Half Marathon Training

yallcallmedeb

I am currently 15 weeks away from my first half marathon (well, the first that I'm scheduled to run....I'm actually considering doing another one 3 weeks earlier but that is a local, small one that would be more of a training run). I am at the end of Hal Higdon's Novice 2 Half Marathon Training Program but I altered it some I've made one day speed intervals and one day with some hills (about 120-180' overall climb). Lately, I've added a mile to each of the shorter runs. I really like to run a minimum of 5 miles a day 4 days a week. Now that I am researching what plan to follow next, I see that they all pretty much have their short runs ranging from 3 to 5 miles along with the one long run per week. They range from running 4 days per week to 6 days per week. Running 4 days a week has really worked out well for my family life. I want to be running 25-30 miles per week though while the plans are typically for 13-23 miles per week.

Do you think that it is reasonable for me to continue what I'm doing (http://halhigdon.com/training/51312/Half-Marathon-Novice-2-Training-Program) making Tuesdays speed training, Wednesdays hills and adding 1-2 miles to each of the short runs?

Also, since I have at least 12 more weeks to train....I was thinking about going back to about Week 7 and repeat those weeks twice before my race.

Thoughts?

Eaglesfanintn

It sounds like you've got a pretty solid plan. I've used Higdon's plans to run marathons and I'm using the Intermediate 1 now to get ready for Chicago. I've made minor adjustments to them, but try to stick to the overall spirit of the plan. I might add a mile or two here or there or take a rest day instead of cross training some Mondays.
Good luck with your run - I'd say you're on your way to crushing it!

bluefox9er

Deb, I used Higdon's novice 2 plan for my marathon.

There's no 'perfect' marathon plan, but when I followed mine, I's dually tack on an extra mile at the start of the programme, but a half is a lot different to a full for training.

Listen to your body, and avoid over training/injury...Higdon worked for me!

Good luck :-)

Jaja_Joli

Hey Deb,
Just saw your half-marathon post… I am training for number 3 . It is definitely a learning process and we constantly need to changes thinks up. I am not the same runner that I was when I trained for No. 1. I do a little more each cycle, not just millage but also difficulty. I find that we beginners, run every run at the same similar pace. I work very hard to make my easy run nice are slow so I have speed my legs when it time to do a hard work out (tempo run or speed). Tempo runs and also fast finish long runs would be a great addition to your plan, once in a while. A good learning web site is Greg McMilan, his pace calculator is a great tool. http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/, I just finished the book (you, only faster) and its great, not too complicated. I also LOVE, http://www.mile-posts.com/ she is great motivation and a superstar runner… She is the girl behind the t-shirt on my profile picture. “I run this body”. You can read her Popular Posts Colum, all great posts.

Keep up the great work! You are doing amazing!!!

sammyneb

you have pretty solid plan. I just ran my 3rd half and am running my 4th this Saturday My training plan (dual training plan incorporating both races) had me running 25-30 miles a week. I only ran 4 days a week. A typical week for me was running 4 or 5 on Monday's runing 5-7 on Tuesday (which was also my Hill OR speed work day) rest Wednesday run 8 thursday (double down, i would typically run 6 (tempo run) at lunch and pick up that last 2 in the evening (slow)) corss train on Friday, long run on Saturday (8-14 miles) then Cross on Sunday.

the only real suggestion I would make don't do hill work and speed work back to back, and honestly you probably shouldn't even do both on the same week. I think that will set you up for injury.

CharMarieDavis

I used the same method of adding 1 mile to my shorter runs throughout my training and I actually ended up getting a stress fracture in my foot. Your body can physically only take so much. If you proceed with this method of training, just be sure to listen to your body. If it hurts at mile 5 but you are "scheduled" to run 6 for your short run....just stop after mile 5. I didn't listen to my body. Sounds like you are determined and I wish you all the luck in the world! Have fun!

aswearingen22

I've run 8 half marathons in the last 2 years (4 this last spring) and am training for my first marathon now (Chicago in October). I have a few questions before I can fully answer you.

1. How long have you been running? As in, week in, week out, 15 miles + per week running? You really shouldn't introduce speedwork unless you've been nonstop training for about a year. Your body needs that long to adapt to running (muscles, bones, tendons) before you throw speed work at it. You really increase your chance for injury if you introduce speed work before your body is ready (even if it feels good now).

2. How long is your long run right now? Since you're ending novice 2, I assume your long run is at 12 miles?

3. If you are at the end of Hal's Novice 2 plan, why is your half 15 weeks away? You should be training to peak at the 15 weeks? It sounds like you trained and are now wanting to basically hold steady until race day, which will be harder to do and actually peak on race day. There should be a gradual build-up, then a taper, then race.

It sounds like you have a good base from which to go forward in your training, but I'm concerned about you over training or having overuse injuries depending on how long you've been running. You need to find a plan that fits what you'd like it to do. These plans were created by people that know what they're doing and they're created such that you have that easy/hard/easy/hard rotation in days. You shouldn't have two hard days back to back (hard meaning either long distance or speed work). And honestly, for training for a half distance you SHOULD have days that are *just* 3 mile easy runs. I'm marathon training and still have days that are 3 mile easy runs. Your body needs those days to recover. You actually sacrifice performance by hitting 5 miles every single time you run, and you'll ready from the running experts it's not good to start tacking on mileage here and there, you should be following the plan., you're just asking for injury.

Here's my advice. If you have been running 15-20 mi per week for 1 year or more, then yes, add some speed work. It sounds like you need to move on from Hal's Novice 2 plan though and actually follow the integrity of a plan that includes speed work so that it's done in a healthy way. Check out his intermediate 1 plan. It's a 12 week plan, and yes, I would start with the plan, on week 1, 12 weeks out. Give your body a bit of a break those first few weeks getting ready to ramp up into training again. It needs it and you'll perform better. Whatever your GOAL race is, plan to run this plan to end at that race. If you do run the other half 3 weeks before your goal half, definitely take it at a nice easy long run pace and don't race it, or you'll be sacrificing performance at your goal race. Hal's intermediate 2 plan does have speed work in it 1 day a week which is more than enough for your first half. If you only want to run 4 days a week instead of 5, drop either the Thursday or Saturday run. But I wouldn't make up for that 5th day by adding mileage onto the other days. This plan starts at 15 miles a week and maxes out at about 29 miles a week.

Another option is the Train Like a Mother plans. They have a beginner half marathon plan that includes speed work, their "finish it" plan. I used their "own it" plan for my half's this year and LOVED it. I'm using their marathon "finish it" plan and am on week 4 and loving it. Their plans have more mileage in them than Hal's, so you might like that better (the finish it plan starts out at 21 miles and maxes out at around 33 miles). And the plan is 15 weeks long, so you could dive into week 1 right away and still be at 21 miles. The plan is running 5 days a week, but one of those days is option run OR cross train, so it works perfect for you to keep it at 4 days (of course sacrificing about 4 miles a week, again, I wouldn't tack that on another day or days). It includes 2 days of speed work a week (one day is strides at the end of an easy run, the second day is a mixture of intervals, tempos, hill repeats, etc). And the long run maxes out at 11-13 miles 3 weeks before the actual race, so this would work perfect for you if you ran the other half marathon first as a training run (just make sure to take it at easy long run pace!). Then it tapers until race day. This might be much more what you're looking for and I can't recommend their plans enough. The Train Like a Mother book is really good and you would likely enjoy it as well! I have the kindle version, but ended up buying a paper copy so that I could read the plans easier...so I'd advise just buying the paper version. Sarah and Dimity's first book is "Run Like a Mother" and is really good too (ebook version is fine for that one).

Good luck!

ETA: I just remembered that training plan is free on their website as there was an editing error in the book! Just go to this link and you can download the pdf!:) You can at least look at it and see what you think!

http://anothermotherrunner.com/2012/06/11/corrected-and-free-finish-it-half-marathon-plan/