From marathon to half marathon

I've had a great 12 months of training, getting PBs across the board and, last week, running my first marathon.

The thing is, I signed up to a half marathon on 17th November... Yup - 8 weeks after the marathon, and in 6 and a half weeks time. My club runs the race every year, so I signed up for fun, rather than for a PB, but I would really like to see what kind of time I can muster off the back of my marathon training.

The question is, how does one go about training for a half so soon after a marathon?

I've taken a full week off (except for a bit of cycling), went for my first run on the Monday of the second week (3 slow miles), plan another easy few miles tomorrow (Wednesday), and again on Saturday... But then what?

Any suggestions for training sessions, frequency, mileage, general anecdotal advice would be appreciated.

FYI
marathon - 4:10:52 (bit bumpy, mixed terrain)
half marathon from this spring - 1:48:35 (bit hilly)
10K from this spring - 46:33, but averaged 47:30 during marathon training5K from this spring - 22:24 (hilly), but averaged 23:00 on the same course during marathon training

Comments

  • I pb'd a half the month after my first marathon.



    I think that once you've done a marathon then you realise that halves aren't that far at all so you can take them faster.



    I'd do a session of speed work once a week. Either yasso 800s or even Mile repeats if you can handle it.
  • Run a few 10k's in training (leave it another 2wks) and break them into 10 min w/u; then 3mins hard (HM pace or quicker), 3 mins jog recovery or walk if you have to, then repeat and build up to 5 x if you can; last mile slow c/d.

    This is tough, so rest or easy the following day and only do this once a week.

    Week ends - go out to 10 to 14 miles over time and do a couple of 3 min bursts in the middle at HM pace and always run the last mile (only) as hard as you can to finish.

    You will have the marathon training in your DNA so don't over run and I would taper for the last week by reducing the mileage as you did leading into the mara, but don't stop running altogether. Final run say 20 mins with 5-6x strides on Friday....

    Good luck

     

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