Running questions

Re: Balance between strength training and running. This totally depends on what your goals are. If you goal is to be the fastest runner you can be, than the answer will be different from the answer you will get if your goal is to use running as a way to achieve balanced overall fitness. Different still is the answer if you goal is to add muscle and bulk and use running to get lean and lower body fat percentage.

I will make the assumption, based on your goal to reach a 7:00 pace, that you want the answers in the context of being the best runner you can be.

30-35 miles per week is a solid base to start from. Whether you need to rest more than one day a week depends upon how your body is responding to the stress that you put it under. If you are feeling tired and sore and can't seem to get through workouts, then maybe you need another rest day. If you are handling that load without any issue, then there is no reason to take additional rest.

If you want to get faster, then you are going to have to increase your mileage. Can you get faster by adding speed work and staying at 30-35 miles per week? Sure, you can. But you will reach a plateau at some point and the speed work will no longer be effective. That will probably occur around 6 to 8 weeks from the start of the speed work sessions.

What's reasonable for a 52 year old? Well, my coach is 57 and he is a 17 minute 5K guy, so I'd say that your goal of 7:00 pace (though you don't state what distance, I think you mean for 5K) is quite reasonable.

What I would do is start to slowly increase my weekly mileage. Make sure that each week you have at least one run that is 90 minutes (120 minutes would be even better) and two runs that are about 75 minutes long. These should be done at your easy run pace, which should be a couple minutes per mile slower than your 5K pace. Once you are at these levels and your weekly mileage is consistently in the mid 40 mile range, go run a 5K. I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results.

At some point, you are going to want to incorporate some different paced running. I think that there are two elements that should be included, even during a base phase. I tempo run and some strides. Once a week, run 20 minutes of one of your hour long runs at a "comfortably hard" pace. Fast enough that you can answer a question with a 2 to 4 word sentence but not so slow that you could have a conversation or so fast that you can even get a word out. Also, once a week do 4 to 20 sets of fast strides of 40 to 100 meters long. Do these at the end of one of the 75 minute runs.

That should at least get your started. This is the base phase of a four phased approach to training. We skipped the strength phase in the beginning and went right to base. Do this for 8 to 10 week, slowly increasing your mileage and you'll see results.

As a 47 year old, I say that a 53min 10k is a great time! :-)

That being said, there are ways to improve that do not require "more" time.

I suggest, adding hills into your schedule. (ie run hills one day instead of running distance). Find a decent hill close by and run up & down. Start with a low number of reps (3-4) work up to 10 - 12 and work to improve lap times as you go.

There are also Fartlek runs. On a 10k run, warm up for 1+ k then sprint full out for 15 - 20 sec, dropping back to your regular running pace (NOT to a walk), repeat. Like above start with just a few reps and build from there.

Lastly, switch out one run for sprints. Similar to fartlek but the sprint is over distance not time. The program I am on has the distance set at 1.6k (run 2x 800m - out and back) run back at regular pace (not walk).

The above is part of a program I am using to prep for my first marathon. Not sure I would follow it as part of a recreational/fitness program? It has been a demanding training program. Fun, but time & energy consuming.

That being said, I will be starting over again in Oct as I work with a group who will be preping for their first half in Feb. No rest for the wicked!

Fartlek and hills always help me...as you get better at the hard stuff, your old rutine suddenly feels easy so I either go further or faster dependng on my mood. For me its about variety. I cycle and have a physical gardening job( lots of digging, heavy prunng etc with no fancy electric tools...just brute force! I also do pilates and jilian michaels fitness dvds and some yoga from time to time. When I feel like a break from hard runs I do something that works different muscle groups in different ways. I'm no expert. But I enjoy it, which is the whole idea afterall.

Amazing dedication, good for you! Go for your goal of 7 min, why not.

Excellent guidance from Carson and Scott - I'm saving this.