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Starting again (sort of)

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sallykate Mar 2012 1:48pm, 19 Mar 2012 2,452 posts	Quote Pin sallykate I'm looking for some advice for my training post-VLM. I've been running for about 4 years but have never trained for shorter stuff. When I started running in October 2007 it was with Edinburgh mara 2008 as my goal. 2009 was my "best" running year and I ran 6 half-maras. 2010 I trained for Brighton mara (DNF because of illness), 2011 I trained for VLM (disappointed because it was too hot for me) and 2012 I'm training for VLM again (not very successfully so far!). And in 2010 and 2011 I ran Beachy Head mara too. None of my marathons has been under 5 hours. For the rest of the year post-VLM I'd like to focus properly on shorter distances and get faster. Then next year I'll work on half-mara. I'm solidly back of the pack, WAVA around 50%, but am sure I should be able to get faster. Just not quite sure what plan to follow! I'd be looking to run 3-4 times per week, with some rowing, cycling and swimming as cross-training. Can anyone suggest training plans or general approaches? Do I got straight from VLM to speedwork or focus on something else (what?) first? Do I keep a weekly long run going? I don't have a specific race in mind any time soon but parkrun obviously gives me a chance to test 5K fitness reasonably regularly and there's a local 10K in October which I might run. So plenty of time to work on things. Thanks in advance for any input
Jambomo Mar 2012 1:52pm, 19 Mar 2012 3,188 posts	Quote Pin Jambomo I'm afraid I don't have any advice to give but I'm in the same position as you and so will follow the thread with interest! Good luck
Jambomo Mar 2012 7:46pm, 19 Mar 2012 3,189 posts	Quote Pin Jambomo Bump
greenbox Mar 2012 9:00pm, 19 Mar 2012 224 posts	Quote Pin greenbox I am no expert but there are lots of training plans on the internet its just a matter of finding ne that u think will suit you. I was kinda thinking of doing the same thing after my 1st marathon next month (either that or never run again lol)
sallykate Mar 2012 10:28pm, 19 Mar 2012 2,455 posts	Quote Pin sallykate Thanks gb There are indeed loads of plans out there, which is why I wanted to get some perspective from people. I'll probably go for the coolrunning.com beginner's 10K plan but would welcome the opinions of others more experience than I am in training in a focused way for shorter distances rather than HMs or maras.
Jambomo Mar 2012 10:13am, 20 Mar 2012 3,192 posts	Quote Pin Jambomo If you have been doing a lot of training for VLM would you want a beginners schedual? have you looked at a more intermediate one? it's just I think that you might want a bit of running at faster speeds and less abouot building a base as you will probably have that to some extent already. Still I don't really know much about it so maybe wait till someone more knowledgable comes along
Pestomum Mar 2012 10:15am, 20 Mar 2012 13,421 posts	Quote Pin Pestomum are you looking to train again for a specific race or to have some time of general improvement?
Mikuro Mar 2012 10:18am, 20 Mar 2012 9,520 posts	Quote Pin Mikuro I wouldn't bother with beginners as you will have plenty of fitness from your mara training. I would definitely go for an intermediate. To get faster you need speedwork/tempo runs so find a 10k/5k plan that suits you that has that in. And I'd still keep a long run, but no need to go a really long way for shorter distances - you just need to keep up that endurance level. I'm no expert tho.
sallykate Mar 2012 10:47am, 20 Mar 2012 2,457 posts	Quote Pin sallykate Maybe I'll do the intermediate coolrunning plan but it's got 6 runs a week which is way too many for me -- I'd have to swap some of that for cross-training but perhaps I cd do the intermediate speedwork sessions. PM I don't really have a specific race in mind for 5K but will probably focus on the Dulwich 10K in October for a 10K PB. Flattish, smallish and local. Any suggestions other than coolrunning.com for plans? (Haven't actually looked at RW yet...)
FitterStu Mar 2012 11:40am, 20 Mar 2012 8,411 posts	Quote Pin FitterStu Hal Higdon? Better known for marathon plans but does have plans for other distances. Try halhigdon.com