question for you experinced runners

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celtickarasu
celtickarasu Posts: 76
in Fitness and Exercise
I ran track back in high school. (This was back before fish grew legs and walked up out of the sea.) I was a sprinter and never could run more than 400 meters. Even pacing myself, I sucked. The only thing I was good at was running as fast as I could for short stretches. Now I'm older. I'd like to try training for endurance. I'll note that I have a bad knee. Is it possible to retrain a sprinter to be a distance runner? If so, will I lose my sprinting? I'd like to be able to alternate workouts between pacing for a long distance and interval training with my sprints.

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  • lisabernard
    lisabernard Posts: 59 Member
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    I tried running and couldn't due to a bad knee. I then started bicycling and my knee is WAY better now! So, just a tip, if the knee gives you trouble add some bicycling to the mix and it may help. Good luck!

    - Lisa
  • hodag11
    hodag11 Posts: 7 Member
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    Check out the couch to 5K program on line it works!
  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
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    You can alternate endurance runs with speedwork training. Though speedwork gives you more chance of injury, so I'd watch it if you have knee problems. You can train for just about anything. It's all about building up more slow-twitch muscle fiber for endurance exercises (at least that's what I remember from a Physiology class I took).
  • Fliegenschwein
    Fliegenschwein Posts: 232 Member
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    Check out the couch to 5K program on line it works!


    +1 for this
  • sweetiepie31612
    sweetiepie31612 Posts: 240 Member
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    I'm in the same boat. I used to be a sprinter in HS and now I'm training for a half marathon. It's been a miserable experience, but I'm glad I'm doing it. First, when "jogging" make sure to go slow! Its a different style of running that your body needs to get used to. I'd start by forcing yourself to run a mile, even if you have to stop and walk a few times. When you can run the full mile without walking, up it to 2 miles. I'm sure you can sense a pattern. These types of workouts will get your body used to running/moving for long periods of time. If what you need to work on is your breathing, I'd suggest interval training. My favorite is walk, jog, strides. Walk 100 meters, jog 100 meters, stride 100 and repeat as many times as you want. The interval type of workout will help you from getting winded during your long runs. If your knees bother you, you might have to switch to biking. Hope this helps some.

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