BigMikeGA wrote:
I read this old post last year and decided to follow it. I started in July because my I had missed a lot of training early in the year and I pretty much sucked at any race I entered so I said "What the Heck" lets give it a try. Prior to this decision my typical month had about 75 miles of running. I had only hit 100 miles once in 3 years. I used the Barry P 1,2,3 plan for the format and began to build miles starting with 100 in July, Aug & September 2011. I didn't die, suffer any injuries or fail to complete my swim & bike workouts. The secret was to follow BARRYP advice & plan and do long slow distance. I moved the mileage up to 130 for Oct, Nov, Dec. Still no problems but I did let the bike training slip a little. This year mileage went 160, 143, 170 and I picked the bike back up to three hard sessions a week. My long Saturday run built to a maximum of 15 miles. Did at least 2 swims a week.
Last month (April 12) I did a 70.3. My best prior time (Sep 2009) was 5:31 with a 2:09 run for the final leg. In April I went 5:14 and completed the run in 1:52. This course was NOT as flat as the prior 70.3. I cut 17 minutes off the run and felt strong the entire race.
I will point out that I am now competing as a 58 year old and am in my 5th year of doing tri's. I have no running background prior to starting to do tris.
Doing what BarryP & Desert Dude say just plain works. You don't need to do any speed work until you reach the point that don't have time to run further and still need to improve. At that point you can add a little speed work. Going LSD allows you to complete your other workouts and avoid injuries. It is freakin awesome.
So, you are 58, I am 55. So, you have seen first hand how slow most of the folks run in our AG. Personally, I do not see any value in the risk to increase the run mileage since it will go away quickly from either age or injury.
Everyone is different, but I just do not buy into, for our age, that one needs, or is safe to do, lots of running. I see too many on this board that are saying how do you help me with X injury, which is related to running. How ofter do you see this for swimming injuries?
What I do see is many older folks kicking ass in the swim and bike.
So all I know is I never run over about 18 miles a week, which is around your 75. 100% LSD. 100% trail running. Lots of big hills. 3 days a week swimming. 6 to 7 biking on my trainer for an hour with my powercranks. Zero speed work.
Just ran the fastest 10K at WF Oly in my life.
So, there is more than one way to get fast in the run. I just love doing it with the least amount of actual running.
Again, different things work for different folks. I just see too many hurt from too much running.
Dave Campbell |
Facebook |
@DaveECampbell |
h2ofun@h2ofun.net Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box |
Bionic Runner |
PowerCranks |
Velotron |
Spruzzamist Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep