Half Marathon training - Getting slower
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I had a series of half-marathon PRs in training last season while training for a marathon. But that was because I almost never run half marathons (except as part of a half-ironman).
I was amused by that since I know full well I shouldn't be PRing in training, but at least I had a legitimate reason for this one.
The only time I was surprised by a PR was at a half marathon I ran this past January. I was at a triathlon training camp and the race was supposed to just be a kind of training event. We had ridden a few hundred miles in the days before, a few really long and hard swim efforts and some track runs. My legs were decidedly destroyed. Yet I get to the start line and rip out a 30-second PR. No clue where that even came from considering how tired I was and the lack of anything resembling a taper. Makes me wonder what I can do when specifically training for a half marathon with a sufficient taper ahead of it.
You Ironman people always shock me when you do standalone races
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Through my training, I have experienced this a number of times. With running, you will experience low points and high points. Not every run is going to great. A lot of things can factor your running. How long ago you ate, or how hard you went the day before. Another could be you have missed your long run two weeks in a row. That is the most important run of the week. You will bounce back, just don't over think things and just run.0
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SonicDeathMonkey80 wrote: »I had a series of half-marathon PRs in training last season while training for a marathon. But that was because I almost never run half marathons (except as part of a half-ironman).
I was amused by that since I know full well I shouldn't be PRing in training, but at least I had a legitimate reason for this one.
The only time I was surprised by a PR was at a half marathon I ran this past January. I was at a triathlon training camp and the race was supposed to just be a kind of training event. We had ridden a few hundred miles in the days before, a few really long and hard swim efforts and some track runs. My legs were decidedly destroyed. Yet I get to the start line and rip out a 30-second PR. No clue where that even came from considering how tired I was and the lack of anything resembling a taper. Makes me wonder what I can do when specifically training for a half marathon with a sufficient taper ahead of it.
You Ironman people always shock me when you do standalone races
It is the weirdest thing but I personally think a standalone marathon is a harder race than a full ironman. It is a faster run, so it hurts more. At an ironman you get off the 112 mile bike feeling drained already so your run starts off slow and just gets slower.
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HardcoreP0rk wrote: »Side note: but is anyone else concerned about stride and stride length at slower paces? I find that my stride is AWFUL at slower paces. Anything slower than a 9 min mile really starts to suffer.
Stride rate or stride distance? I don't understand. What's the issue with this @HardcoreP0rk0 -
SonicDeathMonkey80 wrote: »I had a series of half-marathon PRs in training last season while training for a marathon. But that was because I almost never run half marathons (except as part of a half-ironman).
I was amused by that since I know full well I shouldn't be PRing in training, but at least I had a legitimate reason for this one.
The only time I was surprised by a PR was at a half marathon I ran this past January. I was at a triathlon training camp and the race was supposed to just be a kind of training event. We had ridden a few hundred miles in the days before, a few really long and hard swim efforts and some track runs. My legs were decidedly destroyed. Yet I get to the start line and rip out a 30-second PR. No clue where that even came from considering how tired I was and the lack of anything resembling a taper. Makes me wonder what I can do when specifically training for a half marathon with a sufficient taper ahead of it.
You Ironman people always shock me when you do standalone races
It is the weirdest thing but I personally think a standalone marathon is a harder race than a full ironman. It is a faster run, so it hurts more. At an ironman you get off the 112 mile bike feeling drained already so your run starts off slow and just gets slower.
As an accomplished triathlete of three sprints of varying embarrassing times, I would celebrate getting off the bike with a leisurely 5k walk.0 -
Check out Fartlek training to increase your speed, I used to add a bit into my runs and it definitely helped. I do the same kind of thing on the bike too.0
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HardcoreP0rk wrote: »Side note: but is anyone else concerned about stride and stride length at slower paces? I find that my stride is AWFUL at slower paces. Anything slower than a 9 min mile really starts to suffer.
Nope. Whether I run a 7:30 or 12:30 mile, my stride/cadence is all the same - 176-184. Only when I go from 5:30-7:00 does it really change to 190-200+. Speed is not an excuse for poor form, unless you're going faster than you are able to for a specific duration.0 -
SonicDeathMonkey80 wrote: »HardcoreP0rk wrote: »Side note: but is anyone else concerned about stride and stride length at slower paces? I find that my stride is AWFUL at slower paces. Anything slower than a 9 min mile really starts to suffer.
Nope. Whether I run a 7:30 or 12:30 mile, my stride/cadence is all the same - 176-184. Only when I go from 5:30-7:00 does it really change to 190-200+. Speed is not an excuse for poor form, unless you're going faster than you are able to for a specific duration.
I did 8 this morning. First mile was a 9:53 pace and avg run cadence was 174. This progressed up till mile 8 @ 8:38 pace and 178 run cadence. Average for the entire run was 176. They're all nearly exactly the same. Mine can reach 190 for some faster interval work but the cadence is just about the same for any long distance work that's in the aerobic zone.0 -
Same here. My cadence rarely strays off the 175-179 range. Hills, up or down, or some sprint intervals will change it, but for the most part all of my running no matter the pace is at that cadence0
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Usually that means I need sleeeeeeeeeeeeep or an extra day off.
Most people will typically be faster later in the day.
I also recommend an "active" rest or recovery day to run with no tracking whatsoever-- no phone, watch, whichever.0 -
Since you are training from scratch take it easy and build your base.
Don't bother with pace. Also every run is going to be different. Some days are going to be better than others.0 -
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Same here. One week I struggled with 7 miles after doing a great 10. I think there are just so many factors that each run is different. I stopped focusing on my pace so much.0
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