Suggestions needed for spring half marathon training
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Cheeta_HH
Posts: 489 Member
Hi!
I have my first half marathon next Saturday, January 12. My next one is March 6, and I have another on April 14.
I decided to do the first one on a bit of a whim, so I trained using the HH intermediate plan for 7 weeks. (I had already been running the mileage, so it wasn't really a big deal to jump to later weeks of the plan.)
My question is... what should I do in the meantime to maintain for the one in March? Should I just keep following the HH plan? Is there a certain number of miles I should be striving for in a week? How long should my long runs be now? (My goal for the March race is to complete it in a better time than my first.)
This is my tentative schedule for the rest of the winter:
Sunday- long run
Monday- strength training class
Tuesday- run
Wednesday- run (speed work)
Thursday- run + yoga class
Friday- rest
Saturday- run + yoga class
I'd welcome any suggestions!
I have my first half marathon next Saturday, January 12. My next one is March 6, and I have another on April 14.
I decided to do the first one on a bit of a whim, so I trained using the HH intermediate plan for 7 weeks. (I had already been running the mileage, so it wasn't really a big deal to jump to later weeks of the plan.)
My question is... what should I do in the meantime to maintain for the one in March? Should I just keep following the HH plan? Is there a certain number of miles I should be striving for in a week? How long should my long runs be now? (My goal for the March race is to complete it in a better time than my first.)
This is my tentative schedule for the rest of the winter:
Sunday- long run
Monday- strength training class
Tuesday- run
Wednesday- run (speed work)
Thursday- run + yoga class
Friday- rest
Saturday- run + yoga class
I'd welcome any suggestions!
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Replies
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Whatever you weekly mileage is 3 to 4 weeks prior to the first HM should become your new base. After taking it easy for a couple weeks after the HM, build back to that mileage and hold there. Your long run should be between 1/4 and 1/3 of your total weekly mileage. When I am not training for a marathon, my long run ranges between 12 to 16 miles. I'm pretty much always in HM shape.
You're going to build this nice base for these races. Don't let it go to waste by dropping that mileage too low when you are done.
ETA: What kind of "speed work" are you planning to do? For HM training, you should be doing tempo type of runs, never really running much faster than your HM race pace. Maybe a little, but there isn't a good reason to do 400m repeats at 5K pace or something like that. Tempo and strides.0 -
Take a few weeks off after the first half. Do other workouts or EASY runs only. You need to let the small fibers in your legs heal before stressing them again. That would put you about Feb 1. March 6 is a Wednesday...if your half is March 3 (Sunday), I'd do 10-11-12 on Feb 2nd, 9th, and 16th respectively. If your half is on March 10 (Sunday), I'd do 10-11-9-12 on Feb 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd respectively. The weekend before the half, I'd do 6. I like 2 weeks of taper before a half, but that's too much for some people.
I did speed work during half training of 10x 1:1 sprint, walk, building up the reps to 16x 1:1 sprint walk. It helped to increase my speed a lot. I will say I had lots of room for improvement in speed though. I think the faster you are, the less the sprints will help you. Also make sure you pay attention to each course's intricacies. If there are big hills in one of the races, make sure you do one run per week of hill repeats in your training for that half.0 -
Whatever you weekly mileage is 3 to 4 weeks prior to the first HM should become your new base. After taking it easy for a couple weeks after the HM, build back to that mileage and hold there. Your long run should be between 1/4 and 1/3 of your total weekly mileage. When I am not training for a marathon, my long run ranges between 12 to 16 miles. I'm pretty much always in HM shape.
You're going to build this nice base for these races. Don't let it go to waste by dropping that mileage too low when you are done.
ETA: What kind of "speed work" are you planning to do? For HM training, you should be doing tempo type of runs, never really running much faster than your HM race pace. Maybe a little, but there isn't a good reason to do 400m repeats at 5K pace or something like that. Tempo and strides.
Thanks for the advice!
I will probably stick with about 25 miles a week then. By the time I get home from work on weekdays, it is just about dark outside, so I'll stick with classes and just short 3-4 miles runs during the week. I'll get my long run in on Sundays.
As for the "speed work", I usually do tempo runs. When I first started adding mileage, I noticed that I was consistently running out of steam at the end because I started so fast at the beginning. I think consciously switching up my pace is helping me control that better on race days. I don't go super fast, and on the rare occasions that I attempt to, I can't maintain it for long. I have only done the 400m repeats a couple times (even though the HH plan calls for them every other week.) Good to know that isn't all that necessary for my goals because I sort of hate it! : )
My race pace for the half should be right around 9:10. I've decided to join the local running group here to train for my April race, more or less just to network. Hopefully training with people with a faster pace than me will help push me to the next level too.0 -
Take a few weeks off after the first half. Do other workouts or EASY runs only. You need to let the small fibers in your legs heal before stressing them again. That would put you about Feb 1. March 6 is a Wednesday...if your half is March 3 (Sunday), I'd do 10-11-12 on Feb 2nd, 9th, and 16th respectively. If your half is on March 10 (Sunday), I'd do 10-11-9-12 on Feb 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd respectively. The weekend before the half, I'd do 6. I like 2 weeks of taper before a half, but that's too much for some people.
I did speed work during half training of 10x 1:1 sprint, walk, building up the reps to 16x 1:1 sprint walk. It helped to increase my speed a lot. I will say I had lots of room for improvement in speed though. I think the faster you are, the less the sprints will help you. Also make sure you pay attention to each course's intricacies. If there are big hills in one of the races, make sure you do one run per week of hill repeats in your training for that half.
Thanks! That sounds very doable and should keep me in shape for it! I know it was a little controversial to run 13.1 in a practice run twice in the past two weeks. I felt good though and I just felt that I had to prove that I could do it! I don't think I will need to do that in preparation for March though.
I keep messing up the date on this race for some reason! It is actually March 16th. It is the same course as my January race, so it will be interesting to see how much I can improve with more experience and (hopefully) warmer weather!
My April race is on the roads of a rural area with lots of hills! Fortunately my normal neighborhood route has a few big inclines along the path, so I will have the opportunity to prepare for that. Even though I'll have more running under my belt by then, I'm not sure that I'll be able to PR on that course!0 -
Oh you're doing the Lucky! I wish I could, my husband is out of town though so it's just me with our daughter. I wanted to do the whole series but it's not in the cards. Which April one are you doing? My husband and I are going down to Springfield for the Lincoln Half.0
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Oh you're doing the Lucky! I wish I could, my husband is out of town though so it's just me with our daughter. I wanted to do the whole series but it's not in the cards. Which April one are you doing? My husband and I are going down to Springfield for the Lincoln Half.
The one in April is called the Crossroads Marathon. It is in Lowell, Indiana.
Not so lucky that you can't do the Lucky! : ( Do you have any other races planned for March?0 -
You did not ask for any advice for race day but I will give it anyway.
It is really easy to get caught up in the excitement and take off too fast. You said 9:10 and you find that first mile is 8:15. And you find yourself saying "Wow, this is easy. I'm faster than I thought." Well the first 8-10 miles should feel easy. So make sure you don't get too optimistic. And have a great time. My favorite distance 0 -
There's a half that's only half an hour away from me on 3/17 I'm thinking of, but the course is supposedly very challenging and I am definitely doing the Lincoln half the first weekend of April so I keep waffling. Other than that my calendar is empty for March...I have a 10K in Feb for Vday but that's it. I'm itching to do something for St. Patrick's though - so want to do the Lucky but I know there's no way to make it happen. Sigh!0
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You did not ask for any advice for race day but I will give it anyway. It is really easy to get caught up in the excitement and take off too fast. You said 9:10 and you find that first mile is 8:15. And you find yourself saying "Wow, this is easy. I'm faster than I thought." Well the first 8-10 miles should feel easy. So make sure you don't get too optimistic. And have a great time. My favorite distance
Thanks for the advice!
I always have this issue! I am always surprised by how much faster I go on race day and have to tell myself to slow down! With this distance, I think I'll run out of steam if I do that, so I'll be talking to myself a lot!!
I have a feeling that this will become my favorite distance too! I love the challenge!0
