First in this Forum too!

[Riggers]

Goals...? Looking for something reasonable and a training plan to get there.

Current PRs

1 mile- 8:40 (I have a bet going with my daughter than I can get a sub-7 before she graduates... she's a sophomore currently LOL)

2 mile- 18:38

5k - 29:06

10k - 58:47 (thinking of setting the new goal at sub 52:47 for May??? Does that seem too lofty?) Still have 35 lbs to lose and that alone might help. I do believe a lot of my improvement in the last 6 months has just been from weight loss.

Currently walk/jog about 20-25 miles a week. Started about 6 months ago and gradually worked to that mileage. I really don't have a lot of speed work under my belt. And to be honest, I don't enjoy it much.

Also, my knees are not real happy about the 10k yesterday so I took today off. Not looking to be injured at all. I really can't afford to be injured in my daily life. I have a 4 mile race on Saturday although I don't really push myself in these fun runs. I just enjoy running with others and the possibility of getting a medal or something.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Riggers

[Dave]

Don't know quite enough of your running background for any of this to be really accurate, but here are some thoughts.

35 lbs. is a significant amount of weight, so yes, just getting down there would do a lot (will also help with those sore knees). Don't know that you need a specific training plan, but you can find many out there if you're really motivated in that direction (lots of websites and training apps to choose from). Your weekly mileage is pretty good  for 5/10K racing. I'd increase 5-10/week, building up over the next 4-6 weeks. After that I'd add an interval session once a week to increase your speed. Between that and your weight loss, taking a minute per mile off your 10K time is quite possible. (here's where I'm also supposed to encourage strength/cross training, but whatever).

You can go to https://www.mcmillanrunning.com/ or a similar site and get info on appropriate training paces.

[Riggers]

I was planning on adding crossfit to my workouts after I lose a little more weight. (Probably around January) Also, after state xc and band (Nov 8th) I'm going to go to the school and swim every Monday and Wednesday afternoon for an hour or so. Does that seem like enough cross training? And any idea how many days a week of swimming/crossfit would be best?

[Dave]

Seems like more than enough to me, but I never do any, so even a little is huge. From what I've read, 2-3 days a week is normal.

[mattw]

Crossfit, or even any resistance training that builds muscle, will help burn calories faster and thus drop the weight faster. Swimming a couple times a week is plenty. Rowing, walking, cycling are all good too.

[Riggers]

How often should I do muscle building exercise like crossfit?

[Dave]

It's all XT. X-fit is fine, too, just don't add it on top of swimming on top of something else on top of running. Say, swimming one day, X-fit another day (not consecutively of course), running the rest.