Insanity and training for half marathon

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amyoutdoors
amyoutdoors Posts: 4
in Fitness and Exercise
I just want to know if anybody out there is doing insanity plus training for a half marathon or any race. I did insanity last year and loved it. I just started it up again a little over a week ago but I am also training for a half marathon in July. Some people think I am over training. I have worked out 10 days straight so far as the day off from insanity is my long run day. Any thoughts or suggestions?

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  • mcknz121
    mcknz121 Posts: 44
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    im training for my first 5K and have been supplementing with some p90x workouts on my off days. Recently got insanity and want to use it too...not sure how many days of each i should do a week so im also interested to hear what people have to say
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    I'm not familiar with Insanity but I can say that (especially as your distances increase) training 10 days straight is not advisable, the day after your long runs should be treated as a recovery day.
  • ATT949
    ATT949 Posts: 1,245 Member
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    I just want to know if anybody out there is doing insanity plus training for a half marathon or any race. I did insanity last year and loved it. I just started it up again a little over a week ago but I am also training for a half marathon in July. Some people think I am over training. I have worked out 10 days straight so far as the day off from insanity is my long run day. Any thoughts or suggestions?

    To piggy back on Brian's posting, I'd be concerned about working out 10 days in a row, especially since you're just starting out.

    (Granted, we don't know anything about your physical conditioning, we don't know what your training routine consists of, but the fact that you're asking the question implies that you're new and unsure.)

    My approach to lotsa stuff is simple - if I want to take up a new activity that I know that many other people have tried, I seek the advice and expertise of people who have done this before. In the case of running, which I took up again in June, 2011 after a 25 year hiatus, I read a few books and scoured runnersworld.com and runningtimes.com. The former is more People-magazine-ish whereas the latter is more hardcore.

    When I decided to train for a half marathon last summer, I looked at different training programs. Hal Hidgon is popular and people get good results but I went with a training plan from RW.

    If you want to cross train, you might look at the FIRST program. You can snag a copy of their book from Amazon (they put out a new edition in April). What I like about FIRST is that you run only 3 times per week and do non-weight bearing exercise to cross train. That's great for a new runner my age (55) but since you're young your body might be OK with a four day a week running program.
  • amyoutdoors
    amyoutdoors Posts: 4
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    This will be my fourth half marathon. However I had foot surgery and was unable to participate in any long races last year.
  • TKHappy
    TKHappy Posts: 659 Member
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    I run and do Insanity, I have a little race coming up...a 10K! I do not do Insanity 6 days a week, only 5 (yes it will take me longer) but the weekends are Insanity free....Saturday are my long runs and Sundays are my rest days! :)

    I throw in two 3 mile runs with my Insanity during the week! :)
  • brandyk77
    brandyk77 Posts: 605 Member
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    I guess I would just train for the half and then do the Insanity as supplemental training before you start training for another race. It depends on what you want from this race. Are you running to run or to race? Big difference

    that's just me

    I don't have a problem with people working out every day. I do it. I run almost every single day. I don't run HARD every day though so my recovery days are still there but just not a complete REST.
  • slmanke
    slmanke Posts: 1
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    Hi Amy!

    I just finished a full two weeks ago and my husband and I are doing Insanity while we train for our next half. Here's what we've done so far....

    1) We've lowered our days running from 4 days a week to 3 days a week (two short weekday runs, then the long weekend run)

    2) We started Insanity on a Wednesday so that the light "stretch" day is on Saturdays, which is when we do our long runs. This means that the day we do any long run, we only have to stretch for 30 minutes, which is a great thing to do after a long run anyway, right?

    3) This means our "rest" day is on a Tuesday, so our weekday runs are either on Monday and Wednesday or Monday and Thursday. This allows us to have 1 day per week of absolute rest. I think your body just needs it, really. We like a weekday to be our rest day because it's easier to get in workouts on the weekend than the weekdays with 2 small kids.

    4) Also, I'm trying to focus on time, rather than miles on my weekday runs. So, I'm trying to run 30-40 minutes, but often I'll do this after Insanity in the morning while my husband gets ready for work while my 1 & 3 year old are sleeping. My running is SO SLOW after insanity, but I'm just focusing on logging the time. I know I'll be in better shape after doing Insanity, so I know it will definitely help my running.

    How is it going so far for you?
  • kristinegift
    kristinegift Posts: 2,406 Member
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    I thought about doing insanity + half-marathon training, but wimped out because I was having knee problems. If you aren't injured or otherwise having flaky body parts, I think it's fine. Now that my knees are fine, I'm half-marathon training and doing 30 day shred, which I feel is slightly comparable. Doing a program like insanity will build your core and other supporting muscles that will make running easier and improve your form and lessen your chance for injuries. Good luck with the half-marathon training! :)
  • jfeh
    jfeh Posts: 30
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    You should definitely take the day after your long run off for recover, especially as you get into longer distances. You need this recovery time to avoid injuries, which suck, especially when you are training for an event!

    When your long runs get really long, you should take the day before off too. If you have run long distances before and your musculoskeletal is accustomed to the training, you may not need too, however, when your legs are rested, your long runs will go much better and you will feel stronger.
  • amandakjones
    amandakjones Posts: 4
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    Personally, when I'm training for a half-marathon adding Insanity to the mix is just way too much cardio for me. Since I'm already running 3-4 days a week I like to balance out the other days with strength training and esp. upper body work like pullups and pushups. I prefer to workout at home so typically I do something like P90X, X2, Asylum (Insanity 2) or Les Mills PUMP but you should do whatever you enjoy whether it's Crossfit or any other type of cross training workout. But yeah, you don't want to overdo it. If you feel OK you may be able to stick with it for a while but eventually you might burn out and hit a plateau.
  • bsolomon928
    bsolomon928 Posts: 2
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    how did this end up working for you? i am about to start training for a marathon and i am one week into insanity. I am curious of weather it is a good idea or not. I wanted to tone up and build some lean muscle while doing insanity but worry that it will be too much for me to do both. I am in pretty good shape so I am just curious what you thought?

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