strength training + running?

[nixium]

I'm planning to do a 5 mile charity run next year, by the end of may. I don't want to just complete it, but want to finish in around 30 minutes. I'm currently reasonably in shape; my body fat is around 23% at 180 pounds at 5'11.

As far as weight training goes, I'm impressed by ss - practical programming - been doing it for about a month so far. Is it possible to combine that with the intense leg training that the 5 mile run will require? Probably can't go heavy on squats, but I was going slow on them anyway because I'm wary about maintaining good form.

Thoughts? If not SS, what's a good alternative? I really want to do this run, but don't want to become a skinny stick figure training for it.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Run on your off days. If you aren't recovering well, quit one. Essentially, that's how it's going to have to be.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Holy shit. 5 miles at 6 minutes for each mile. You better devote lots of time to running first and heavy lifting a distant second. I'm no running expert but I'm pretty sure the mass you're gonna get from heavy lifting is gonna be counter productive to your running.

 

[abaez]

Yeah, 5 miles in 30 minutes just running casually will be pretty difficult.

 

[ZOOYUKA]

Holy shit. 5 miles at 6 minutes for each mile. You better devote lots of time to running first and heavy lifting a distant second. I'm no running expert but I'm pretty sure the mass you're gonna get from heavy lifting is gonna be counter productive to your running.

Thats exactly what I was thinking. I would prioritize your goals. Do both, but hold yourself more accountable for the one that means the most to you.

 

[nixium]

Thats exactly what I was thinking. I would prioritize your goals. Do both, but hold yourself more accountable for the one that means the most to you.

That makes sense.

The running is more of a priority for me, definitely. So I won't be setting any heavy goals for weight lifting.

At the same time, I've seen people who purely focus on running essentially become flesh covered skeletons.

So the question is - is there a happy medium? Where you can finish relatively fast, but still maintain muscle mass and perform decent lifts (0.75 x BW bench press, for example.) Maybe not in 30 minutes, but def not in an hour either.

 

[gramboh]

What's your current 5km and 10km PR's? Because 8km in 30min (90s/400M pace) is no joke. That will require a lot of running training, to the point where I would say you should probably only lift once or twice a week. What's your running/lifting history like? Are you planning on being a competitive runner? Basically you need to decide what your goals are.

If this is just one race you want to do decent in, and do not plan on competing in more races, I'd say it doesn't make sense to the required work to get it. If you just want a respectable time, do SS and run twice a week (one long one short/fast). When you start failing on reps, you'll have to either decrease lifting volume or running. Make sure you are eating a lot and resting well. 0.75x bench should come pretty fast if you do the program properly (good form, good eating/rest).

 

[nixium]

What's your current 5km and 10km PR's? Because 8km in 30min (90s/400M pace) is no joke. That will require a lot of running training, to the point where I would say you should probably only lift once or twice a week. What's your running/lifting history like? Are you planning on being a competitive runner? Basically you need to decide what your goals are.

If this is just one race you want to do decent in, and do not plan on competing in more races, I'd say it doesn't make sense to the required work to get it. If you just want a respectable time, do SS and run twice a week (one long one short/fast). When you start failing on reps, you'll have to either decrease lifting volume or running. Make sure you are eating a lot and resting well. 0.75x bench should come pretty fast if you do the program properly (good form, good eating/rest).

It's the latter - this is one race I want to do decent in. I might compete more, but I'm doing it for the experience.

I think I'll start off with a month of pure SS and gradually add running in. After a month or two, and after I hit a certain weight, I'll focus more on the running than the lifts.

Thanks very much for the advice!

 

[RagingBITCH]

That makes sense.

The running is more of a priority for me, definitely. So I won't be setting any heavy goals for weight lifting.

At the same time, I've seen people who purely focus on running essentially become flesh covered skeletons.

So the question is - is there a happy medium? Where you can finish relatively fast, but still maintain muscle mass and perform decent lifts (0.75 x BW bench press, for example.) Maybe not in 30 minutes, but def not in an hour either.

nixium - first thing is first - you need to establish a baseline for you running to see where you are at and what you are currently capable of before any training takes place. Like others have said - 6 minute miles for a 5 miler is no joke. You should be easily winning 5K's if you're capable of that.

Setting a baseline is as easy as going out and running the magic mile (one mile as fast as you can possibly go), or racing a 5K and seeing how you do. From there you can judge what you're potentially capable of doing by May.

You also need to establish what you want to commit to in terms of number of days you want to run vs off or weight lifting days. Based on that, you can schedule your long runs, hard days, and easy/recovery days, and schedule a few races along the way to see if you are improving as much as you had hoped. If not, then scale back your plans. If so or better than expected, then ramp up your goal.

In regards to your original question - I topped out around 62 miles per week training for the Chicago marathon. Before I was working out with weights twice a week - full body workouts - scaled it back to one a week. It's a careful balance between the two. I'm not the biggest guy by any means but tend to be built a bit more than the average runner. (But then again I'm not the fastest, and not doing 6 minute miles either, well except at track)

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=33528771&l=ef8e6ea2f1&id=44405554 - hopefully you can view that

You can still run well and not be a beanpole, but there's a reason why you don't see super built guys winning minor or major races that often.

 

[nixium]

nixium - first thing is first - you need to establish a baseline for you running to see where you are at and what you are currently capable of before any training takes place. Like others have said - 6 minute miles for a 5 miler is no joke. You should be easily winning 5K's if you're capable of that.

Setting a baseline is as easy as going out and running the magic mile (one mile as fast as you can possibly go), or racing a 5K and seeing how you do. From there you can judge what you're potentially capable of doing by May.

You also need to establish what you want to commit to in terms of number of days you want to run vs off or weight lifting days. Based on that, you can schedule your long runs, hard days, and easy/recovery days, and schedule a few races along the way to see if you are improving as much as you had hoped. If not, then scale back your plans. If so or better than expected, then ramp up your goal.

In regards to your original question - I topped out around 62 miles per week training for the Chicago marathon. Before I was working out with weights twice a week - full body workouts - scaled it back to one a week. It's a careful balance between the two. I'm not the biggest guy by any means but tend to be built a bit more than the average runner. (But then again I'm not the fastest, and not doing 6 minute miles either, well except at track)

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=33528771&l=ef8e6ea2f1&id=44405554 - hopefully you can view that

You can still run well and not be a beanpole, but there's a reason why you don't see super built guys winning minor or major races that often.

Thanks, this is perfect. Your build is pretty much where I want to be.

What's your training schedule like? What kind of full body workouts do you do (SS/other?)

I can currently run a 5K in about 30-35 minutes.

After thinking about it, I'm not looking to win the race or break any records. I think for next May, a decent showing will do. By decent, I mean between 45 - 60 minutes (a 9 minute mile, basically.)

 

[douglasb]

Just focus on running for now. Your body fat should drop drastically, especially with proper diet, and once that happens, worry about putting on a little mass. It is exceedingly difficult to do both at the same time.

 

[KoolDrew]

I don't know shit about training for endurance, but if you're goals are to improve your endurance while maintaining strength and muscle mass I'd suggest keeping your lifting to a minimum. Two full body workouts a week is plenty to accomplish this. Something like SS would be fine, just don't follow an ABA schedule.

Like this...

Monday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift

Thursday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Press
5x3 Power cleans

Obviously days can vary. Just put 3-4 days between each workout. I've done something similar in the past for maintaining muscle mass on a diet and it shouldn't cut into your endurance training too much. For maintaining muscle mass you could even cut back training to once a week per muscle group. So one session would be upper, while the other lower body. Each workout should be relatively short as well and gives your legs a bit of a break.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Thanks, this is perfect. Your build is pretty much where I want to be.

What's your training schedule like? What kind of full body workouts do you do (SS/other?)

I can currently run a 5K in about 30-35 minutes.

After thinking about it, I'm not looking to win the race or break any records. I think for next May, a decent showing will do. By decent, I mean between 45 - 60 minutes (a 9 minute mile, basically.)

If you're not already running a sub-25min 5k, you're not likely going to run 5mi in 30min. Many runners who train for years can't accomplish that feat.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Thanks, this is perfect. Your build is pretty much where I want to be.

What's your training schedule like? What kind of full body workouts do you do (SS/other?)

I can currently run a 5K in about 30-35 minutes.

After thinking about it, I'm not looking to win the race or break any records. I think for next May, a decent showing will do. By decent, I mean between 45 - 60 minutes (a 9 minute mile, basically.)

I'll shoot you a PM later on this afternoon 🙂