for the stars if the stars are too far might do something to the rocket that is the equivalent of knocking a train off its tracks (I don't like mixing metaphors). I have looked up a Hal Higdon 5k training plan, which includes things like "tempo" and "intervals" which is more structured than the "run a wee bit faster for a while" which is pretty much my "speedwork" at the moment. We'll see how it goes. However, in the course of this afternoon, the goalposts of time available for training may have changed...... |
Jun 2018
6:19pm, 11 Jun 2018
22,596 posts
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DocMoye
Also project joker is a good plan ....
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