How many miles do you slog through in a week? I dont have much of a running background, but I can’t seem to do much more than 30 without seriously wasting my legs and then subsequently dropping off in the other two. For those of you who may be in the same boat, what type of workouts do you find work best? Just curious to know what others are doing…
First off, what racing distances are you training for? 30 miles a week is easily plenty all the way up to half IMs in my opinion. What exactly you are doing in those 30 miles is a factor, though. Second, conventional wisdom is that you get more endurance bag for the buck by increasing bike mileage. This has the flip side advantage of not trashing your legs as much as the run. If you are training for an IM, 30 miles is probably a decent amount depending what your expectations for the IM are. Again, current conventional wisdom suggest limiting your long runs to 2 1/2 hours to minimize recovery time (implies excessive wear from longer runs). I currently am enjoying double bricks (bike/run bike/run) with the runs being 6.2 and 4.8 miles on my long days. I am working up to a triple brick, with the run total being 15 miles. May was a big bike month for me (800 miles) with only 93 miles running. However, I ran a marathon at the end of April, so overall my run mileage is healthy. My target is IMC in August fwiw.
I’m the last one to normally give running advice but you are asking for non-runners.
Until this year I absolutely hated running. The bike was always a blast and running always felt like a job. But I realized that if I wanted to AG podium regularly then I’d have start running.
I’ve found that running has become much more enjoyable once I made my training more scientific. I now run three times a week with a long run of about two hours at a slower pace, a more intense shorter run(30-45 minutes) and either a fartlek or hill run. This is probably adequate for the shorter length sprint/Oly tris that I do. In addition I enter almost every local area 5 or 10 km race and consider this part of my training. I’ve also now using a heart rate moniter.
In order to make running interesting I had to vary the types of workouts and set goals such as lowering my 5 and 10 kms times at the races.
For the first time ever, I’m now actually enjoying running. I used to do 90% of my training on the bike, but now it’s better balanced. Hopefully it’ll show this tri season.
Some good advice from cerveloguy!
Get a plan - one enduro run, 1 TT (max 6 mile run) and one interval/fartlek/hill session - make it fun…
Also do try and run 2-3 miles of the bike after a long ride - no more is needed.
Ooo on that note out to go and do a 14miler - ciao!
I’m a pretty bad runner. For many years I ran (jogged really) as my sole means of excersice, about 20-25 miles a week. I could hold just under an 8:00 pace for races up to 10 miles. I quit running because of some knee problems and got back into cycling. I just started up running again this spring after 4 years without taking a step. I’m biking about 125 -150 miles per week. So far, I’m only running 2 or 3 times/wk for a total of about 12 - 15 miles and just aiming for running for a certain time and not worrying about pace. My new philosophy is that it is better to run slow for an hour than fast for 20 minutes. I wear an HR and use it to keep myself from going too hard.
I just did my first 10k in about 6 years and I’m actually slightly faster now (well fast is not a proper description - less slow) than I was before. I’ve also been able to do a few longer training runs (8 - 10 miles) which I never could do before because I could not make myself go slow enough to make it). At least at the level I’m at, I find it is working better for me to get my cardio work on the bike and not push myself too hard on the runs. Its much less abusive on my knees and legs and, at least at my level of performance, it is not affecting my running speed any.
I got over the hump by doing a dedicated run block in the off season. I did only running for many months. I tried various things, but everyday running seemed to tip the balance for me. I started with easy 30-45 minute runs and just slowly built up to about 10 hour a week, running 6-7 days.
At the end of that cycle, I went back to the more “standard” approach of a mix of runs (long, tempo, etc.) and everything had changed.
So, I suggest setting up a “run camp” for yourself starting the day after your last race this season and lasting about 3 months. Run every day that you possibly can.
I’m training primarily for olympics and halfs, though I would like to attempt a IM late this season if I can get the mileage of my long runs up there. I agree with you in that the the 30 miles/week is probably sufficient for the shorter races and even halfs, but I cant help but feel like I’ll really have to step it up if I want to tackle an IM. In past seasons I was anything but consistent, maybe only averaging 15/week for races of up to a half, in which I typically suffered/walked through the run. This year I should be in much better form, though it may take the “run camp” that Julian suggested to truly transform me into something even closely resembling a runner. I guess I’ll see where I stand in a week at Blackwater, my first A race of the season.
Hey, if you are doing Blackwater, you should check in onthe Blackwater Eagleman thread. It is buried on page 4 right now, but I’ll probably bump it Monday morning after this weekend’s races are over. There are seven ST’ers acknowledging that they will be there so far. You’re number 8.
I’ve been doing 1/2 IM’s on 25-30 miles a week without problem. I expect to go 5:30 or less in a couple weeks on that mileage.
My average (running) week:
Tues: 8-9 miles tempo
Thurs: 14-16 miles LSD
Sat: Long brick ending with 3-6 miles medium pace
For someone with a limiter in running, I would cut down the Tues. run to 6 miles and add one (or two) more 40’ run at easy pace.
Total never less than 20, never more than 30. I’m a big believer in getting your endurance base on the bike. It keeps me injury free and keeps mental health good in the summer heat.
Does “tempo” mean “race pace”? Or does it mean faster than race pace?
Vince (the curious lurker)
This is all based on Joe Friel’s Triathlete’s training bible. Early in the season I do something like this, which would be between 5k and 10k pace
BT: Cruise intervals. Warm-up well. Then do 3-4 x 8 minutes. Build to heart rate 4-5a zones (2 minute recoveries). Relaxed form! Listen to breathing.
Closer to the race, I’ll change my tempo either to
2 miles easy, 3 miles at 10k pace, 3 miles easy
or change the tempo run to easy and change the long run to:
BT: Long run, tempo finish. The first part of this run is a warm-up at heart rate zones 1-2. The last 5-8 miles (8-13km) are at next A-priority race goal pace.
A lot of it depends on the heat down here in TX. Right now it is very possible to be looking at a 2 hour long run in 110* heat index. You can definitely rule out an 8 mile tempo finish in that kind of heat.
Does “tempo” mean “race pace”? Or does it mean faster than race pace?
Vince (the curious lurker)
The “classic” tempo pace definition was described by Daniels, and it is “pace you could hold in a race of about an hour”. For an elite runner, it is half marathon pace.
For most of us, it is somewhere between half marathon and 10k pace. A good rule of thumb is about 10-15 seconds slower than 10k pace.