Half marathon and lifting

sjohnny

Next week I start training for my first half-marathon. I've been doing Stronglifts 5x5 for the past couple of months as well as running three days per week - and have definitely not been getting 100% out of both but I didn't want to give up either. I'm planning to cut my lifting down to two days per week so I can put more focus on running. My current thought is to do upper body stuff on Monday (long run will be on Sunday) and lower body stuff on Thursday. I am looking for thoughts on this as well as what kind of set/rep range to shoot for to maintain my LBM but put as little hinderance as possible on my running.

I've only been running since November and currently average 15 to 20 miles per week but am slowly building that up.
I've only been lifting since March.

Thanks!

Determinednoob

I would recommend doing your A and B stronglifts workouts on those days. If you have no fat to lose then just eat maintenance or slightly above. Maintenance taking into account whatever changes you make to your training.

sjohnny

I was thinking about that but I don't want to do squats the day after a long run. And just doing bench and rows didn't seem like enough. Maybe bench and rows and some other upper body lift?

I still have some fat to lose so I was planning to go into a very slight deficit at the beginning and adjust as I get closer to the race.

brandyk77

I always lift the afternoon/evening after my long run.

I have found that it helps me recover and stay healthy. Now, I'm not doing strong lifts or whatever...I am just doing compound exercises (upper and lower body) to extreme failure with a trainer.

veronica_0920

Hello... and congratulations on training for you first half!! I too am training for a half in October and I regularly lift too. My long runs are on Sundays and just as you mentioned I usually try to legs/glutes either Weds or Thurs too. That way your not sore for your long run and/or spent for lifting :-) I have always followed Hal Higdon's guide on training and it has worked well for me... he also includes days to lift.

sjohnny

Hello... and congratulations on training for you first half!! I too am training for a half in October and I regularly lift too. My long runs are on Sundays and just as you mentioned I usually try to legs/glutes either Weds or Thurs too. That way your not sore for your long run and/or spent for lifting :-) I have always followed Hal Higdon's guide on training and it has worked well for me... he also includes days to lift.

I'm sort of following his - hence the lifting on Mondays and Thursdays - but it's being modified a little. A friend who has run a lot of marathons and halfs is helping me train so we adapted the program to fit my schedule and what I'm currently running.

Good luck on your upcoming half also!

shellisugar

I don't have advice, but I most definitely had to cut back on my lifting in order to prep for all of my running events. I run my first half on October 7. Good luck to you! (edited to add: I also take dance lessons, so I was burning myself out!)

JenniferMarq

I've struggled to find the right balance with weight training and marathon training for the past several years! For runners, training your core is just as essential as the lower body. I run 70-80 miles/week and find 2 days of weight training to be a great balance for making improvements and not hindering my runs. I've transferred over to mostly plyometrics/crossfit/circuit training style workouts instead of doing heavy reps with rests in between. I find this type of workout kills 3 birds with one stone - it increases you cardio endurance, increases your muscle endurance, and it also makes you stronger overall. It will absolutely help with running a half. With that being said, its a great workout for performance, endurance and athleticism, but not a great workout if you are looking to "get big"!

sjohnny

I'm not trying to "get big" at this point in my life. I wouldn't mind having a little more LBM but I was big when I was younger but could barely run across the street for free beer and 2 for 1 cigarettes. I'm just trying to be in all around good shape now.

I was planning on adding more core stuff and some of the plyo/circuit stuff but wasn't sure if I should up the reps and lower the weights a little on my regular lifting. I can't give up the barbell - I have grown to love it too much.

"performance, endurance and athleticism" - that's where I want to be.

sjohnny

I don't have advice, but I most definitely had to cut back on my lifting in order to prep for all of my running events. I run my first half on October 7. Good luck to you! (edited to add: I also take dance lessons, so I was burning myself out!)

Good luck on yours too!

I'm trying to avoid the burning out. Even right now I'm not fully recovering between my running and lifting so I know I need to cut the lifting down a little bit.

Pedal_Pusher

kill it

jsj024519

run run run

flowgal

I find I can't do any lifting while training for my half marathons. It just wears me down and really affects my performance, so for right now I have decided to skip it entirely. I would like to eventually start adding some strength training back in, but not until I get closer to my final goal weight, and get through this season's running events.

Good luck on your first half...they become addictive!!

sjohnny

I find I can't do any lifting while training for my half marathons. It just wears me down and really affects my performance, so for right now I have decided to skip it entirely. I would like to eventually start adding some strength training back in, but not until I get closer to my final goal weight, and get through this season's running events.

Good luck on your first half...they become addictive!!

I'm hoping I enjoy the first one - because I already signed up for a second. The running became addictive really fast so I'm pretty sure I'm going to love halfs.

artbkward

I like the races themselves, it's the training that gets me sometimes.

I'm doing my third half in October. I usually cut the lifting down while training, I don't lift legs heavy at all but will try to do plyo or cycling on a cross training day. I'll do one day of upper body and try to do one day of yoga in there too.

cubizzle

I find I can't do any lifting while training for my half marathons. It just wears me down and really affects my performance, so for right now I have decided to skip it entirely. I would like to eventually start adding some strength training back in, but not until I get closer to my final goal weight, and get through this season's running events.

Good luck on your first half...they become addictive!!

^this is me too

Saturday I'm running a half (quit counting after 7) and I don't lift much at all if at all during training. I lost 35 lbs during this training cycle as I had gained quite a bit while not running for 2 years. I started out trying to do both lifting and running, but I noticed my running wasn't really improving all that much so I gave up the lifting. I've dropped my times SIGNIFICANTLY since giving up the lifting and focusing 100% on running.

This approach is what I want though because I'm focused on beating a time on event day, not just finishing and improving overall fitness.

warrenvalley

I'm training for my second half in October. I didn't do any weight training for my first one last November and I felt it. This time I'm trying to do weights or cross-train on Mondays and Wednesdays (Sundays are long runs).

I will say I'm avoiding any lower body workout outside of running. I have a much more agressive training plan this time and I'm afraid of burning out the legs. Weights on Mondays work and currently I'm golfing on Wednesdays. But as the weather changes Plyo sounds like a good plan for that day.

I'm using P90X DVDs for my cross train workouts.

Good luck on your half!

RuthieCass

Next week I start training for my first half-marathon. I've been doing Stronglifts 5x5 for the past couple of months as well as running three days per week - and have definitely not been getting 100% out of both but I didn't want to give up either. I'm planning to cut my lifting down to two days per week so I can put more focus on running. My current thought is to do upper body stuff on Monday (long run will be on Sunday) and lower body stuff on Thursday. I am looking for thoughts on this as well as what kind of set/rep range to shoot for to maintain my LBM but put as little hinderance as possible on my running.

I've only been running since November and currently average 15 to 20 miles per week but am slowly building that up.
I've only been lifting since March.

Thanks!

I think the stronglifts program is fine for maintaining LBM during your training, as long as you are challenging yourself (adding weight weight when it becomes easy). As a runner, you might want to add some more exercises that focus on strengthening the core, though. Plank & plank variations are my favorite (others like bicycles, leg lifts, crunches, etc). I don't think you need anything fancier. One thing that might help is moving a weight training day to Saturday and then taking Monday, after your long run, off (assuming your schedule allows for it). I know that I've sometimes been pretty tired the day after that long run, so my body benefited more from a day off right after instead of more exercise.

Check out the last response in this thread for an example of a strengthening routine for runners: http://www.lylemcdonald.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9063
I'd probably switch out the crunches for something else, but that's up to personal preference, I guess. Good luck!

ixap

I was thinking about that but I don't want to do squats the day after a long run.

I would say don't be afraid to squat after a long run day. You not be able to do quite as much as you otherwise would, but that's okay I think if body composition is your goal rather than absolutely maximizing your lifting performance. In my opinion it's better than the reverse - trying to have a long run or tempo run the day after a heavy squat session. And given there are only so many days in the week, that's often what it comes down to for me.

I've been doing CrossFit twice a week while training for runs, and the truth is yes it interferes sometimes. But like you, I want to keep it up because of what it's doing for my body composition, so I'm willing to take a small hit on the running performance for the huge bump up in lean body mass : fat ratio. I'm not going to win races anyway so I don't care too much if I'm 10 seconds slower per mile than if I'd focused only on running.

I've found that a good compromise is to do 2 days of full body strength training. More than that and I have no days left to get the important runs in. Less than that, and it's like starting over every time with the strength training.

I have been doing CrossFit Tuesday/Thursday; long run on the weekend; medium/long/or speed-oriented runs Monday and Wednesday; easy runs Tuesday and Thursday, sometimes an easy run on the other weekend day. I will say trying to have it all at once, even with both sports taking some compromises for the other's sake, is challenging. I'm finding it really important to sleep enough and eat well.

iluvprettyshoes

I'm also training for a half in Dec. and running 4 days a week, lifting 2 days a week. I'm following the training program provided by my running club which doesn't include any lifting, that' something I'm adding in on my own. It is hard running when my legs already feel like jelly. I'm thinking of switching to doing more upper body weights and less on the lower body until the half is over.

flowgal

I find I can't do any lifting while training for my half marathons. It just wears me down and really affects my performance, so for right now I have decided to skip it entirely. I would like to eventually start adding some strength training back in, but not until I get closer to my final goal weight, and get through this season's running events.

Good luck on your first half...they become addictive!!

I'm hoping I enjoy the first one - because I already signed up for a second. The running became addictive really fast so I'm pretty sure I'm going to love halfs.

LOL, that happened to me too...signed up for my second before I even ran my first...and then signed up for a third! I truly enjoy races! This season I am signed up for a 10-miler, then 2 halfs, a marathon relay, then a marathon, followed by 2 more halfs and a half relay. Yep, I've gone race crazy!! Going to be a busy season, but it keeps me motivated to keep running.

sjohnny

Thanks, everyone.

The Lyle McDonald link was very informative.

I think I'm going to play with some different combinations and see how I feel from week to week.

ixap - it sounds like your goals are pretty close to mine. I do want to finish sub 2:00:00 but I don't think that will be a problem regardless at this point. I'm running another half in February and I'm thinking I will make adjustments to my activity to finish it faster than the first - however fast that may be.

Determinednoob

I was thinking about that but I don't want to do squats the day after a long run. And just doing bench and rows didn't seem like enough. Maybe bench and rows and some other upper body lift?

I still have some fat to lose so I was planning to go into a very slight deficit at the beginning and adjust as I get closer to the race.

I wouldn't worry about it too much as long as you can eat. You could just try it for a bit and see how it goes. You could also modify the routine a bit so that you do something like squat bench pullups\chinups one day and then deadlift overhead press barbell rows the other. Then you only squat one day per week. Or just squat light-medium one day and heavy the other.

sjohnny

I find I can't do any lifting while training for my half marathons. It just wears me down and really affects my performance, so for right now I have decided to skip it entirely. I would like to eventually start adding some strength training back in, but not until I get closer to my final goal weight, and get through this season's running events.

Good luck on your first half...they become addictive!!

I'm hoping I enjoy the first one - because I already signed up for a second. The running became addictive really fast so I'm pretty sure I'm going to love halfs.

LOL, that happened to me too...signed up for my second before I even ran my first...and then signed up for a third! I truly enjoy races! This season I am signed up for a 10-miler, then 2 halfs, a marathon relay, then a marathon, followed by 2 more halfs and a half relay. Yep, I've gone race crazy!! Going to be a busy season, but it keeps me motivated to keep running.

I'm planning on a 10k in September, a 5k in October and a 5 Mile race in November, then the first half is in December. I'm doing the Run For Your Lives race the weekend after the first half. My daughter said she wanted to run a race with me so I'm going to do couch to 5K with her so she can run the 5K with me so I won't shoot for a PR on that one. I've gone a little race crazy too. I guess there are worse things. I've had a blast at the 5 races I've done so far.

sjohnny

I was thinking about that but I don't want to do squats the day after a long run. And just doing bench and rows didn't seem like enough. Maybe bench and rows and some other upper body lift?

I still have some fat to lose so I was planning to go into a very slight deficit at the beginning and adjust as I get closer to the race.

I wouldn't worry about it too much as long as you can eat. You could just try it for a bit and see how it goes. You could also modify the routine a bit so that you do something like squat bench pullups\chinups one day and then deadlift overhead press barbell rows the other. Then you only squat one day per week. Or just squat light-medium one day and heavy the other.

I've been thinking about the one day per week. I hadn't considered light-medium one day and heavy the other. I may give that a shot too and see how it goes.


I can't even consider giving up my beloved deadlifts.

easfahl

Bump for a later read.

ixap

I'm running another half in February and I'm thinking I will make adjustments to my activity to finish it faster than the first - however fast that may be.

Fantastic plan. You don't have to kill yourself the first time out as hopefully this is just the first of many. Enjoy it, get a sense of how that distance feels, come out of the race uninjured, and then get the satisfaction of crushing your previous best time in the following race.

sjohnny

I'm running another half in February and I'm thinking I will make adjustments to my activity to finish it faster than the first - however fast that may be.

Fantastic plan. You don't have to kill yourself the first time out as hopefully this is just the first of many. Enjoy it, get a sense of how that distance feels, come out of the race uninjured, and then get the satisfaction of crushing your previous best time in the following race.

That's the general idea!

sjohnny

Okay, between what y'all have posted and some other stuff I've read and some ideas I just pulled straight out of my .... here's what I've worked up. I'll adjust depending on how it's going as I progress. Basically a slight mod to Stronglifts but I'm going to cut it back to 3x5.

Monday
-Bench
-Rows
-Cleans - because I do pretty light weights with this but it incorporates a front squat so I'll still be doing a little bit of leg stuff
-Curls - I know, I know but I like them

Tuesday
-Run

Wednesday
-Core, Cross-train, Plyo, Intervals, whathaveyou

Thursday
-Run
-Squats
-OHP
-Deadlifts
-Pullups

Friday
-Easy Run

Saturday
-Off

Sunday
-Long Run

I'll probably throw some core stuff in on random days throughout the week also.

For the first 8 weeks I'll also be taking my kids through Couch to 5K. My 7 year old daughter said she wants to run a race with me and how could I resist. I'm encouraging my 8 year old son to do it with us.

I have a VERY experienced marathon/half-marathon runner helping me with this and training with me. Between learning where my limits are and falling back on his expertise this should be a lot of fun.

Determinednoob

That is probably fine. You could also do some basic push\pull with only one day of each vs 2 something like push - squats, bench, ohp, dips and pull - deadlift, cleans, rows, pullups. Either way it's not optimal weight training, but that isn't your top priority, so w/e

sjohnny

I guess I thought it was good to have both push and pull in the same workout so I wanted to have some of each both days.

I'm not looking for big gains during this period. If I can maintain what I've got for now that will be fine. In the spring when I'm done with the bigger races I have coming up I'm planning to shift gears to focus on weights and ease back on the running. After that I'll decide where I want to go from there.