I'll try to keep this as short as possible but if this exceeds the limit then please bear with me.
I'm 29 y/o Indian male and I was a serious (if not professional) body builder when I was younger. I started bodybuilding when I was 17 and pursued it for 4 years. Then I got a shoulder injury and simultaneously life got more demanding and I couldn't return to the sport. In next 4 plus years I put on a lot of weight and reached 100 KG (220 lbs) i.e. 32 KG (70 lbs) extra from my base weight when I was in sport. Oh and yes I'm not very tall. I'm 5'9''
I turned 25 and decided it was enough and hit the gym back. For the first time in my life I decided to run (which I thought was running) on treadmill for quicker results. Let's cut it short and let me tell you that I couldn't stop running since then. I quit the gym in next 7-8 months to do more serious running and joined a track.
I ran my first half marathon (1:58 hrs) in 10 months from the starting point. Second half (Hill Course- 2:10 hrs) in another 2 months and my first full in another 3 months and there I failed miserably (5:35 hrs)
By the time I ran my 1st full I was 30 KG (66 lbs) down and looked good. I now know that I transitioned from a fat lazy boy to a half marathoner and then to a full marathoner a little quick and my body couldn't handle the stress. I didn't stop there and ran 1 half and 1 full in next 4 months and my second full again went pathetic. I finished 4:40 hrs.
I went through injuries and bad races but I didn't stop. By June 2014, I finished 9 half and 2 full marathons and maintained my weight (plus minus 3 KG). Till then my HM PR was 1:53 hrs and now I wanted to improve. I added yoga and body weight exercises in my routine and improved myself significantly and lost some more inches too. I ran a 10 KM PR (45:40 mins) and a 5:44 min mile in practice. My 1 KM best is 3:36 mins and 14+ sec for 100 meters. I set all these PRs prior to the half marathon I was training for in Nov 2014.
I did all the fartleks, repetition work, speed work, long runs and drills and finished the half marathon in 1:43:10 hrs. Though I was expecting sub 1:40 but I was happy. This was the beginning of Nov 2014 and continued my training for a full marathon in Mid Jan 2015.
I did everything what the plan said. Ran high mileage weeks, did repetitions and speed works and everything the plan asked. I did the taper and carb loading too. During this training I ran two 20 milers. Each under 3:20 hrs very comfortably. Every test said I'm fit enough to run a sub 4 hour marathon. I did Yasso 800 workout and comfortably ran 10 rep of 800 in 3:20 mins with 2:30 min recovery between each rep.
There I must mention that I was training in North India and the temperature during Dec and Jan was below 10 Deg C in mornings. The race was in South and the temp on the race day was 19 Deg C.
After putting all the efforts in training I got drained on 3rd km and felt like quitting. I managed through half way and did 21 km in 1:48 hrs and the pace was very comfortable for me. Then I felt like I'm getting slow. This might be the marathon wall but if it was so then it came a lot too early. I started dragging and again finished with a miserable timing. I finished 5:10 hrs.
So where did it go wrong? Should I not go for fullers and stay happy with the half marathons? Even if someone suggests that, I wont take that advice haha! I want to run full marathons and qualify for Boston in near future. I know it'll take time but I'm ready to train.
For the time being I'm planning to cut on the junk races and train for a considerably fast half marathon for myself which will probably fall in the 1st week of November. I effectively have 9 months for this race. I want to run a sub 1:30 race. All the plans I see online are 16 to 18 weeks long but I've around 36 weeks.
I'm looking for some advice on how I should proceed with the training. I would also like to get a proper strength and flexibility training plan. My arms and legs are toned but I still have some extra inches around my waist. You know everybody loves six packs and I'm no exception :P
Thanks Parth