For those that know, how long does it take to get back to where you were when you take too long a break in training? Say, sporadic training over a couple of month period? While I realize there are many factors, a notable loss was today's 5K run which was 2:15 off my PR in my last race in mid November. In early February I did a 1/2 mary at a 7:40ish pace. From there, training sorta went south.
It comes back kind of like
It comes back kind of like an exponential build-up. Maybe 60% at 2 weeks, 90% at a month, and back to 100% at 2 or 3 months. Everyone's different, but assuming a similar training load, that'll be a pretty decent approximation.
+1 UFTriGator Also depends
+1 UFTriGator
Also depends on what you did with your time off, what you are doing now, where you where etc... Adding 2:15 to a 1 hr 5k isn't that hard to fix. :) Taking 2:15 off of an 20min 5k... that's another story.
I find that swim and bike
I find that swim and bike comes back fairly fast, but running is a different story. Running maybe as much as a year, where as biking and swimming 3-4 months. That is just based on my experience.
UFTriGator wrote:It comes
[quote=UFTriGator]It comes back kind of like an exponential build-up. Maybe 60% at 2 weeks, 90% at a month, and back to 100% at 2 or 3 months. Everyone's different, but assuming a similar training load, that'll be a pretty decent approximation.[/quote]
Thanks for the insight, Matt.
jnrice wrote:+1
[quote=jnrice]+1 UFTriGator
Also depends on what you did with your time off, what you are doing now, where you where etc... Adding 2:15 to a 1 hr 5k isn't that hard to fix. :) Taking 2:15 off of an 20min 5k... that's another story. [/quote]
My best 5K in Nov '10 was 20:45 and I still felt I had room to grow even at 41. (I started running in Oct '08) The nice thing is yesterday's 22:57 was still less than my 5K pace a year ago. I had started adding distance and was running maybe 25-30miles per week until the end of January, building base for IMFL, then work and other stuff really put a damper on things. I didn't exercise much and didn't really eat well, gained maybe 6lbs since January. We'll see how it goes, I went out and did a (not so) quick 40miles on the bike today at what was 2mph slower than my normal pace. I'm sure it'll come back. I was never a speed-demon anyway.
hamlet_cat wrote:I find that
[quote=hamlet_cat]I find that swim and bike comes back fairly fast, but running is a different story. Running maybe as much as a year, where as biking and swimming 3-4 months. That is just based on my experience.[/quote]
I'm sure it will. I prefer running of the 3 disciplines so I think that will be going for me.
Takes me 3 months of
Takes me 3 months of consistent base training, then after 3-4 weeks of build work I start getting the spring back in my step
paganopj wrote:I'm sure
[quote=paganopj]I'm sure it'll come back. I was never a speed-demon anyway.[/quote]
It will. Don't sweat your current fitness too much if you've taken some time off. Give yourself a month or two w/o worrying about pace or comparing to last years times.
a few years ago i went
a few years ago i went through what i call a boom-bust period where i would get injured, get back into training, push myself too hard too soon and get injured again. the fact that your are comparing times in training to your PR (presumably in a race) is something that sounds all too familiar to me, but i don't think it is healthy. i used to be an international standard rower when i was in my early twenties - then i didn't do sports for 15 years because, every time i tried i would compare myself with how i was the year before and get demoralized. (actually, what attracts me to triathlon is that every race is different so it doesn't make sense to compare times from one year to the next)
sure, you should ease back into it, but you need some way to know that you are improving just like everyone else. i would suggest that you get yourself a heart rate monitor if you haven't got one already and do two things:
1) put yourself down for a 5k race in two month's time - this will be your chance to beat your PR
2) for a month use as your goal not running FASTER, but being able to run the same speed at a lower heart rate than before. set your target speed to be one that puts your HR at your aerobic level (in my case this is 145bpm, but it varies from person to person - it should be a pace you can converse at without too much difficulty). in fact, better still, do all your runs at this heart rate and take note of whether you are managing to cover more ground in the same time.
this will build up an aerobic base - even for a 5k you will see an improvement when you move on to speed work. it needs faith to accept this - if you don't believe me (i won't be offended), try to find out on the internet what mark allen has to say on the matter.
in the month before the race you can start to include tempo runs and series or whatever kind of training you like doing.
by the way, i broke a bone in my foot and i followed pete pfitzinger's plan to get back in shape (search for pete pfitzinger stress fracture). its probably too extreme for you but it was the best thing that happened to my running. it forced me to build up from scratch and set up good foundations of strong muscles in my feet and good aerobic fitness before going straight for the speed work.
good luck!