Holding Training for a Half Marathon?
JTick
Posts: 2,131 Member
I wasn't sure what to title this........
I am almost finished with Jeff Galloway's 5k to 10k training plan. My longest run so far has been 7 miles, and now I'm supposed to taper a little and then run my 10k.
I'm looking towards a half marathon sometime in the spring...late April or May probably. My question: When should I start official training for the half? I think my plan right now is to keep doing what I'm currently doing: one long run and two short 30-45 min runs each week. Is it okay to just hold my mileage right now until I start official training? Is 6 miles for my long run a good mileage that will make training for the half easier? Should my long run be longer? Vary it? Etc?
Looking for advice from experienced runners....thank you!
I am almost finished with Jeff Galloway's 5k to 10k training plan. My longest run so far has been 7 miles, and now I'm supposed to taper a little and then run my 10k.
I'm looking towards a half marathon sometime in the spring...late April or May probably. My question: When should I start official training for the half? I think my plan right now is to keep doing what I'm currently doing: one long run and two short 30-45 min runs each week. Is it okay to just hold my mileage right now until I start official training? Is 6 miles for my long run a good mileage that will make training for the half easier? Should my long run be longer? Vary it? Etc?
Looking for advice from experienced runners....thank you!
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Replies
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One strategy is to go ahead and find a training plan you think would be good. I admit to being a fan of Hal Higdon for first time half marathoners. (Just search Hal Higdon). Given where you are, I'd be inclinded to do the intermediate program or the novice 2. It's a 12 week program, so April/May would have you starting Feb-ish. That plan starts with a long run in the ballpark of yours now, but has you running 5 days a week and doing a little speedwork.
If you already know the half, you then know when your start date would be. If not, perhaps go ahead and pick a target half so you do.
So between now and when you would start the program, build yourself a training program that steadily builds you to the point where the traning program starts. Might be a good idea to give yourself a couple of very easy weeks after the 10k to refresh/recover.rejuvenate and then go from there. First step would also be getting to where you run the whole 30-45 minutes and the long run. How easily that happens could make the difference in which plan you choose.
You've got a good enough base to be there if you are consistent between now and when it would start. If life gets in the way and you don't make the build-up, no biggee. Select one of the novice programs instead.
Even if you choose a different training program, the concept is the same.0 -
I did check out the Hal Higdon plan, but didn't like that it wanted me to run 5 days/week. I forgot to mention in the OP, I have a knee that really doesn't like it when I run more than three days a week. I tried it for a while, and started having a lot more pain. I really like three days/week...it fits great with my schedule and lets me cross train.
I'll start looking at half training plans and get an idea of what my long runs need to get up to...thank you for the help!0 -
I am running a half marathon in April. My first time. I downloaded a program from map my run on my phone-- called map my run training --- i put in the date, how often I wanted to run and where I am at now- and it came up with a detailed plan. I am on week five and doing well.0
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and i only run 3 days a week-- 2 short runs and a long run-- because i do other cardio 3-4 days a week0
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I am running a half marathon in April. My first time. I downloaded a program from map my run on my phone-- called map my run training --- i put in the date, how often I wanted to run and where I am at now- and it came up with a detailed plan. I am on week five and doing well.
Fabulous, thank you! I use Runkeeper, and I vaguely remember them having something similar. I will look at it again.0 -
My opinion is just start training now without going backwards. You are already up to 7 miles for a long run, don't start where you are only doing 6. While often times people can train and only go up to 10 miles or so for your long run and still finish, if you have the base and aren't injured, I really recommend working up to 15 for your long run, because then it just makes the half easier.0
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I agree with pretty much what everyone has said.
But wanted to add that if you liked Jeff Galloway's 5k-10k training he also has training programs for the Half. I am currently reading one of his books and it has a complete training guide in it for the Half, 5ks and 10ks. From what I was looking at he has you cross training twice a week and running two short runs and 1 long run a week. The distances and speeds are based on what kind of finish time you want. There are several plans starting with: just finishing - wanting to complete in under an hour and a half.0
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