Trukweaz is correct (as always…). A classic case of reading what you thought you wrote vs what you actually wrote!
I actually just got back from the store and am currently on the “Glazed Caramel Apple Cake Donut” plan. Let me tell you, it is glorious. I’ll get back to the running in a couple of weeks.
But I’m just wondering, since its v. v. cold up there (making biking not much fun at all) why not run 6 times a week?
Picking up on another thread about Canadian’s and how the weather forces them to run, rather than ride, through the winter my buddy and I have decided to focus primarily on the run from December 1 - March 15th. This is not at the expense of the other disciplines but just the primary focus. Three times a week at 45 sounds good but a bit more may be added.
Count me in…
I’d really like to not have a 4:45 IMLP run split this July.
Thanks for the quality post and topic, Dev!!
You should come down to NY state for the Devils Kitchen Duathlon in May…
Not that much further south (well it is) from Tupper…
B.
I am doing exactly that…geting back to the sport after laying off last season…in fact I am about to head out the door!..
Definitely in on this one too. Should be easy… oh wait… maybe not so easy 'cus I haven’t done it the last 2 weeks. Post IMF sabbatical… maybe next week…
3x45 min the what I call “bare minimum maintenance mode” for run training. Feel free to add more. The reality is that when we are not on a “plan” it is easy to see 10 days whip by and not a step has been run 
I agree and I’m in!
mp
By the way, if you want to go with higher frequency and go with something like 5x30 min or so, its is not a problem. Just make sure the total volume is at least 2:15 and you do run at least 3 times a week (so you can’t get it done in a single 2:15 run, or 90+45 etc)
Monday I ran 10 miles (1.09.40), Wednesday 7 miles (48.20) and 10 miles today (1.09.37) so I’m done for week 1.
Konaexpress, as usual you are gaining fitness on me:
Mon 40 min run Tue 50 min run Wed 25 min run (after 40 min rollers) Thu 25 min run (after 40 min rollers)
I’ll likely try to get another 45 min in somewhere between now and Sunday, but really, I want to get on my rollerskis if it would friggin stop raining !!!
According to my math you only have 2 runs of 45 minutes or more in this week, so you HAVE TO get out for at least one more 45 minute run. It’s suppose to rain right through the weekend :-((((
I’ll head out for another 45 minutes and pull myself out of being a doughboy. I can’t afford to lose too much fitness to you, or I’ll be off the back next June at Tupper Lake
I run every day now (for the last 2 years), period, whether building, tapering, recovering, or maintaining. The intensity and distance will vary, but it’s just something I do, and enjoy. Sometimes I may only go 2 miles on a morning run, but I still believe the consistancy is what makes me a decent runner (for a triathlete anyway). Part of it is that it’s too difficult to come back from a layoff, and I have less injuries if I run everyday for some reason (I’m not sure why, just what my training log reveals). For some reason, I can put my bike away for 6 months, hop on and be riding at my “normal” level within 4 weeks. Same with the swim (now, didn’t used to be like that). But take 3 months off the run and I might as well have never run before. I found that out after a 16 week layoff once due to an injury. Horrible comeback. Pain.
I thought the best part about running is that you burn more calories (from donuts and all that junk food from the off-season) than in any other discipline!:-))
.
VM, you nailed it there. This is what a lot of people don’t get. The idea of 3x45 min per week is to ensure that you are never more than 4 days removed from your last run. My last layoff from running was in the winter of 1997 and like you, despite lots of other working out, it felt like I had never run in my life (well, at least for the first 3 months) and I was getting injured a lot. I prefer to never really get out of “running shape”.
Dev
Where was this advice in late August???/
I just started running 2 weeks ago (injury and focusing on late season MTB races and CX). BIG mistake!!! It’s been interesting to say the least.
I have been doing this the last 3 months and have seen my mile time drop significantly, along with my 5K and 10K times. Though, my worst weeks have been 3 runs a week and my best weeks have been 5 runs a week. I’ll start biking again in January or February (if I do a January 1/2 marathon). I’ll also start swimming again in January once a week or so. But, I am a fish, so that’s not a bad thing for me.
Okay week two is done for me. Monday ran 70 minutes, Tuesday 60 minutes and today 71 minutes.
I agree with this. I used to do 3 runs/week (two at 60-80 minutes and 1 transition run of about 30 minutes), but after reading lots of advice here in ST, for my IM training, having never run a marathon, I upped it to 5 runs/week. A couple of them were short…maybe 30 minutes, but the increased frequency helped me run my first marathon 30 minutes faster than my expected time and recover within 72 hours.
Konaexpress…week 1 was “overachieve and underachieve”. I ended up with 5 runs (40,50, 25, 25, 70), so technically I did not have 3x45 min, but I had the concept of frequency and never being more than 4 days removed from my last run and I met the overall volume goals (total 3:30 vs 2:15 target).
So far this week 2x25 min. Tomorrow 45 min, and likely 80 min on Saturday. May have to do 45 more min on Sunday (or maybe not) 