BarryP Run Program Update

Well I now have 4 weeks of the BarryP run rogram under my belt and while the mileage per week is still very weak I am running more frequently then I have ever before. After signing up for IMWI 2012 I knew there were some areas that had to be given some attention if I wanted any shot to have a successful race. Knowing that my weakest link in the chain is by far my run, I decided to seek out to this plan to start building some base going into 2012. So far I am very happy with where my run is going, and though I am not faster at all yet, I am by all means running much stronger and paying much more attention to the biomechanics of my run and getting myself prepped for that speed coming.

If you are unfamilar at all the the BarryP program you can check these threads below from slowtwitch.com. This was my intial introduction into the program and after hearing one great review and happy improved runner after the next I thought this would be a great place to start working on my run.

* The Program (part 1)
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...%20part%201;#2548394

* The Program (part 2)
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...%20part%202;#2554186

* The Program (part 3)
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...%20part%203;#2564153

I started this whole program working off the ratio of 2.5,5,7.5, which, in the first week gave me a whopping total of 25 miles! Yup, that is how weak my running is and how little I do infact run. I am slowly adding the distances into my run each week, starting with my short runs and then topping off the miles in my long runs. Now starting week 5 and I will be running 28.5 miles and hitting the 30 mile mark next week, I know big stuff is going on in my world right?

Week 1: 2.5, 5, 2.5, 5, 2.5, 7.5 = 25
Week 2: 3, x, 3, 5.1, 3.1, 7.35 = 21.55
Week 3: 3, 5, 3, 7.55, 3, 7.4 = 28.95
Week 4: 3, 6, 3, x, 3, 7.15 = 19.15

Another challenge with this program is getting in all 6 of those runs each week. Before I started this program I was usually running 3-4x a week, yikes I can't believe I did an Ironman on this training. Now I am running 5-6x a week as I have missed 2 of the 24 runs on the plan so far. Those two runs were middle-distance runs and brought some of my mileage down a bit, but I am still getting in plenty of runs a week to build off from.

Now that December is here and the snow is on the ground it is only a matter of time before the treadmill becomes my friend again. Hopefully I can hit 4 weeks straight of running 6x a week and be close to 35 miles a week by 2012.

Time to pound out some more miles!

-Ben