Upload a Photo Upload a Video Add a News article Write a Blog Add a Comment
Blog Feed News Feed Video Feed All Feeds

Folders

All (24)
 

Email Coach Jay

See More From Coach Jay

 

Q and A: Getting Back Into - NikeRunning.com

Published by
ross   Aug 14th 2011, 9:57pm
Comments

Hey Coach Jay,

I actually got the pleasure of meeting with you about 3 summers ago in Fort Collins, Colorado at the Jim Ryun Running Camp. That was my junior year of high school and now I have just finished with freshman year of college but have not ran seriously for about a year. Well now I want to get back on the horse. I don't desire to walk on, but I do want to begin to take road racing seriously. This is where you come in. In high school I was an 800m runner, my PR was 1:58. Right now I do not even know where to start with my training. What kind of base should I build before I start getting specific with my workouts? What kind of weight lifting/core routines should I do? And what would be a good flexibility routine (I've never been much for stretching)?

If you can help me with this Jay I'd really appreciate it and thank you for your time.

Thanks,
Austyn

Hi Austyn,

Thanks for the question.  The Jim Ryun camp is special, and I'm lucky to have been able to meet campers like you there each summer. 

Interesting journey you're about to begin.  With your background running the 800m there is no doubt that you know how to do track workouts.  The majority of road races are 5k and longer, so you'll need to make sure that you shift your mentality a bit from workouts on the track to workouts on the road.  Not to say that a marathon runner shouldn't do some track workouts, but in general, you'll be doing more of your serious running as continuous workouts rather than repetitions where you run 200m, rest, then run another 200m.

The first resource you can use on this site is the 5k training plan and the corresponding 5k training videos.  You'll be introduced to threshold running, something you may not have done before.  You also need a weekly long run in your schedule.  If you just had those two workouts each week - a threshold run and a long run - you'd be in a good position over the course of a couple months to go to a road race and run well.  Because of your background you're familiar with running strides and in your case I would put those in the program right away.  So a couple of days a week you should run 4-5 easy strides of 100m-150m (they should be faster than 5k race pace…but not much faster).  

We have some good General Strength routines on the web site that you will initially find challenging and I'd just focus on those rather than spend time in the weight room.  In regards to stretching, the lunge warm-up is a great pre-run routine that is better than static stretching; post-run you should do the Myrtl routine as your post-run stretching.  Both can be considered dynamic stretching (as opposed to static stretching).

So there are some starting points for you Austyn.  Bottom line is you need to be patient and you need to realize that you're going to feel like a fish out of water the first few weeks.  Good luck and thanks for the question.

*Coach Jay's advice is provided as general training information. Use at your own risk. Always consult with your own heath care provider for questions relating to your specific training and nutrition.

Interested in Coach Jay's General Strength Videos and other training tips? Check out the NikeRunning.com Training blog.

Always be in-the-know. Follow Nike Running on Facebook.

And don't forget, if you have a training question for Coach Jay, email him here:[email protected].



More news

History for NikeXC.com - Nike High School Cross Country
YearVideosNewsPhotosBlogs
2012 19 5 558  
2011 71 20 7015  
2010 34 2 825  
 
+PLUS highlights
+PLUS coverage
Live Events
Get +PLUS!