jszat's group- closed (Page 13)

You probably wont want to hear this, but the secret to speed will be just consistent lower intensity stuff.  I think the volume and the speed stuff 2x a week is asking for potential injury unless you feel you are an advanced enough runner to pull it off.  Personally, I will probably throw in tempo 1 or 2 times a week tops in the off season, primarily just to keep it interesting.  What is the top distance you hope to do next year?  Your distances might be overkill if you are throwing in some bike stuff IMO. 

My opinion on the biking is that if you can get a trainer and simply churn out mileage watching a movie or something you will get the best aerobic gains (and ones that translate to other sports without chopping up your legs so much).  Spin class helped work wonders for me in the early days and though will be used less, will still be in the cards to keep things interesting.  Little more info on goals for next year please.  Dunno, maybe it would help you and me to kinda give a feel of where my focus will be?

I have a pretty strong running background but committed to trying lower HR, longer stuff with the limited speedwork a lot of last year.  With a 5k PR in a sprint and sub 40 in my first oly, I think its proof you dont need to necessarily do speed work to get fast.  I used to push and push a lot, get injured, take a few weeks to heal and repeat.  No major injuries with big vol increase this year and faster times.  Whats not to like about that?  Just stay consistent with it.  Recovery is an important part of the equation too so make sure you are eating after your workouts for better bouncing back for the next workout.

I think the distance might be too high once you get around the 30-35 level at this point.  Gradually build up to that, see how your body responds and then stay there for a while to let your body get used to the distance.  It helps me running outside in the winter cuz ya usually cant go anywhere too fast!