Run 13.1 before my HM? When/How to taper?

Linli_Anne

I'm runing my first half on October 19 (about 5 weeks). I have been slowly and steadily increasing my long runs each week.

I'm wondering if I need to or rather if I should run 13.1 before the actual event and if so how what is the latest date that I should do that on.

Also, I have read about tapering but don't fully grasp how to best taper for the half. The only real decision I've made is that I will rest for sure the 2 days prior to the half.


My longest run to date has been just slightly more than 10 miles, but for the sake of rounding I will say it is 10. I also try to do 2-3 shorter runs, between 3 and 5 miles. The 3rd run doesn't always happen, but I do always get 2 plus my long run in.

Cheers!

ZenInTexas

I'm assuming you are not following a specific training plan? You might want to check one out, it takes all the guesswork out for you. I did the Hal Higdon Intermediate plan for my first half and it worked great for me. The longest run I did prior to the race was 12. Depending on your level of experience that might be the way to go. It also has the taper all built into the plan. Check it out. There are plenty of other training plans out there too.

CarsonRuns

Let's back into this.

You have done 10. So, let's assume you can increase by 1 mile a week with a cut back week every third week.

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11
9
11
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13

That's a conservative plan of 8 weeks to get to 13 miles. You can probably shorten that by 2 weeks by not repeating the 11 and the 12. Add to that 2 weeks to taper (one is really sufficient, but two works for many people) and you have a range of 7 to 10 weeks that you would need before your race to get you long run up to 13 miles.

Your race is in 5 weeks, so I would say "no", you don't have the time to get to 13 miles, nor do you need to. I would go

10
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Race

Linli_Anne

Thanks so much for the input.

When I had originally looked at some of the training plans, my mileage seemed to be in line with their long run days, and for many of the beginner plans the longest training run was 10 miles.

I really appreciate the guideline for tapering as well, that had me a bit unsure.

TriLifter

Your race is in 5 weeks, so I would say "no", you don't have the time to get to 13 miles, nor do you need to. I would go

10
8
11
7
Race

Agreed. Before I ran my first half, my longest run was 12 miles. I always follow Hal Higdon (because he's the man).

55in13

I am also planning my first for October and have purposefully avoided running a practice one first purely for personal psychology reasons. I have run over 12 and wasn't beat, so I am not too worried. I have run 10 or more about 5 times now and 8 or more several times. For me, all miles past about 5 are about the same. Early in training when I didn't make my long runs every time I tried I would generally end up walking before 5 miles. Past that point I am (insert favorite trite expression about the zone here :bigsmile: ). It seems to me that going from running a half hour without stopping to an hour without stopping was harder than going from one hour to two hours (I am slow; 12 miles took me 2:09). To get to an hour, I had to adopt a pace that is slowly tapping reserves and not wearing me out too quickly. To get to two hours, I just had to make sure I was properly hydrated and not stop after an hour.

sjohnny

I had planned to go over 13 before my first half but injuries cut into my training. I had done up to 10. I changed my goal to "finish the whole thing without walking" and didn't care about the time. I did fine. I only got up to about 12 before my second half and knocked 14 minutes off my previous time and finished feeling really strong (I should have pushed a little harder but didn't know that at the time).

You should be fine.