So I did the VLM on 21st April and was not too disappointed with a finishing time of 4 hours 21 minutes (despite crashing and burning 6 miles from home.) My next races are the GNR on 15/09 and the GBR on 20/10. At my current level of fitness I know that I can comfortably break 2 hours for the half marathon (and did so in the first half of the VLM) and then move onto a better time for the GBR. I plan to start serious training for the GNR in late July but would like to be able to maintain my fitness in the meantime - challenging since the golf season has now started and I also want to work on my strength and conditioning. The question is what do I need to do to maintain a reasonable level of running fitness between now and late July? I'd thought about doing 6 milers say 3 times a week but then wondered about 2 x 6 milers and 1 interval session. Any suggestions please?
I am 6 feet tall and am 16.5 stone (and it is definitely not all muscle!) I run a 10K in about 54 minutes. . I did the Birmingham Half Marathon last year in a fraction under 2 hours - which I was delighted with - but when I ran the London Marathon in April 2011 I really suffered with my knees after 12/13 miles and ended up with a disappointing 5 hours+ finishing time. That for me is the key - you can run well even if you are on the large side (although you will be able to go faster and for longer if you are less large) but the strain on your knees is very much increased. I have a place in next year's London Marathon and intend to lose at least a stone. It will make running easier (it must do) but most importantly for me it will reduce the strain on my knees. I'm going to give the 5:2 fasting diet a go..
This month's issue of RW (January 2012) refers at page 69 to bespoke training plans. Plans A and B can be found at runnersworld.co.uk/bespoke - or so we are told. When I try to go to that url I'm getting page cannot be displayed. I can get to the rest of the Runners World web site without any problems at all. Is this is bug?
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