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I'm normally running easy runs about marathon pace + 60/90 seconds.
I take it that's 60-90 seconds on time per mile (not per km).
3h45 marathon is 8:35/mile, so that would be around 10:00/mile (6:12/km) for easy/long runs, I'd be happy with that as I did a 2:10 HM long run (extended commute) early on last year which is pretty much bang on that pace.
The McMillan calculator suggests 23:05 for 5k training (based on a target 3:45 marathon) which is about where the fellrnr calculator says I should get to when I get to my target weight. Hopefully I'll be able to push past this (22:00 would be nice) and that'd make a 3:45 much easier.
After a while I'll reassess and see whether I need to back down to a 4h marathon, hopefully I can stick with the 3h45 aim.
I'm going to follow something based on https://www.bupa.co.uk/~/media/Images/HealthManagement/PDFs/Intermediate%20marathon_FINAL.ashx but adjusting it to suit my weekly routine:-
- Tuesday easy/steady/speed run is covered by 40 minutes of a 5-a-side football
- Wednesday easy run moves to Thursday (run commute)
- Thursday tempo run (~40m including 5m wu and cd) moves to Saturday (parkrun)
- Wednesday then free for a speed session (which was sometimes scheduled for Tuesday)
So it becomes:-
Mon: rest (going to be the hardest bit at first!)
Tue: 2 x 30m cycle commute + 40m 5-a-side (mix of easy/steady/speed)
Wed: speed/intervals - 30-50 minutes
Thu: 11.5k easy run (commute) + 1 hour 5-a-side that evening
Fri: cross train (swim then cycle)
Sat: 40m tempo (inc 5m wu and cd) - parkrun in ~25 mins
Sun: long run (10k to 35k) - 10k race pace 9 weeks out, HM race 4 weeks out, 35k long run 3 weeks outI think that looks sensible. Just need to work out a plan for extending it back another 8 weeks (to now) and what to do for speed/interval sessions.
- Tuesday easy/steady/speed run is covered by 40 minutes of a 5-a-side football
Greenbank-
Yeah that looks pretty sensible. I think for intervals, this is taking care of the VO2 max end of things, but no need to do anything too short and sharp for marathon training, so I'd concentrate on half mile/800m, km and mile reps. You could alternate these and progressively build up the volume for each session over a few weeks, e.g. 6 x 800 building to 10 x 800, 5 x 1km build to 8 x 1km, 4 x mile up to 6 x mile, all with about 90 secs/2 mins recovery. Target paces would be ~5k pace for the 800s, ~10k/bit quicker than threshold for the km/mile reps.
PhilPub
I'd be careful with increasing quantity and having too much quality in there. I don't think you need any more than 1 x interval and 1 x threshold/tempo session for quality, then everything else easy pace including the long run. McMillan's generally pretty good with recommended paces in my experience, although I'd err towards the slower end of the easy run paces. So easy/long runs shouldn't really be anywhere near HM pace. I'm normally running easy runs about marathon pace + 60/90 seconds.
I think you can go a long way simply by increasing mileage, assuming you've got the time and patience for it. Even if you're targeting 5k, which is still predominantly aerobic.