What are your running tips?
lora2016
Posts: 12 Member
I love running and I am training for a half marathon. Any tips you have for training/racing? Thanks in advance!
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Replies
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While traiing, run slow and build up your aerobic base. You want to run slow enough so that you could carry on a conversation with a friend (real or imaginary). This will allow you to run farther with much less risk of injury. If this is your first half marathon, I would skip any speed work at all until about 3 weeks out and then I would only work up to the pace you hope to maintain during the race. For instance, during my longest run before my first half, I ran at a slow pace for me for 75% of the run, then picked up my pace to my desired race pace for the last 4 miles to give my body a chance to get used that pace.
Other than doing that a couple of times I spent rest of my training doing the slow "conversational" runs and I was amazed at how that increased my speed.
If you have the time, sign up for a 5K or 10K a month or two before the half to give yourself some race experience if you don't already have some, and also to give you a race pace benchmark that you can use to estimate your HM race pace.
Good luck!
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While traiing, run slow and build up your aerobic base. You want to run slow enough so that you could carry on a conversation with a friend (real or imaginary). This will allow you to run farther with much less risk of injury. If this is your first half marathon, I would skip any speed work at all until about 3 weeks out and then I would only work up to the pace you hope to maintain during the race. For instance, during my longest run before my first half, I ran at a slow pace for me for 75% of the run, then picked up my pace to my desired race pace for the last 4 miles to give my body a chance to get used that pace.
Other than doing that a couple of times I spent rest of my training doing the slow "conversational" runs and I was amazed at how that increased my speed.
If you have the time, sign up for a 5K or 10K a month or two before the half to give yourself some race experience if you don't already have some, and also to give you a race pace benchmark that you can use to estimate your HM race pace.
Good luck!
Thanks so much! I appreciate the advice. How much rest time do you give yourself before the race?
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go slow.
use an established program. I find it motivating. others don't-it's a personal preference-I used c25k, b210k, and then an asics HM plan
get good shoes. many of us will recommend going and getting fitted at a place that will do a gait analysis. Many of the small running stores will have running clubs, workshops, and personal advice.
did i say go slow. go slow.
when i did my 8k, I took it easy for the week before. I think i did 1 5k on monday and then the race was on that thursday0 -
Thanks so much! I appreciate the advice. How much rest time do you give yourself before the race?
This can vary with each person. I wouldn't say I rested before the race as much as tapered down. You want to let your body recover from the higher mileage you've been putting on it, but you want to stay fresh too. Here's an example of what an HM taper might look like:
Two weeks before your race:
Normal runs, with your longest training run on Saturday (maybe 10 to 12 miles) and a recovery run on Sunday (3 to 5 miles)
One week before your race:
Reduce all runs by 25 to 30 percent (a 4 mile run would now be 3 miles)
Week of the race:
Reduce all runs by 50% of what you did 2 weeks ago (a 4 mile run would now be 2 miles)
The day before your run go out for a very easy 2 mile run
Make sure you get plenty of sleep the week before your race. You'll likely be quite restless the night before your race but if you've had plenty of sleep in the days leading up to it, you'll be fine.
Don't eat any new, spicy or greasy foods in the days leading up to the race.
If you think you want to use gels or chews during your race, make sure you've tried them out during your training runs first. Mile 12 of your race is not the time to find out that chews make you gag.
HAVE FUN! By far the most important thing you can do. Don't worry about what anyone else is doing or how fast they're going. This is your race and you should run it your way.
Oh, and carry some extra toilet paper in a ziplock bag. The porta-potties may be out.
When is your race?
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If you're serious about your training, then get on an established HM plan. If not, then just go slow to minimize the risk of injury and have fun with it.
Not directly related to your question, but good socks and elastic laces are well worth the money.0 -
While traiing, run slow and build up your aerobic base. You want to run slow enough so that you could carry on a conversation with a friend (real or imaginary). This will allow you to run farther with much less risk of injury. If this is your first half marathon, I would skip any speed work at all until about 3 weeks out and then I would only work up to the pace you hope to maintain during the race. For instance, during my longest run before my first half, I ran at a slow pace for me for 75% of the run, then picked up my pace to my desired race pace for the last 4 miles to give my body a chance to get used that pace.
Other than doing that a couple of times I spent rest of my training doing the slow "conversational" runs and I was amazed at how that increased my speed.
If you have the time, sign up for a 5K or 10K a month or two before the half to give yourself some race experience if you don't already have some, and also to give you a race pace benchmark that you can use to estimate your HM race pace.
Good luck!
This.
Also spread your miles out. As you build your long run to the half Marathon distance over several weeks you will also need to build up your other weekly miles. Your long run should only represent 25-35% of your total weekly mileage.
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Thanks so much! I appreciate the advice. How much rest time do you give yourself before the race?
This can vary with each person. I wouldn't say I rested before the race as much as tapered down. You want to let your body recover from the higher mileage you've been putting on it, but you want to stay fresh too. Here's an example of what an HM taper might look like:
Two weeks before your race:
Normal runs, with your longest training run on Saturday (maybe 10 to 12 miles) and a recovery run on Sunday (3 to 5 miles)
One week before your race:
Reduce all runs by 25 to 30 percent (a 4 mile run would now be 3 miles)
Week of the race:
Reduce all runs by 50% of what you did 2 weeks ago (a 4 mile run would now be 2 miles)
The day before your run go out for a very easy 2 mile run
Make sure you get plenty of sleep the week before your race. You'll likely be quite restless the night before your race but if you've had plenty of sleep in the days leading up to it, you'll be fine.
Don't eat any new, spicy or greasy foods in the days leading up to the race.
If you think you want to use gels or chews during your race, make sure you've tried them out during your training runs first. Mile 12 of your race is not the time to find out that chews make you gag.
HAVE FUN! By far the most important thing you can do. Don't worry about what anyone else is doing or how fast they're going. This is your race and you should run it your way.
Oh, and carry some extra toilet paper in a ziplock bag. The porta-potties may be out.
When is your race?
My race is on May 22nd. I'm thinking of doing a 10k in February or March.
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Thank you for the advice everyone!! Very helpful!!0
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I'm training for a half marathon on 8th may. Working up from 8 miles a week to about 20.0
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My race is on May 22nd. I'm thinking of doing a 10k in February or March.
You've got plenty of time, and already got some good advice. Build your base slowly. A commonly cited rule of thumb is never to increase your weekly mileage by more than 10%. I'd add, don't increase by 10% every week. Many training programs call for 3 weeks of 10% increase, followed by a 10% cut, then three more weeks of 10% increase, a 10% cut, and so on until you get to the maximum planned weekly mileage. For a beginner, even that may be building mileage too quickly.
Listen to your body. When you're feeling banged up, it's not the time to push for more miles or faster runs. It's time to keep doing the same miles, and keep it easy, until you don't feel as banged up. Then it's time to increase distance again or work on speed.
One thing I found very helpful in getting to my first half marathon was that the training program had us run a 15K about a month before the half. I had run 10K's before, but 15K was a new long race distance for me at the time. It really helped me practice some of the things I planned to do during the half. If you can find a 15K or a 10 mile race about a month before your half, it might be worth your time to use it as a tune-up event.
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My race is on May 22nd. I'm thinking of doing a 10k in February or March.
You've got plenty of time, and already got some good advice. Build your base slowly. A commonly cited rule of thumb is never to increase your weekly mileage by more than 10%. I'd add, don't increase by 10% every week. Many training programs call for 3 weeks of 10% increase, followed by a 10% cut, then three more weeks of 10% increase, a 10% cut, and so on until you get to the maximum planned weekly mileage. For a beginner, even that may be building mileage too quickly.
Listen to your body. When you're feeling banged up, it's not the time to push for more miles or faster runs. It's time to keep doing the same miles, and keep it easy, until you don't feel as banged up. Then it's time to increase distance again or work on speed.
One thing I found very helpful in getting to my first half marathon was that the training program had us run a 15K about a month before the half. I had run 10K's before, but 15K was a new long race distance for me at the time. It really helped me practice some of the things I planned to do during the half. If you can find a 15K or a 10 mile race about a month before your half, it might be worth your time to use it as a tune-up event.
Awesome! Thanks for the tips! I'm signing up for a 10k but a 15k is a good idea!! Do you listen to music when you race?0 -
Thanks so much! I appreciate the advice. How much rest time do you give yourself before the race?
This can vary with each person. I wouldn't say I rested before the race as much as tapered down. You want to let your body recover from the higher mileage you've been putting on it, but you want to stay fresh too. Here's an example of what an HM taper might look like:
Two weeks before your race:
Normal runs, with your longest training run on Saturday (maybe 10 to 12 miles) and a recovery run on Sunday (3 to 5 miles)
One week before your race:
Reduce all runs by 25 to 30 percent (a 4 mile run would now be 3 miles)
Week of the race:
Reduce all runs by 50% of what you did 2 weeks ago (a 4 mile run would now be 2 miles)
The day before your run go out for a very easy 2 mile run
Make sure you get plenty of sleep the week before your race. You'll likely be quite restless the night before your race but if you've had plenty of sleep in the days leading up to it, you'll be fine.
Don't eat any new, spicy or greasy foods in the days leading up to the race.
If you think you want to use gels or chews during your race, make sure you've tried them out during your training runs first. Mile 12 of your race is not the time to find out that chews make you gag.
HAVE FUN! By far the most important thing you can do. Don't worry about what anyone else is doing or how fast they're going. This is your race and you should run it your way.
Oh, and carry some extra toilet paper in a ziplock bag. The porta-potties may be out.
When is your race?
My race is on May 22nd. I'm thinking of doing a 10k in February or March.
Racing once or twice at 10k, and maybe once at 15k is usually good. You can get some speed in the legs and some racing experience before the goal race.
Beyond that to give any quality advice we'd need to know a little about training history: i.e. current mileage, past running experience, yearly mileage wouldn't be bad, normal training paces. It's also worth knowing if you're goal is just to finish the race, or to run as fast as possible. Which one of those you choose influences what you ought to do in training.
In general if you're a newer runner any classic 'cookie cutter' training plan from online will work pretty well to get you prepared for a race.
MTA: When it comes to music, it's a personal preference. If you enjoy running better that way, by all means go for it.
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My race is on May 22nd. I'm thinking of doing a 10k in February or March.
You've got plenty of time, and already got some good advice. Build your base slowly. A commonly cited rule of thumb is never to increase your weekly mileage by more than 10%. I'd add, don't increase by 10% every week. Many training programs call for 3 weeks of 10% increase, followed by a 10% cut, then three more weeks of 10% increase, a 10% cut, and so on until you get to the maximum planned weekly mileage. For a beginner, even that may be building mileage too quickly.
Listen to your body. When you're feeling banged up, it's not the time to push for more miles or faster runs. It's time to keep doing the same miles, and keep it easy, until you don't feel as banged up. Then it's time to increase distance again or work on speed.
One thing I found very helpful in getting to my first half marathon was that the training program had us run a 15K about a month before the half. I had run 10K's before, but 15K was a new long race distance for me at the time. It really helped me practice some of the things I planned to do during the half. If you can find a 15K or a 10 mile race about a month before your half, it might be worth your time to use it as a tune-up event.
Awesome! Thanks for the tips! I'm signing up for a 10k but a 15k is a good idea!! Do you listen to music when you race?
I listen to music when I walk, but not when I run. It's a personal preference; the beat would typically be *wrong* for running, either too fast or too slow. But that's just me. There are plenty of folks who like to listen to music when they run.
Not very many people listen to music when they *race*. Some races prohibit the use of earphones, some allow but discourage them. The underlying reason is safety (ability to hear traffic and road marshalls and footsteps coming up behind you, etc.) and liability (the race director is doing everything he/she can to make you safe, which helps his/her liability insurance cost.) There are races that have music on the course as an attraction; this allows people who want to run with music have it, while still keeping their ears free for emergency announcements, etc. You can decide whether a race like that appeals to you.0 -
My race is on May 22nd. I'm thinking of doing a 10k in February or March.
You've got plenty of time, and already got some good advice. Build your base slowly. A commonly cited rule of thumb is never to increase your weekly mileage by more than 10%. I'd add, don't increase by 10% every week. Many training programs call for 3 weeks of 10% increase, followed by a 10% cut, then three more weeks of 10% increase, a 10% cut, and so on until you get to the maximum planned weekly mileage. For a beginner, even that may be building mileage too quickly.
Listen to your body. When you're feeling banged up, it's not the time to push for more miles or faster runs. It's time to keep doing the same miles, and keep it easy, until you don't feel as banged up. Then it's time to increase distance again or work on speed.
One thing I found very helpful in getting to my first half marathon was that the training program had us run a 15K about a month before the half. I had run 10K's before, but 15K was a new long race distance for me at the time. It really helped me practice some of the things I planned to do during the half. If you can find a 15K or a 10 mile race about a month before your half, it might be worth your time to use it as a tune-up event.
Awesome! Thanks for the tips! I'm signing up for a 10k but a 15k is a good idea!! Do you listen to music when you race?
I listen to music when I walk, but not when I run. It's a personal preference; the beat would typically be *wrong* for running, either too fast or too slow. But that's just me. There are plenty of folks who like to listen to music when they run.
Not very many people listen to music when they *race*. Some races prohibit the use of earphones, some allow but discourage them. The underlying reason is safety (ability to hear traffic and road marshalls and footsteps coming up behind you, etc.) and liability (the race director is doing everything he/she can to make you safe, which helps his/her liability insurance cost.) There are races that have music on the course as an attraction; this allows people who want to run with music have it, while still keeping their ears free for emergency announcements, etc. You can decide whether a race like that appeals to you.
Great! Thank you!!0
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