track fan

I want to be like you! I am 41 and started running in August. (I've ran off and on a few different times.) I would love to have those PR's on my running accomplishments sometime. You said you've been running for 4 years. What did your beginning times start out as? Looking at your picture I see that toning of the tummy will have to happen if I'm going to be like you.

Thank you Kim, you are too kind.

Well, my first 5K was a 23:32 and 3 months later I got it to a 22:46 (running about 30 mpw), and a year later I was down to 21:48 (running 35 mpw with speedwork).

It is much more difficult now (sorry to say). Improvement is pretty big as your mileage increases the first year - and then add in some race-specific speed training and it is even a bigger jump. I seemed to have hit a plateau though as of late ... but I am not giving up!

My tummy is not quite as flat anymore, I had some health issues last year and the surgery cost me a few months of running. I am working on it though so maybe both of us will see big results this year!!

Do you have any upcoming races picked out?

Kim - some of it is in the genetics/natural disposition, but a lot of the genetic/natural disposition disadvantage can be compensated with proper training and nutrition overtime. Women are particularly affected by inactive lifestyle with bad nutrition. E.g. if you take a brother and a sister of equal running talent, and both are running 90 miles a week, the brother will be only 15 minutes faster in the marathon. If they both cut down to 40 miles a week, the gap will increase to 30 minutes. At 20 miles a week for both the difference will be about an hour. Sedentary and eating junk food, both of them will probably struggle just to finish, but he will be able to run a 5 K at around 9:00 pace, while she will be running 14:00.

On the positive side, if you take a sedentary improperly nourished woman and start training her, she will make much more progress overtime and with properly increased training loads if she is consistent than an equally matched man.

TRAIN ME!

I am probably not the best person to train you (since I pay someone else to train me). But I do think you will see a lot of benefit from your current plan of increasing your mileage. Once you can run 5 or 6 days a week with 4/5 lasting about 30 - 45 mins/day (I usually base my runs on "time" not "miles") you will be ready for more specific training. I got the minimum of 30 mins from a coach/physiologist named Jack Daniels, who proposed that 30 mins was a minimum for "benefit" - but he also said that sometime something is better than nothing - this is especially true for us who don't run at a world class level.

For your half you will also need to get a long run (try to get up to 1 or 1.5 hours) once a week.

The main thing is to make these changes gradually - and only as you feel good (if you get too tired or feel like you are getting sick more than you usually do you are increasing too much) - it is MUCH better (physically and mentally) to take your time and not get sick/injured!

Coming to the blog will help a lot, you get encouragement and advise!