Training for a half marathon 4/5 days in a row
_rachel_k
Posts: 243 Member
I signed up for a half marathon in September and I am starting my "training". By training I mean C25K 2 or 3 days a week with a 5K "you do whatever you want" run during my lunch break (I run in my area which has a lot of traffic lights, and if I'm tired, I walk a bit).
My calf muscles are EXTREMELY tight and I have a massage booked at noon tomorrow, but I don't seem to be progressing as well on my C25K program. I have Week 5 Day 3 tomorrow and it's a 20 minute straight run and I'm afraid that I won't be able to keep pace for the 20 minutes and I'm just wondering if it's because I run daily, sometimes twice a day.
Long story short, I'm at a 1700 calorie limit, I don't eat back my exercise calories and two days a week my bf and I follow Arnold Schwarzenegger's Guide to Modern Bodybuilding Level 2 (minus legs, but I will do squats on my own sometimes).
My calf muscles are EXTREMELY tight and I have a massage booked at noon tomorrow, but I don't seem to be progressing as well on my C25K program. I have Week 5 Day 3 tomorrow and it's a 20 minute straight run and I'm afraid that I won't be able to keep pace for the 20 minutes and I'm just wondering if it's because I run daily, sometimes twice a day.
Long story short, I'm at a 1700 calorie limit, I don't eat back my exercise calories and two days a week my bf and I follow Arnold Schwarzenegger's Guide to Modern Bodybuilding Level 2 (minus legs, but I will do squats on my own sometimes).
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I don't think you need to do the extra 5k, why not do the c25k programme and then the 10k programme after that?0
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"keep pace" is not something that should be a consideration during a C25K. If you're struggling to "keep pace", SLOW DOWN.
Also don't understand your post. If you're running twice a day, you're not following C25K, so it's really unclear what you're doing, or what you're trying to accomplish. But from what you posted, if I had to guess, I'd guess you're on a fast track to Injuryville.
The secret to running distance is that you need to slow down to go faster....
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Long story short, I'm at a 1700 calorie limit, I don't eat back my exercise calories and two days a week my bf and I follow Arnold Schwarzenegger's Guide to Modern Bodybuilding Level 2 (minus legs, but I will do squats on my own sometimes).
Training for endurance events and calorie restriction are counter to each other. Not eating back at least some of the calories is going to put you into a nutritionally deprived state. This is a terrible idea, and is likely why you are not recovering from training as well as you would want to.
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TavistockToad: I plan on C210K after, and then the half marathon app after that
I have fat loss goals in mind, as well as muscle building so I am in a weird spot calorie wise lol The big thing is NOT dying during the half marathon.0 -
as long as you are not running full on everyone of those days you should be fine. I've gone over 90 days in a row walk/jog/run just not running everyday. Good Luck0
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I signed up for a half marathon in September and I am starting my "training". By training I mean C25K 2 or 3 days a week with a 5K "you do whatever you want" run during my lunch break (I run in my area which has a lot of traffic lights, and if I'm tired, I walk a bit).
My calf muscles are EXTREMELY tight and I have a massage booked at noon tomorrow, but I don't seem to be progressing as well on my C25K program. I have Week 5 Day 3 tomorrow and it's a 20 minute straight run and I'm afraid that I won't be able to keep pace for the 20 minutes and I'm just wondering if it's because I run daily, sometimes twice a day.
Long story short, I'm at a 1700 calorie limit, I don't eat back my exercise calories and two days a week my bf and I follow Arnold Schwarzenegger's Guide to Modern Bodybuilding Level 2 (minus legs, but I will do squats on my own sometimes).
So much wrong with your plan.
If you're doing a C25K program then follow it - don't add extra to the plan, that way lies injuries. You're clearly new to running - go slower or you're finished before you start.
Why are you skipping the leg section of a weights plan? - horribly unbalanced.
Eat some of your calories back - your body can't recover without enough fuel.0 -
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Well your first problem is you are skipping leg day. You need to strength train your legs once a week to keep them strong and safe from injury. Strength training in addition to tempo runs will help improve your pace. Also, if the pain is in your calfs, it means your hips and glutes are weak. You calf is used to stabalize your foot through the hips and butt when your foot hits the ground. So no the issue isn't that you run daily. I train for marathons and run 5-6 times a week without that issue. Long distance running, isn't just running. Its cross-training (biking, swimming, etc - to develop the counter muscles), Strength training (to protect joints to increase strength and protect from injury), stretching - regardless of distance is a must. Yoga is great for this. Last, proper rest days. You seem to be missing all of the other components aside from just running. Also, I don't know anything about the Arnold program but often body building programs designed to bulk can be counterproductive to running.0
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why are you running twice a day if you are concerned you're not going to be able to run for 20 minutes? I think you might be over doing it.
If you start to falter during those 20 just slow down...keep running but sloooooow down. You'll probably surprise yourself.
I love the C25K program, but when I did it I gave myself a day of rest in between runs, I completed it I think last June and I'm now training for a half that will be in June of this year....I'm using the Hal Higdon Novice 2 program which has me running 3 days in a row and my body can handle it now, but there is no way it would have been able to during the C25K days.
Why are you running so much? rest is important. It's hard to do when you're enjoying running, but it's important.
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This person hasn't even finished a 5k - "tempo runs" is well beyond their aerobic (and probably ligamental) capacity at this point.
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as long as you are not running full on everyone of those days you should be fine. I've gone over 90 days in a row walk/jog/run just not running everyday. Good Luck
Over training as a beginner is a major cause of injury for new runners. She should stick to the programme - running twice a day as a new runner will cause injuries.0 -
how about you just walk on your lunch break instead of running? That's probably a smart idea.0
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Plenty of good advice here, I'd just through in that you shouldn't bump mileage by more than 10% a week.0
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You are at exactly the same spot that I am in the program C25k is *not* etched in stone. If you have to repeat a day before progressing, go ahead and move along at your own pace. So if you feel like you can't do Day 3, do day 2 again or drop back even further. This is my 2nd time through the program though. C25K and 10K Trainer (Zen Labs app) are the same for the first 9 weeks. So if you need room on your phone, just get the 10k app.
You are taking the rest days planned into C25K right? I've found that I feel better if I walk on the C25K rest days. It helps loosen things up a bit. If you don't own a foam roller, look into getting one. That way you can roll things out on days when you can't get a massage.
As a few of the others have said, I would also eat some of the calories back. I eat back about 300, which doesn't seem to drastically impact weight loss, but it does help a bit w/ post-run recovery a bit.0 -
Iron_Feline wrote: »
Clearly most of these things are beyond her capacity at the moment. However, she asked about pace - i provided information on how pace is improved. She has a lot of things she needs to do but she can't do it without the information. You also don't need to complete a 5k to do a tempo run.0 -
Keep it up and you are going to have a pulled calf muscle sometime in the next few weeks.
You can run daily or even twice a day daily, just not yet.0 -
Pretty much, yeah, you do. If you want to get any of the benefits from it anyway. At this point, attempting a tempo run is going to do nothing to improve her pace and will likely just result in injury.Amberlynnek wrote: »You also don't need to complete a 5k to do a tempo run.
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Amberlynnek wrote: »Iron_Feline wrote: »
Clearly most of these things are beyond her capacity at the moment. However, she asked about pace - i provided information on how pace is improved. She has a lot of things she needs to do but she can't do it without the information. You also don't need to complete a 5k to do a tempo run.
lol, your advice is bad as it is not tailored to the person asking the question. Your advice could very well lead to injuries.
A person who struggles to pace a 20 min run should not be advised to do temp runs - they should be advised to run slower. Improving your pace comes with distance then speed work.
How on earth would they know that they are not ready for tempo runs - your comment just said they were missing them, they might add them in now. Not to mention they never asked how to run faster - just how to keep up their pace.
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lporter229 wrote: »
Pretty much, yeah, you do. If you want to get any of the benefits from it anyway. At this point, attempting a tempo run is going to do nothing to improve her pace and will likely just result in injury.Amberlynnek wrote: »You also don't need to complete a 5k to do a tempo run.
seriously - yet more terrible advice. *
Yeah - I've upgraded you from bad advice to terrible.
* not Lporter but Amber, sorry0 -
Amberlynnek wrote: »
You also don't need to complete a 5k to do a tempo run.
Uhh... Yea.. you do. What sort of "tempo" are you talking about if one can't even run 3 miles to begin with? My tempo efforts are never shorter than 6 miles. And I wouldn't even suggest attempting something like that until long runs are going past 10 miles.
Better to stick with building endurance first. Trying to train speed of any kind before the endurance is there is a sure path to injury.0 -
Dear OP: You are making a classic newbie runner series of mistakes, First and foremost the body needs time to rest. Running daily and sometimes twice a day is over-training unless you are an elite level athlete. Second you have to include leg-work in your strength training routine. Third you have to cross-train as mentioned above. Try biking, swimming or even a low-impact elliptical machine on alternate days to your run days. Fourth, set reasonable goals! Attempting to go from couch potato to running a 1/2 marathon in 6 months is simply crazy. Get a few months of 5ks under your belt and then several months of 10ks before you start 1/2M training. 21 kilometers is a long distance and you need to build up to it slowly. And last but NOT least, eat properly. Eating at a major deficit while doing the types of training that you are committed to is a big mistake. Take care of yourself OP, take it from a geezer with arthritis in both knees, damage that you do now will be with you years later.0
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In to see what a tempo run looks like for someone who can't run for 20 minutes.
OP- slow down. Too much, too soon.0 -
You've already been given great advice. It sounds like you're doing too much too soon, and are feeling the effects. I agree you're on the road to injury with your current amount of running.
I say to follow the C25K as written (3 alternating days). Cross train on the rest days if you want (walk, cycle, strength train-whatever floats your boat). As others have said, don't worry about pace at all. Your pace will improve over time as you increase distance. Slow down for now to accomplish the time the C25K calls for. To make it 20 minutes, slow way down without walking. That's what the plan is for. Then progress to the 10K plan and the half plan after that. You've got plenty of time to be ready for your race.
Calorie deficit: You'll probably need to have a small deficit, because you need to eat enough to fuel your workouts. I don't know how much weight you're looking to lose, but consider having your goal set for .5/lb a week.0 -
Amberlynnek: I keep texting my bf those "Friends don't let Friends skip leg day" pictures but he thinks it will make my training harder so I just do some squats here and there.
veganbettie: I have fat loss goals, that's why I'm running two times a day.
Mr_Knight: If you're meaning me, I have completed many 5k in 2014 and just finished one race on Saturday, it was HARD but I did it.
Laura732: I don't take the scheduled rest days in C25K because there is no guarantee that I will be running Friday, Saturday or Sunday so I use those as rest days. I know the plan is not etched in stone, but I hate going back lol
I'm trying to respond to as many people as I can but there are a lot of replies coming in
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one thing to keep in mind is you exercise (run) for fitness and diet to lose weight. I'm actually struggling to drop weight while running because I get so hungry! You should eat back at least a portion of your exercise calories like everyone is saying.
I think you may be going about this the wrong way, but to each their own. It would really suck though to have an injury stop your progress....I took a month off from running in January because of life and excuses and it was pretty hard to get back in, took me another month to get my speed back and my endurance. I'm pretty new at this too, but I'm learning.0 -
Your fat loss goals will be met with injury. Then how will you address fat loss?0
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OP, how much running experience do you have?
People are responding based on the C25K training thinking you're totally new to running. But, you're saying you've already completed several 5Ks in 2014 and one this past weekend. Did you run the whole distance, or are you walking some of it? If you're walking some, how much?
What's your average weekly mileage (running only)?
What's your longest run in the last month (distance)?
I think the advice might change a bit based on your answers, though you are clearly overdoing it based on your soreness and reported performance results.0 -
If you just ran a 5K race then its kind of wasting your time doing the C25K program.0
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