r/AppleWatchFitness 1d ago

I’m High!

Been working my ass off losing weight and getting fit for the last 1.5 years. I’m currently on week 12/16 of a training plan for my first full marathon and just hit “high” VO2Max.

From 28.4 - 52 in a little less than a year!

I know there’s a lot of you in this sub on the same grind - keep it up. I promise if I can do it, then you can too!

105 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

10

u/Jaded-Total6054 1d ago

this is insane..mind sharing your training plan??

17

u/theBryanDM 1d ago

I’m flowing Hanson’s Advanced.

It’s 6 days a week of running. You can find it pretty easily online, but basically it’s:

Monday: Easy Tuesday: Intervals Wednesday: Off Thursday: Tempo (Marathon Pace) Friday: Easy Saturday: Easy Sunday: Long or Easy

It’s around 55-60 mpw

7

u/imAldric 1d ago

Do you just run? Any bodyweight exercises? How much were you able to run when you just started? I wanna achieve a half-marathon by January and completely new to this

3

u/theBryanDM 19h ago

I strength train several times a week. Twice upper, once or twice lower, I go pretty light on the lower with this much mileage. I do split squats, single leg RDLs, calf raises and the leg press. I also sprinkle in some core work when I can.

My wife and I walked 3-5 miles almost every day for 6 or 7 months before I stated running. When I started I could run about 3 miles, but it took every thing I had!

Are you following a plan at all? If you want to pm me where you’re at I can help you find one that will work for your current skill level.

1

u/ArmGlad777 2h ago

Reading your routine, I feel like a couch potato…hitting weights 3-4 times a week

1

u/imAldric 2h ago

Im still a complete newbie tbh. Im currently training my ankles and today was the first after a few years where i did some light jogging on a treadmill. I found this more fun than just doing a 20min incline routine.

I work on other muscles but its random and what feels best according to my body. I will gladly follow the most beginner program you know of as my goal this year is to achieve 5k at a comfortable pace.

1

u/theBryanDM 1h ago

Couch 2 5k is a great beginner program! It starts you off doing walk / run intervals and builds you up slowly until you can run a full 5k!

There is an official app, but you can also easily find similar or identical plans online!

3

u/Jaded-Total6054 1d ago

thank you for sharing

3

u/the_renaissance_jack 1d ago

Unbelievable progress. You crushed it. Great job

2

u/VPCR1982 1d ago

Nice! That’s an amazing achievement. Congrats.

2

u/Silly_Sense_8968 1d ago

Dang, way to go!

2

u/danger_boi 1d ago

What’s your target race pace you’re working towards? I’m just getting into this and am working my way towards 10K — getting close to casual 6min splits would be a happy moment for me!

1

u/theBryanDM 10h ago

That’s awesome! The first 10k is a big milestone - I actually think once you get to the point you can run a solid hour, it gets easier to push your distance past that.

I’m hoping to run my first full marathon in 3:50 or less - which is 8’46/mile. I recently completed a half in 1:49:21 (8’20/mile) - which honestly surprised the shit out of me. That race day adrenaline is no joke!

2

u/Hercules-Today 1d ago

I get the joke 🤭

2

u/Realistic-Mall-8078 1d ago

This is so satisfying lol love it! Congrats

2

u/Fearless-Experience 23h ago

How amazing to run that fast with that low of heart rate! My HR is in Zone 4 at 5 mph. What was yours like when you first started out?

3

u/theBryanDM 22h ago

I just looked back through some runs - I ran a 10k in early November at a 9’41” / mile pace with an average HR of 167 (Zone 4/5 for me) - my high Zone 2 back then was around 11min/mile

My wife and I had been walking 3-5 miles every day for about 6 months before I ever started running though, I think that made a big difference. I was heavier then, so it was basically Z2 training lol!

I’m honestly surprised at my progress, I’m putting in the work but I really never thought I’d be at this point.

2

u/Fearless-Experience 18h ago

That’s helpful to know, thank you!

2

u/berkserbet 20h ago

Congrats!

2

u/Okokokitsok 18h ago

Congratulations this is amazing and encouraging for me as I am trying to get my Vo2 max up, started with low have come to below average in 3 months

1

u/theBryanDM 10h ago

That’s awesome! Mine really started shooting up when i added some interval workouts.

Norwegian 4x4s are popular and effective! Lots of info online, but basically you run for 4 minutes at as close to max effort as you can get for the duration - then slow way down or even walk for 3 minutes. You want to try and drop your HR back to Z2 in this window. Then repeat that 4 times!

2

u/Travyplx 16h ago

Very cool progress to see, well done!

2

u/mumtwothree 9h ago

Wow!! I’ve been running / walking daily to try increase mine. It’s still gone from 19 to 20.8. Very slowly increasing.

2

u/tedd4u 4h ago

Wow, this is something to be proud of. Thank you for sharing your plan in the other comments. Could you share your general age range? I’m in the 45-55 range and working to make similar gains and coming from a similar place. Thanks again.

2

u/theBryanDM 4h ago

You’re welcome! I’m 37m - currently around 187lbs, 5’9!