"Ignoramus28400" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:I just ran my customary jogging distance of 4.54km
(measured approximately with a truck odometer) as fast
as I could, in preparation for the upcoming 5k run on
April 25.
The result is 22m34s, or 8.04 minutes per mile. The
terrain was mildly hilly (two hills). On the 5k basis, it
would be 24m48s. Let's add 12 seconds for fatigue, it
seems like finishing a 5k race in 25 minutes is pretty
possible at my today's level. I have a little over a month
to train.
My question is how to prepare for the race. Should I run
as often as possible, or no more than 2x or 1x per week?
Should I also do shorter distance sprints? Should I rest
for a week or so immediately prior to the race?
My thoughts would be that if you've only been running 1 or 2
times a week up until now, you might want to increase your
frequency slightly over the next couple of weeks and then
hold it there. If you've been running 3-5 times a week (I
assume that you run the same ~3 mile loop each time you
run?) I'd maintain that same volume. Most of your days
should be "easy" days (9:30
min/mi or so, I'd think?--whatever pace you can maintain
steadily without getting out of breath, and not feel
exhausted at the end/muscle sore the next day). Ideally,
you'd want one run a week that was a little longer (and
as slow as you need to go to finish comfortably) and one
run a week that had bursts of greater intensity
interspersed with easy recovery periods.
Don't increase your volume by more than 10% a week, and
don't increase it at all in the last couple of weeks before
the race (indeed, in the last week before the race, taper
off slightly). Finally, don't increase your volume in the
same week that you increase intensity (by adding some
workouts incorporating shorter stretches of faster running).
In other words, you don't really have a lot of time to
improve for this particular race, but if you are interested
in continuing, those are thoughts to keep in mind.
The general principal on building speed into your training
is that you never want to run as fast as you'll run a race,
for the complete distance you'll run the race.
Quoted message said:Also, I have old dilapidated running shoes. Would buying
new ones for $70 or so help me in any way?
Fresh comfy running shoes that are right for YOU will do
more to save your knees than just about anything else. And I
know this is a concern of yours, you bad, bad boy. No wonder
you had knee problems when you ran before! 12 miles a week
on crappy shoes was harder on my joints than 25 miles a week
on good shoes. "Good shoes" does not just mean "expensive,"
though. The wrong expensive shoes will make you miserable.
Go to a store that specializes in running wear (not a mall
store, not a big-box sporting goods store, but a small
running store.) Find one that offers gait analysis, and they
will help you sort through the zillions of models and find
the ones that fit your needs, and not just your feet.
The other things that will help keep you running happily for
years and reduce the chance of injury are to run most of
your mileage in the "easy" zone, don't increase mileage too
quickly, and don't stupidly "run through" any chronic pains.
Gotta run!
