First Half Marathon Down, Now I Need Speed
chelciebrown07
Posts: 255 Member
So I finished my first half marathon this weekend with a time of 2:13 which I was pretty pleased with considering it was a hilly course and the last half mile had an elevation gain of about 500ft. I really like the distance of the half marathon and I think i'll stick with it as my main race for now (instead of moving on to a full marathon), so going forward i'd like to focus on running it at a faster pace.
Unfortunately I live in Alaska so the next race isn't going to be until mid April at the earliest when some of the snow melts. This gives me about 6 months to train, which I think will be more than sufficient to cut my time to sub 2 hours, but i'm getting caught up on how I should go about training. All the training schedules i've seen online involve a certain set time (12 weeks) but i'm going to need more. So I guess my question is, should I do two schedules back to back that get more difficult, or should I create my own schedule? Also I really only have 3 days a week I can dedicate to running because of other cross training activities I do.
Unfortunately I live in Alaska so the next race isn't going to be until mid April at the earliest when some of the snow melts. This gives me about 6 months to train, which I think will be more than sufficient to cut my time to sub 2 hours, but i'm getting caught up on how I should go about training. All the training schedules i've seen online involve a certain set time (12 weeks) but i'm going to need more. So I guess my question is, should I do two schedules back to back that get more difficult, or should I create my own schedule? Also I really only have 3 days a week I can dedicate to running because of other cross training activities I do.
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The way to get faster is to run more easy miles. If you really want to improve, you should find a way to run 4 or 5 days a week. You'll want to run base mileage for a period of time until you get 12 weeks out from the race and then you'll start a schedule. Base mileage should start at about 10% less than what you highest mileage week was from your last training cycle and then gradually add mileage to that. Some say 10% per week, but I prefer 1 mile for each day you are running. So, running 4 days a week, you can increase by 4 miles. Stay at that level for 2 weeks, drop back in mileage for one week and then increase again and repeat the process.0
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Good job on your first half!0
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Great job on the half!
For me speed increased when I logged more miles and when I started doing hill work-outs.0 -
Yes, for me speed increased when I started hill workouts and doing speed intervals!0
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Great job on the half. I have been running for 15-18 months and was going to try an official half this year, but switched to work on speed and race in a few smaller races. I have gotten good solid advice about keeping the running base up between 25-30 miles a week 4 or 5 times a week.
I scheduled a 5k for Thanksgiving and I am sticking to an advanced training plan from Hal Higdon working on my speed. Some of the intervals I run on a track and some I also run on a treadmill. I can feel the improvements all around. For this plan, I tried to set a realistic 5k goal time and set my running plan up to those paces using the macmillan running calculator.
To supplement, I am also doing some specific running strength training a couple of times a week and daily running stretches whether or not I am running that day.
Good luck.0
