Help really appreciated: How much progress should I expect on 30 miles per week?

Hello all, looking for some advice.

I'll start by saying i'm not a lifelong runner. I've been a cyclist most of my life and always dabbled with running on the side.

In 2019 I eased off on the cycling and tried to become a better runner. From 2019 until now i've upped to 30 miles a week which might not sound a lot to most of you guys but its a significant time commitment and I still do some riding on the side.

Up until 6 months ago i'd never really done any threshold.. I did some in 2021 in the run up to an ironman 70.3 but nothing that was a long term commitment.. just once a week for 20 weeks up to race day.

So really since 2019 ive run only zone 2 miles. I naively thought if i was consistent i would make real gains with this.

In the last 6 months ive been doing threshold every week and some half marathon pace stuff at the tail end of my Sunday long run. But my easy zone 2 pace (the pace i'll be running a full ironman at next September) just isnt improving.

So im still running my easy z2 runs at 9 - 9:15 min miles. And my threashold runs at maybe 7.30 - 7.45 now. I'm seeing progress with the T pace runs but as i say.. i look down at my watch on every easy run and there it is.. 9:xx! Ive been seeing those 9's for 4 years now.

So my question to you guys is.. am I kidding myself that i'm going to get to 8.30 - 8.15 pace at my z2 pace running 30 miles a week? Are we talking years for that to happen? ive really no idea.

I find the idea of running 40+ miles a week a year out from an IM race pretty daunting in terms of time commitment.. but I know your answers are going to be well thats what its going to take.

Here's my week. I do a 3 week cycle and drop to 60% (50 if really tired) every 3rd week:

Monday - complete rest

Tues - 7 miles z2

Wed - 5 recovery (high z1/low z2.. thats around 130 HR for me)

Thursday - T pace run. Normally 7 miles - 2 WU, 4 going from bottom to middle of threshold (broken into 2 x 2 w/ ~3 mins jog between), 1 mile WD

Friday - 3 recovery (z1)

Sat - I ride .. all z2 pace

Sun - 9 miles with the last 5k at half marathon pace (8.15)

Please feel free to tear that to pieces.

I would really appreciate your input.

Thanks in advance, John, London, UK

Johnnylee wrote:
Hello all, looking for some advice.
I'll start by saying i'm not a lifelong runner. I've been a cyclist most of my life and always dabbled with running on the side.
In 2019 I eased off on the cycling and tried to become a better runner. From 2019 until now i've upped to 30 miles a week which might not sound a lot to most of you guys but its a significant time commitment and I still do some riding on the side.
Up until 6 months ago i'd never really done any threshold.. I did some in 2021 in the run up to an ironman 70.3 but nothing that was a long term commitment.. just once a week for 20 weeks up to race day.
So really since 2019 ive run only zone 2 miles. I naively thought if i was consistent i would make real gains with this.
In the last 6 months ive been doing threshold every week and some half marathon pace stuff at the tail end of my Sunday long run. But my easy zone 2 pace (the pace i'll be running a full ironman at next September) just isnt improving.
So im still running my easy z2 runs at 9 - 9:15 min miles. And my threashold runs at maybe 7.30 - 7.45 now. I'm seeing progress with the T pace runs but as i say.. i look down at my watch on every easy run and there it is.. 9:xx! Ive been seeing those 9's for 4 years now.
So my question to you guys is.. am I kidding myself that i'm going to get to 8.30 - 8.15 pace at my z2 pace running 30 miles a week? Are we talking years for that to happen? ive really no idea.
I find the idea of running 40+ miles a week a year out from an IM race pretty daunting in terms of time commitment.. but I know your answers are going to be well thats what its going to take.
Here's my week. I do a 3 week cycle and drop to 60% (50 if really tired) every 3rd week:
Monday - complete rest
Tues - 7 miles z2
Wed - 5 recovery (high z1/low z2.. thats around 130 HR for me)
Thursday - T pace run. Normally 7 miles - 2 WU, 4 going from bottom to middle of threshold (broken into 2 x 2 w/ ~3 mins jog between), 1 mile WD
Friday - 3 recovery (z1)
Sat - I ride .. all z2 pace
Sun - 9 miles with the last 5k at half marathon pace (8.15)
Please feel free to tear that to pieces.
I would really appreciate your input.
Thanks in advance, John, London, UK

When your main goal is to finish a full Ironman I say you really need to train more swimming, cycling and running.And when it comes to your easy runs you should try to mostly stay at 70-75 % of your max heartrate to get the best aerob effect out of them.

On the other hand, if your main goal just was to become a better runner on 30 mpw it had been enough to see fast improvement ( coached by me of course😀) .

The Magician. 🧙🏼‍♂️

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