Patrick Daly
Registered User
DoubleDown,
I'm going to give you my advice, whether you follow it or not is your choice, everyone trains different. I'll tell you right now I run varsity track at BU. My best 3 mile pft is 16:54. The only way you're going to get faster and get more endurance is by putting on the hard miles. Don't start off too hard, maybe 10-20 miles a week depending on where you're comfortable...from there you should increase your mileage from 15-20% per week. After about 3 weeks you can start incorporating speed workouts, like doing 300, 400, 500 meter sprints on a track, or one mile repeats, whatever you feel will work for you. As to running on a treadmill, I hate those things and think they're worthless. A 6:00 minute pace on those things feels like a 5:00 pace on concrete. Find a good place near your house to run (mainly trails, miles of grass). Try and stay off the concrete to avoid injury. As for the cramps/eating/water intake - you should be constantly hydrating all day. I always pound a bottle of water when i wake up in the morning, gives you a good start. Eat a balanced diet, never too much at one meal. Before I run I usually eat about 100 calories an hour to an hour and a half before the run - it facilitates the conversion of glycogen to glucose and it should take care of the cramps. Also, you may have weak abs right now, so I'd start doing situps after your run - I always do 300, but start off lower. It'll make you a stronger runner, get rid of the in-run cramps, and it will help you out on the pft. Main thing is, stay focused, don't overtrain, be consistent. Everyone is at different levels and should be doing different types of workouts, whatever is good for them. If you want help making a routine, email me with your info on what you've been doing. I usually run anywhere from 55 to 70 miles a week, depending, but i've been building up to that for about a year and a half. Let me know if you need anymore advice and I hope this helped out!
~Pat
I'm going to give you my advice, whether you follow it or not is your choice, everyone trains different. I'll tell you right now I run varsity track at BU. My best 3 mile pft is 16:54. The only way you're going to get faster and get more endurance is by putting on the hard miles. Don't start off too hard, maybe 10-20 miles a week depending on where you're comfortable...from there you should increase your mileage from 15-20% per week. After about 3 weeks you can start incorporating speed workouts, like doing 300, 400, 500 meter sprints on a track, or one mile repeats, whatever you feel will work for you. As to running on a treadmill, I hate those things and think they're worthless. A 6:00 minute pace on those things feels like a 5:00 pace on concrete. Find a good place near your house to run (mainly trails, miles of grass). Try and stay off the concrete to avoid injury. As for the cramps/eating/water intake - you should be constantly hydrating all day. I always pound a bottle of water when i wake up in the morning, gives you a good start. Eat a balanced diet, never too much at one meal. Before I run I usually eat about 100 calories an hour to an hour and a half before the run - it facilitates the conversion of glycogen to glucose and it should take care of the cramps. Also, you may have weak abs right now, so I'd start doing situps after your run - I always do 300, but start off lower. It'll make you a stronger runner, get rid of the in-run cramps, and it will help you out on the pft. Main thing is, stay focused, don't overtrain, be consistent. Everyone is at different levels and should be doing different types of workouts, whatever is good for them. If you want help making a routine, email me with your info on what you've been doing. I usually run anywhere from 55 to 70 miles a week, depending, but i've been building up to that for about a year and a half. Let me know if you need anymore advice and I hope this helped out!
~Pat
