Running - a range of distances

As I lost my superfluous fat, at least 10kg of it, and changed my running technique from heel strike to midfoot landing, I transformed as a runner.
Although I gained half the weight now again mostly in muscle mass, I do feel very lightfooted.
At the track, I can now stay close to the talented teenagers, I am 34, and until now a non-runner.
The way I've been improving though, forces me to retract my own words. I no longer am a non-runner. For that, I keep up with the real runner a bit too easily. Running technique, for over 30 years I wouldn't believe more than a percent or so could be gotten from it. Now, I know I just scooped up about 10% or raw speed, on technique alone. Can''t imagine having to use thick heel super-damped shoes to accomodate my heel striking technique again. Let alone trying to do a run at any pace that way.

Most of the time, I've been getting 2 track practice session in per week. much less in January, and still not good in February, due to having lost muscle strength to run the way I do now. Skiing got me soft. Now, I'm trying to increase my training volume. Through one or 2 endurance runs (or what I use the term for), and added short SkiErg sessions.

Yesterday, I somehow managed despite sore legs from 2 previous days of running, to set training PB's on 3 distances : 400, 600 and 1000m. Helped by having relatively long 4' rest between each. 64', 1'45 and 3'19. The former was relatively quick, the latter ralatively slow. Yet, the short stuff awazes me of late. I can really stay close to the quick teenagers there.
I ran those on my softer road shoes even, Adizero Rockets, not even on spikes.
Which race times belong to such practice times, run solo mostly in lane 2?

Our coach tells me that, especially when I turn 35+ Master next season, I would actuall be best at 100 through 400m. Oddest thing, but possibly true. Old guys get slow, and I just get started yet I'm not.

My aim with running, really is to get to a good 3000m time. It's a mix of endurance power, and anaerobic speed. Should get me in decent shape for a Winter Triathlon's opening running leg, being 6km or more, hilly, over snow cover.
I only have a time at 5km right now. Between last Oct and Dec I ran 3 of those, increasingly better. 18'00 my mark as of now. I want to get that down to 16'00, to be equal to ~9'00 over 3000m. Some way to go, obviously.

This summer season I'll be gathering courage to attend some track races. Over 1000, 1500, 3000 and maybe even 5000m. Shorter I may try once I feel safe in terms of injuring myself. On the road, I will try to get in some 5's, 10's and maybe even a 15km. Next up, a 5km in the program of the great Rotterdam Marathon. I wrote down 17'00 but wonder if that's doable.

Over 5km, 1kg of body weight more of less (let's presume it useless fat), is worth 11s of time lost or gained. I'm a bit heavier now that when I ran the 18'00, but I should also have developped as a runner, and gained from slihtly increased weekly cardio load.
My coach wants me to run a 1000m in 2'50 this season, and a 1500m in 4'40, to prove that I'm on track towards my running goals. I've never had to give quite that much in a race, so I'm almost scared to experience it. Afraid to just crash through my legs from exhaustion.

Being a run-sprinter, makes me wonder if maybe I am also a short-distance guy for skiing? I'm tall as are some sprinters (1m94/6'4", ~88kg now), but was never the guy to reach the highest top speed, let alone in the last meters. My best distance is probably an extended sprint. In MTB racing, 15-30mins seemed good for me, too bad races were over an hour usually.

Endurance can be trained, speed less so I think, so I'll try to consider my relatively decent speed a gift. Now, to learn to hold 72' laps for 7.5 laps on end...

Yet again, 46 weeks to go - status report

So, I took a silver medal at the CLASSIC style nationals this year, men 18-40. Didn't see that one coming. I'm into skating. Somehow, especially when I get to double pole, I'm not slow. Possibly quicker than when allowed to skate while doing so.
Last second borrowed old no-wax skis (flexed 15-20kg below my weight), skate boots, skate poles, and I medaled. It was a strange race alright.

This winter, I was blessed with early snow at home. I managed around 9 or 10 days on home snow. Mostly lunch breaks and evening outings. All on streets, park lanes and sidewalks, by lack of grooming.

2 seperate weeks of Alpine XC skiing were absorbed. I think I've improved by a nice amount.

Just recently, I finally (FINALLY) bit the bullit and bought me a SkiErg double pole rowing machine. It's marvelous. Now I just need biathlon or XC footage, and I train super effectively. Just last Friday, normally a moment of hanging on the couch, I got home and tallied up 45mins of non-stop double poling with intervals, while enjoying a biathlon race download on my laptop.
Before and after running practice, at least once a week, I try to throw in an extra 10min warm-up and a 10min dessert both on the Skierg.
While my legs were toast after running Tu-We-Th, on Friday I could complete that SkiErg workout as if I were fresh as peach. It's just such a vastly different sport.
I have great hopes that my snow speed will be boosted greatly if I keep up my SkiErg hours.

Since the summer I've been doing frequent one-minute tests of pushups. I'm now at 75-76. Best in my life by a long margin. Despite being pushing 90kg. I'm holding muscle, probably thanks to over-eating and doing so protein rich at that.
Before I went to the nationals, I was up to 63x or so at 85kg, meaning I've been getting a lot stronger since.

Tonight I went out on the K2 inline skates with slow wheels, for the first time in many months. My skating speed has improved vastly, without clear reason why. I suppose the relatively high exposure to snow skating improved my balance. Perhaps the skating drills I now sometimes do, just lateral V2 hopping, with an elastic tube around my ankles, is already paying divident to that. Most notably though, is that when I double pole, I can attain significant speeds with limited effort.

This winter has really boosted my motivation to become a good skier. There were short moment of glorious good skiing on my part, unfortunately when no-one what lookking and I was demo'ing someone's Fischer Carbonlite skis. Only biblical outcries could express how that felt.
My stupid Fuji camera died on me at the end of the first week in the Alps, so I do have footage of my much improved technique from later in January, around the nationals races. Check out my Youtube channel "Cloxxki" though and feel free to comment.
Something silly and small is making all the difference in my skating, especially V2: just the notion that it's nice to keep the legs straightened after push-off, all the way till they close. Sure beats crampedly lifting them up high. And it adds so much balance to get it right, smoothly.
On the K2's tonight though, I for the first time felt a problem, I was twisting on them. Seems it's time to move up to longer wheelbase skates now. The Skike's I barely ever used seem prime suspects.

My goals for the next nationals are to get the same medal, but without the best guy being disqualified, the second and third best guys having ski problems, another being ill, and then the 50+ skiers finishing in front of me. I strongly sense that my body is capable of some seriously fast skiing. The SkiErg should help me to get the upper body cardio deal in place 80-90% of what's realistic for me. Some scheduled gym work will get me the triceps and shoulders I need.
More running races should boost my comfort zone by about a zone's worth.
Skating in my country I still passionately hate, so I need to work on that.