Structuring a five day running week

halhigdon.com

Well I plan to run a 10K in October of this year, I would do one earlier, like August or September, but I can't find one near me, and I plan to do a half marathon in early 2008. As for speed, I haven't really thought about it. I've come down from about a 12.5 minute mile to an 11 minute mile in the last month, running in Z2 all the time. I guess I've just assumed that if I run more, I'll get faster.

And thanks for that link, jonathan22

Congratulations on reaching 11 min miles.  That is quite a large increase in speed.

First of all, I believe you will run faster by running more.  I certainly experienced this.  I never did a day of speed work and went from a 30 min 5 km to a 23:15 PR just by running more.  But, I don't think it was just the increased volume that helped.  As I ran more, I ran on more challenging terrain so I was running more hills.  Thus, I was doing more unstructured "interval" like work.

I think what you propose is a good idea.   Those more experienced than me will be able to give you more specific advice, but I would be working my long run up to something just a little longer than your 10 km at this point.  Adding a tempo run is a good idea or you could choose some other type of speed work.  My husband, who is a pretty fast runner (he ran a 4:03 mile last year), swears by strides in every run.  These are fast but relaxed intervals of about 30 steps (just below sprint pace).  He says to do 4-5 each time you do an easy/recovery run.  Strides are supposed to get your body used to running faster.  They are a neuromuscular thing.

If you have the time, I would suggest working your 2 mile runs up to 30 min runs and then to 40 min runs.  There is some evidence that 40 min runs give you much more benefit than 30 min (for the extra 10 min) and that going to 50 doesn't give you that much extra benefit (60 is better).  At least this is what my hubby tells me.  I don't know what or where this evidence is - that is my disclaimer

Anyway, keep up the great work.  The thing I love about getting into a regular running cycle is the weight control and just feeling so much stronger and healthier.

Cheers. 

A) Define "tempo run" as you mean it.

B) Probably not a whole lot of need for it yet.

C) 2 shorter, 2 medium, 1 long is fairly standard.  Long run would probably be no more than about 25-30% of weekly distance, and definitely no more than double any other single run of the week.  Majority of the running should be at an easier pace (barring terrain considerations).  Add a mile onto the long run one week, then add a mile onto the medium runs the next week, then the shorter runs.  That's an increase of 1-2 miles per week, and should be sufficient for starting out.

You WILL get faster, just by adding miles. 

Thanks for the input guys!

What I meant by tempo run was really just a run with the majority of it in Z4-5a, eg. 10 Mins WU in Z1-2, then 30mins in Z4-5a, then a 10min CD in Z1-2. I only mentioned them because I've read on places liek runnersworld.com that you should do one per week. I haven't done any up to this point though.

So if I added one-two miles per week until I was running 26 miles a week, and it looked like this: One 8 mile long run, two 6 mile mediums and two 3 mile shorter runs, would that look allright? I should be able to do that before a 10K in October, and then that would give me a good base for half-mary in early 2008.

Yes, your plan looks fine.

This is my personal thing, you'll probably hear different things from other people / sources.  Tempo runs like you described have a place.  But, and this is my opinion on it, they don't need to be run every week.  I think that you're better served at this point just getting in the miles.  If you end up running a run or two out of the week at a higher intensity, then that's ok.  But to have a structured tempo run every week....eh.  Some people will do strides or pick-ups every week, and I can agree with that, since those are more for working on form and training muscles rather than trying to develop speed.  Plus, there's less impact on the body.