GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over?

Aug 30, 15 16:05

Post #1 of 54 (6281 views)

With race season over for me, I am looking forward to next year. My main goal for the off season is to improve my running, the area i have always struggled most in (weather open, or in a tri). I am looking for a place to start to improve my running fitness. Focusing specifically on the marathon, what fall/winter training plans do you all do? Is there a training plan to improve a marathon time that isnt setting you up to peak for a race? What about specific drills, or hours you put in with regards to running. Speed work? Low and slow cardio? Whats your secret?

Background, I am 2 years into my triathlon career, have done 2 IM and bunch of halfs and so on. I run a 20 min 5k, 45 min 10k and have never done an open half or full marathon, but in training i can do a half in about 1:50, so my best guess for a full marathon outside of IM is about 4:15? Hope that helps.

Thoughts I have had:
- Start from the 5 k up and work to improve those times, than 10 k and so on.
- Do a marathon training plan and see where i end up
- Join a running club for help

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Last edited by: Hennessyr: Aug 30, 15 16:09

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Aug 30, 15 16:31

Post #2 of 54 (6230 views)

Volume, son. Volume. Run 'til your legs fall off.

Sorry for a lack of valuable feedback.

@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Aug 30, 15 17:51

Post #3 of 54 (6086 views)

Hennessyr wrote:

Thoughts I have had:
- Start from the 5 k up and work to improve those times, than 10 k and so on.
- Do a marathon training plan and see where i end up
- Join a running club for help

Yes

Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Aug 30, 15 18:06

Post #4 of 54 (6049 views)

I've been running marathons, mostly in the fall, for about 15 years. I've never had any running injuries. I'd like to believe one of the reasons for that is because I keep my off season light in terms of volume and intensity. My off season mileage is around 20-30 mpw, whereas, during my standalone marathon season, I put in between 80-100 miles per week. For me, keeping the off season light allows me not to burn out once I start logging in real mileages.

__________________________________________________________________________
My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Aug 30, 15 18:06

Post #5 of 54 (6047 views)

Run, run, then run some more. Build up volume. 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour plus. Whatever time you have run. Build volume then add in some intensity after you're comfortable running 4-5 days a week without too much fatigue. But BE SMART IF YOU RUN IN SNOW/ICE!!!

I don't think you need to do a marathon plan. Look up barryp on here and do that the work your way up.

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Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Aug 30, 15 18:25

Post #6 of 54 (5992 views)

Keep it simple. Running is an awesome thing in that you will see year over year improvement if you don't get injured and/or take time off. I never ever did or believed in speedwork for years when I started the sport. It made a world of difference when I added it into my routine.

Here are the things that you can focus on:

Up the volume - do this gradually.
Do speedwork once per week.
Use tempo runs once per week.
Keep a long run every week or two.
Run consistently. If you can run 6 days per week, that would be good.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [cloy26] [ In reply to ]

Aug 30, 15 18:33

Post #7 of 54 (5968 views)

cloy26 wrote:

Volume, son. Volume. Run 'til your legs fall off.

Sorry for a lack of valuable feedback.

This. Easy hour nearly every day. Do the math. An hour easy is 7-8 miles. Do that 5-6 times a week and you got about 40 miles.

I stop doing the long runs on the weekends in the winter, and pick it back up at 65 minutes + few minutes more each weekend in January or February. Not sure if this is the best idea for everyone. It's just how I do to reboot for next season.

I ride less in the winter and run more. Swim same.

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Aug 30, 15 18:33

Post #8 of 54 (5968 views)

Your 5k/10k times are the same as mine. My 1/2 marathon PR is 1:39. You should be able to run 3:3x in an open or 8:00 min/mi if you train. See the Daniels formula vdot charts.

Hennessyr wrote:

With race season over for me, I am looking forward to next year. My main goal for the off season is to improve my running, the area i have always struggled most in (weather open, or in a tri). I am looking for a place to start to improve my running fitness. Focusing specifically on the marathon, what fall/winter training plans do you all do? Is there a training plan to improve a marathon time that isnt setting you up to peak for a race? What about specific drills, or hours you put in with regards to running. Speed work? Low and slow cardio? Whats your secret?

Background, I am 2 years into my triathlon career, have done 2 IM and bunch of halfs and so on. I run a 20 min 5k, 45 min 10k and have never done an open half or full marathon, but in training i can do a half in about 1:50, so my best guess for a full marathon outside of IM is about 4:15? Hope that helps.

Thoughts I have had:
- Start from the 5 k up and work to improve those times, than 10 k and so on.
- Do a marathon training plan and see where i end up
- Join a running club for help

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Aug 30, 15 18:58

Post #9 of 54 (5884 views)

I run everyday. Ive run everyday for over 600 days. Started with a mile last year and 1.5min this year. It has greatly improves my running. I BQd last year and ran a 3:03 in Boston. I also just ran my fastest 10k olympic run at 39:06. You want to be a better (insert anything) do it. MORE

http://www.TriScottsdale.org

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Aug 30, 15 19:48

Post #10 of 54 (5777 views)

Season is never over... I'm not a "good" runner but I know that much!

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Sbernardi] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 10:27

Post #11 of 54 (5480 views)

very interesting

can you elaborate on your rate of ramp-up from week to week and how you avoided injuries in your streak?

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [cloy26] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 10:35

Post #12 of 54 (5459 views)

Volume, son. Volume. Run 'til your legs fall off.

Boom!

Run more. Run more often.

Race more - particularly 5K/10K - yes, even if you are focused on longer running races and triathlons. The foundations for great endurance sports performance are based on how fast and well you go at those 20 minute or so efforts. A fact poorly understood by many triathletes.

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Fleck] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 10:54

Post #13 of 54 (5397 views)

i'm going to echo the volume comments. my friend who runs a 2:43 open marathon told me that this weekend. he started 5 years ago slowly increasing his volume by 2-3 years he was running sub 3 marathons..

my ex wasn't a runner, she loved to hike. she started running when she met me, then during the summer she ran 5 days a week 6 miles every morning and hiked on the weekends. she ran her first half marathon at 1:39. not an overly impressive time. but i thought for someone who played zero high school sports and has never done any speed work a 1:39 is pretty impressive for your first half marathon. i contribute it greatly to her running 5 days a week. 30mpw. that's the key there.

i've never done more than 28mpw average for any open marathon or ironman training plans. this fall, after immd i plan on increasing my milage to 35mpw, then 40mpw by nov. that alone should drop my marathon time down a few minutes.

john

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Dilbert] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 10:58

Post #14 of 54 (5383 views)

Dilbert wrote:

Swim same.

As in, not swimming as much in the off season?

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 11:59

Post #15 of 54 (5289 views)

Long slow distance. Keep one day for some sort of speed work to keep the legs alive..

I toyed with running for about 6 years, averaging 30-40 mpw and taking chunks of the offseason as rest times. One year I upped my mileage slowly, running all slow miles, and I went from an 18min 5k to a 15:30 in about 6 months. All of my mileage was over 8 mins/mile except one day a week, and I worked my way up to 80 mpw. Everyone responds differently but running more usually works well for most as long as you control the intensity so not to get hurt.

Oh, just to add..I was almost 30 when I did this... So no teenage jump..

Last edited by: foniks: Aug 31, 15 12:02

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [kfmfe04] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 12:04

Post #16 of 54 (5270 views)

Well if it your off season there's is no need to "ramp up" but start slow. 1mi a day. Thrown in some long runs but follow all hard work with that 1-2mi run. Give your body time to adjust and work your way up. There were weeks where I would only do my 1mi a day. I would hammer that mile more often than not, but if something hurt I would back off. Ease up on pace. I was not looking for results "tomorrow" but focused on the bigger picture.
Experiment and find what works for you.

http://www.TriScottsdale.org

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 12:26

Post #17 of 54 (5211 views)

After the season is over, I do whatever I want for 4-6 weeks. No early wake ups, take a few days off here and there, and don't stress about workouts. I even try to add some strength training. Early to mid December, I'll start to pick up running again, aiming for 25+ miles per week, just to get back into the swing of things. I like to run a marathon in spring (March or April), so I'll use a marathon training plan (just for reference) and start to follow it until the race. I honestly try to go with early March marathons just b/c I can then go into a swim and bike focus and hit triathlons in spring.

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 13:14

Post #18 of 54 (5133 views)

I keep running my same 30 miles per week with lots of hills, all year long. Never stop running.

Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Sbernardi] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 15:40

Post #19 of 54 (5001 views)

Thx for the tips! I will try to jog a little every day - even if it's only a mile!

Btw, I am just discovering how much cycling can help running.

Despite all the evidence pointing towards sport specificity, I'm finding that there is definitely cardiovascular carryover from cycling to my jogging. Just this morning, I set a season PR in jogging pace with a drop of 8 bpm in average heart-rate (over an hour)! That's only after a couple of hour long rides last week.

Admittedly, I'm starting from very slow paces (only what my HRM would allow given my cardiovascular fitness), but still...

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 19:16

Post #20 of 54 (4860 views)

As other posters have said volume, build slowly and gradually. If you can run a 20 minute 5k, you should be able to run a sub 3:30 stand alone marathon on 40-60 miles per week. I have and I'm just an average runner plus I'm 50.

�Bloom wherever you are planted"

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 20:06

Post #21 of 54 (4804 views)

I wrap up my tri season in November, fuck off for a month, and then train for a Spring marathon. Reload and repeat.

Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Sep 1, 15 7:07

Post #22 of 54 (4628 views)

[quote HennessyrI run a 20 min 5k, 45 min 10k...[/quote]
I'm going to side with the others who suggest increasing your volume. Your times above suggest that endurance/stamina is what you are missing. A 20 minute 5k shows that you are capable of running pretty fast, but that should correlate to <42 minute 10k when properly trained for the additional distance.

I prefer building distance through increased frequency, rather than stretching out the long runs.

__________________________________________________
Happy trails,
Chris

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [tricyclist] [ In reply to ]

Sep 1, 15 8:20

Post #23 of 54 (4576 views)

I should have noted that all of those times are in tris. So when pacing my self. Are we saying that marathon pace should be about 1 min slower than 5k?

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- Roka - WattieInk - NormaTec - QUINTANA ROO - Profile Design - Pioneer - Gatorade Endurance

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [S Train] [ In reply to ]

Sep 1, 15 8:24

Post #24 of 54 (4571 views)

S Train wrote:

Dilbert wrote:

Swim same.

As in, not swimming as much in the off season?

No. I swim the same volume in the winter. With the exception of OWS obviously. Need to fly somewhere to do that in January, and sometimes I do.

Re: GOOD RUNNERS - What Do You Do When Your Season is Over? [Dilbert] [ In reply to ]

Sep 1, 15 8:25

Post #25 of 54 (4569 views)

Cool, thanks.

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