Run-Down Forums

[Guest]

Hi,
I am a 19 year old college freshman, and just started running about two months ago. My mile time has always been descent, but my longer distance (i.e 3-6 miles) has just began seeing improvements. And they have been dramatic improvements. I went from 29 min in the 3 mile run to 24 min now. My family is having a 4 mile race on Thanksgiving morning and I need help preparing for it. I am currently running 2-4 miles on M,W,F and plan to start running 100yd intervals on T,T. Any suggestions? Do you think it is possible to get the 4 miles in 30 min by then? I weigh 180, and my bodyfat% has dropped from 15.5 to 12.5. I should be around 9 by Thanksgiving. Any help is appreciated.

[Anonymously Posted by: 'spowell_40']

[Dan]

Hello,

That is a very large improvement, congratulations! However, I constantly warn people not to count on the progress coming so easily after the initial period... Dropping 3 percentage points of body fat in only 2 months (?) sounds like measurement inaccuracy or very unstable health (i.e. large weight swings generally swing back the other way). To drop that much again in the next month and a half sounds downright unhealthy, if it's even possible. Sorry to sound so pessimistic, but that sets off numerous warning signs in my mind. Gradual will serve you best in the long run.

That said, doing 100's off the amount of running you have under your belt will not help you significantly in racing 4 miles. If you want to be comfortable racing 4 miles, you need to be comfortable running at least 6 miles. I wouldn't waste time on the short stuff right now, as you need to use the short amount of time you have to work on endurance. You will need to take another 2 minutes off your 3 mile pace and hold it for an extra mile in order to break 30 minutes. It's a tall order, but not impossible.

Best of luck,
Dan

[mjsbossman]

Yes, Dan is right. I saw the biggest improvement in my race times when I the only type of training I did was distance, no speed what so ever. If you think running 6 miles sounds difficult, break it in half, run 3 miles, rest 5 minutes, then run 3 more.

I would also reccomend running up to 6 days a week if you are healthy and motivated enough. But if you would like to do this, simply run hard one day and easy the next day, so your body can recover. But dont start running 6 days a week right now, add 1 day a week, or you could get an injury.

Make sure you take your some vitamins every day. My coach suspects that I might have Anemia, so I am taking vitamins every day.

[Dan]

Good advice, thanks.

Regarding anemia, one forgotten item is that vitamin C usally needs to be heavily supplemented in order to make use of the extra iron. Best to take the C in a highly soluable form like buffered/powdered, as the pills usually flush righ through the system.

Dan