Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Options
Spring Half Marathon Training
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
I am indeed female and proud!
Echo the sentiments on intervals and I'd add hill training to that. Since I abandoned any serious plans to aim for a time in my HM, I've enjoyed just racking up the miles. The fourI did before breakfast this morning managed to hit the only dry part of the day so far - result!
I'm clearly either a shocking male chauvinist pig or laudably gender-blind for not picking up that Mungus and Benignmurmurring are ladies.
Sarah - Welcome to the thread! I'm about to start a project down in Bournemouth for the next month and will be jogging up and down the seafront a couple of mornings per week before heading in to work. Are there any other good places to go for a run?
Since the 10 miler on Sunday I've had three days of rest because I missed my 5 mile easy run on Tuesday because of lots of work to do. On the other hand, I did an easy-ish 5 miles at lunchtime today with the first four miles at about 09:00 pace and the last mile at a fast 7:12 pace just to keep things interesting. 10 mile LSR planned for the weekend.
Gaz
Gaz- I wouldnt worry, I didnt notice they were female either. Did you feel better for the unplanned rest? I always feel anxious to run when I am resting, and this weekend I am away to London to see War Horse at the theatre with my wife, so have to rest.
Kevin- The club run is good on lots of levels for me, socially its ace, and in fact they went to the bar after the run last night, I can see me fitting right in
Benign- Bike- Yuk. I cant walk properly for days after a bike session. Interested in what you said about the leg turnover, will have to make an effort to count. I guess you count every other stride for 60 seconds then double it?
So, Tues I went for a steady 5k after fish and chips- not advised! Last night I joined the fast group at the club and stuck with the pace setter for the entire run, became a bit of a fartlek session, great fun, even if it was hammering it down!
Whiskey - yes, or just count your right leg steps for a minute and double it. Lots of good articles available explaining why its more efficient to run with a high leg turnover.
When I do intervals (I'm not doing them currently) I find thinking about maintaining a high leg turnover, or thinking about other points of good running form, a welcome distraction from the general unpleasantness of how it feels. It always feels great afterwards though. I kind of miss it.
Off out for a wee three miles now, before the LSR tomorrow.
Evening,
Neil - I think a higher cadence also promotes less stress on the knees, but clearly not the hamstrings...
Benign - wrong!!! Perhaps I have some female traits or was it the hockey reference!? It's a man's game too! I really like intervals but more for the feeling afterwards and how much easier the next easy run feels. Good run tonight?
Mungus - Building a base again and not worrying about your next race time will def help for the next one. You must be in a good place if you're just enjoying running.
Gaz - seems like you're developing some good pace but keep it steady!
jim - sounds like you've settled in nicely! A lot better than my start, missed tuesday but hope to be back next week. Enjoy you're weekend in London.
5 slightly quicker miles for me tonight which felt okay. Going to keep things easy until a massage on Tuesday. The easy runs are keeping me sane!
Neil- was running them at around 8.20 had a 3 minute rest in between them.
Mungus- glad you got some dry runs, weather has been awful.
Gaz- yeah their are some nice places to run, I live running along by the beach when the weather is nice. The purbecks is also nice. Bit hilly, oh and the new forest too.
Whiskey- maybe leave the fish and chips till after
well done on keeping up with the fast groups.
Benign- hope your 3 miles went okay.
Justrunning- sports massages hurt but worth it after.
I went out out with a womens only running club tonight did 6 miles. Wanted to join a club for a while and glad I plucked up the courage and went out. weather was awful though hail stones and heavy rain. Felt good after Though. Kept quite a good pace, not sure of exact pace and didnt record it.
Good to see the Christmas hats are back in the attic.
JR - I really assumed that you were probably male, that's why I used the
emoticom. It means don't take anything I say seriously because I am being ironic. 
. Hope that the reduced running/massage will get you sorted quickly. I'm finding it hard to be sensible. I perhaps should see a physio but they might tell me to rest and I don't want to hear it.
Sounds like lots of us benefiting from the running clubs at the moment. Sorry to hear you got your injury there JR - strange that they didn't warm up much. We tend to do at least four/six times round the track slowly before doing drills at my club.
New to the forum, been running and training properly for the last 9 months now.
I completed the Great North Run last year, my first HM, in 1:45:19, which included a couple of impromptu stops to tie shoelaces and have a comfort break (too much coffee) which were novice errors I've learnt from.
Three HMs booked in for this year so far: Reading, Hastings and Richmond.
My goal is a sub 1:35 for 2014, with focused training including: Track intervals, Hills, Threshold and a weekly LSR. I'm using my HR to pace my LSR now and don't look at my pace or time until I'm done, the nice thing I'm seeing is my pace is slowing increasing for the same HR.
Benign - I'm not sure I did
It seems a bit better tonight, thanks. That's what they normally say but probably for a good reason! How was your long run?
Sarah - welcome, yep they certainly smart a bit... Glad you enjoyed your club run, despite the weather!
Welcome Cesela! Think Reading may be your best bet for the PB, I imagine the other two are hilly? I went to Uni in Reading and from what I can remember between beers it is reasonably flat with a downhill into the town centre and a hill back up to the stadium. Nothing too bad though! I love that feeling of putting the same amount of effort in for a quicker pace, in my case is usually losing several pounds...
Thought I test the hammie out a bit before hockey tomorrow. 5 miles progressive, with splits @ 8:20, 7:55, 7:20 & 6:55 with a mile WD @ 8:30. Then plenty of rollering and stretching.
Thanks for the comments on cadence. Being doing a bit of reading about it and 180 strides per minute seems to frequently be quoted as an optimum figure. Looking back at my recent training runs, I seem to average about 170 per minute, dropping to about 160 on my slowest runs. Not sure if I want to tinker too much with running form during a marathon training programme but certainly some things to think about. Here are two links to articles on the subject, if anyone is interested, one of which talks about how improved cadence can reduce the risk of injury.
http://www.active.com/running/articles/how-to-improve-your-running-cadence?page=1
http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/great-cadence-debate?page=single
Welcome Cesela and congratulations on a very good half marathon debut in the GNR. Good luck in acheiving your sub 1:35 goal.
JR - how's the hamstring come out of your five mile progressive yesterday? Well, I hope.
Anyone got any warm up races planned before their main spring races? I've got two half maras and 30km race (to be run at training pace) before my first marathon in late April.
A good weekend´s running to everyone.
Neil - do you have an footpod that measures your cadence? Interesting articles, I think I'll record over various different paces over the next few weeks.
It may be a good idea to leave until after you've recovered from your marathon before you tinker with form? How many weeks out is the 30km race?
i have a 10 miler 2 weeks before so will probably see on the day but most of it will be at PHMP.
Leg feels okay this morning, slow MLR planned for tomorrow.
Hi cesela, welcome to the thread. Impressive goal but sounds realistic as your debut half was that fast. I haven't run my LSR by HR for ages but I used to enjoy that and must try it again. Its a great way to be disciplined about going slower.
Thanks for the articles Neil. Particularly interesting since I am now on the injury bench and looking at any way to make myself less injury prone. I may have raised the topic of stride rate by I haven't actually paid attention to my own for a while.
I aborted my LSR after 14 miles yesterday when the knee pain came back with a vengeance, blast it. Why can't my enthusiasm and physical ability be more in balance? Ahh well...I'm now going to rest(ish, sort of) for a week and phone the physio.
I know that I need to fix the biomechanics as the root cause of the problem but I'm also wondering whether to change marathon plans and go with a 3-quality-runs-a-week plus-cross-train type plan rather then trying to pound out so many miles. The extra recovery time might suit me and I have been almost missing the track sessions. I might be panicking though. Any thoughts gratefully listened too.
As for warm up races I've just got Longleat before the Bath Half.
Reading half marathon race number and details received in the post this morning, which motivated me to get out and complete a longer run.
19.4 km/12 mile completed, paced myself based on my HR trying to keep it at or just below 150 bpm, averaged 149 bpm for the run, which is at the high end of my moderate intensity training zone, although I didn't feel tired or out of breath during the run and could have happily run for longer, so I think my fitness is slowly improving.
When I got back and checked my pace, my average pace was 4:57 min/km which was slightly faster than I expected.
For next weekends LSR I'm going to add on a couple of miles, but target a slower average HR of between 140-145 bpm to slow myself down a little more.
The training plan you mention is akin to what I do, although one of the cross-trains is usually substituted for a short, slow run. I find it ok, although the intervals are always a struggle and I guess are most likely to cause further injury. You could always change the intervals for a steady run and keep the tempo and LSR in and cross-train on other days.
Good run Cesela. Interesting to note you train on heart rate, not something I've done before. What made you decide to do it, out of interest?
Morning all,
Neil - How does it work then? Did a couple of 9 mm miles yesterday before hockey cadence counted 3 times each coming out @ 192 in 60 secs. Forgot today, had a running buddy!
Will you extend the HM by doing a few miles before/after to make for a very useful LR? I have a 10m PB of 68:20 which was particularly hilly so I might aim for that on a slightly flatter course which should be sufficient to keep me relatively fresh.
Benign - Hope the diagnosis is nothing too serious but as Neil says something positive may result. It so frustrating when things are going well only to be pegged back, I certainly can relate.
Cesela - A good run there, how long are you going to increase your LR to? So you had a pace of just under 8mm for your long run at a moderate heart rate, interesting as my initial thoughts based on general consensus that the LR should be run 60-90 secs slowly than your MP which mean; a) you're running them a bit to quickly or; b) you should easily beat your 1:35 target. Which do you think it may be?
Interesting to hear your pack for Reading has arrived, mine hasn't...
A lovely crisp morning here, 11 miles @ 8:18. Leg not feeling great after hockey yesterday. A bit sore this morning but started very slowly and had a stretch after a couple of miles. Stretching helped, the next 9 were okay.
Welcome Cesela, nice time for a first half. I also suffer from running too fast when I get the bit between my teeth, but as I get more experience I'm finding it easier to back off a little.
Benignrunning, sorry to hear that your knee is giving you gyp.
Nice run JR! I like running in the cold and clear conditions too; it's very good for clearing the head.
Nice sunny and crisp afternoon here in Essex. I ran 11.25m / 18k in 01:38:30 which is still a little quicker than I should be going, but felt a comfortable pace to run at and I did feel like I could've kept up a conversation with someone running with me. I've been keeping an eye on my resting heart rate and it's now in the high 50s which hasn't been the case for about 20 years
. Very pleased with my progress. One more build-up week before I have a rest week and back off the mileage.
Good running!
This week I only found time to run 4 times, and even that was a push as life started getting in the way all over the place: car accident, work, studying, my daughter's birthday. So I dropped from last week's stellar 44k to a less impressive 31.5, over four runs. One of them included my first ever go at (something like) intervals, and then of course there was today's aforementioned PF. I'll settle for that.
Hi all. I've entered my first half for the beginning of March. I'm pretty new to running, but ran two 10ks before Xmas in around 53min. I'd like to run the half in under 2hrs ideally. I'm just starting to get into varied training and introducing some speed work (ideal as I live in a village and run out of streetlights after a mile). I ran what I thought was a comfortable slowish 6miles this morning (the sort of speed you feel like you can keep going forever at), but when I came back and logged the details on the computer I discovered it was 8:27 pace, which I understand is far too fast for a long run (not long by most standards, but I had to get to work!). So my question is if that feels easy how much slower should I tun in training, and what should I aim for ad my race pace?
Some impressive training sessions being reported!
BM: sorry to hear that your injury is interrupting your schedule, cross training sounds like a safe option.
Dan Drisc: High five from me! I'm looking at 2:10-2:20 for my Half too and I'm proud of it. I was always the last in school cross country, running 13.1 miles at any speed is an achievement for me.
I did 10 miles over the hills and back along the muddy towpath in glorious sunshine yesterday, wonderful stuff.
Welcome Gamebird. I'd say a two hour half marathon is definitely acheivable based on your 10k times and the fact that you are adding more structure to your running. I'd set the training times based on your last race rather than the time you want to run next time.
JR - impressive 10m PB, especially as it was on a hilly course. Yes, my half marathons will be supplemented by warm up and cool down miles. They both fall on weekends when the long run is scheduled to be cut back a bit too. To answer your other question, the training program (FIRST) focusses on the three quality runs per week (intervals, tempo & long). The idea is that each run has a clear, specific focus. The idea of the twice weekly cross-training is that you still get the aerobic benefit but give the muscle fibres used for running more time to recover. The long run is faster than LSRs in other plans. It worked well for me last spring and we'll see how it goes for a full marathon program. I'd also like to try P&D in the future.
24k, about 15m, for me yesterday in the rain in just under 2hrs 7mins. A new route and very hilly. I was knackered afterwards.
Bm- hope your injury gets better soon.
dan- welcome, I'm hoping for a half result under 2 hours too. My last and first one was 2.08.
Mungus- sounds like a lovely run, although hills aren't my favourite terrain lol.
Jr- nice long run, do you find it helpful to run longer than the half marathaon distance?
done a 7.5 mile run with my friend on Friday who is slightly faster than me so was good to try and match her pace. Long run was today 9.5 miles. Legs sore now, I'm doing t25 workout too, only two weeks left till finished the programme.
Hi everyone, hope it's ok to join.
I'm doing Retford Half on 9th March. It will be my fifth hm. Started running just over 18 months ago. Did four hm's last year, Sheffield - 2:18xx, Robin Hood half 2:05xx, Worksop half 1:58xx and my last hm was Clowne in November last year and managed 1:57xx, was quite hilly too.
I'm running four times per week now, just recently introduced a fourth steady session of around 6 miles. I do 2 club sessions, a steady session and a long run every week. My long run yesterday was 15 miles at around 9:50 mm.
Would love a pb at Retford , but we'll see how it goes.
Great training everyone. Am enjoying reading this thread.
iluvstaffies - that's the HM I'm doing too. I am at least guaranteed a PB though as it's my first one!
I live pretty much on the route and have run most of it in bits so there shouldn't be any nasty surprises.
My longest run so far has been 8 miles, but there's plenty of time to go yet, right?
Evening all,
Mungus - anyone who can run 13 miles deserves respect in my book! Sounds like a good run to me, like running in the winter sun.
Neil - I like the sound of the 3 specific sessions but I would prefer easy runs to build base fitness (And I hate the gym!!!). It'll be interesting to find out how that works out for you as a slow long run is scheduled to help burn fat and also get you used to spending a similar amount of time on your feet. Does that mean you're doing more than 20% of your weekly mileage on 'quality' sessions. I can recommend P&D, worked for me.
I'm not surprised you were knackered, that was just under 8:30mm for a hilly run but I'm assuming that's part of your plan? How was the new coat?
Sarah - I like to run 15-17 miles in my plan and have done a 15 and a couple of 16's. I think it was one of the major factor in breaking 90 mins along with some HM paced tempos. What pace are you running your LR's at?
Hi I.L.S and welcome. Looks like you have a good structure there, my only comment is are those LR's a bit quick? You should have sound endurance but running the long ones too fast will wear you out. You'll be the best judge of that though.
Gamebird - Hi & welcome to you too! As Neil says sub 2 is on! So you have about 7 wks left. Steadily increase up to 13-14 miles for your LR but try to include a cut back wk every 4 wks. Start your taper by cutting back your LR to 9-10 miles the week before. What other runs / paces do you do in the week?
2.13m @ 8:55 recovery run with stretching / rollering again. Sports massage tomorrow so no running but I'm hoping that'll help move things along.
Evening all..
Sarah it is good to run with someone slightly faster to push you on... how are the legs now.
Mungus good mileage, did you pace it ok..
Neil good mileage and pace on a hilly route, how is you recovery
ILS going by your previous times and current training your well on the way to PB but would agree with JR with lsr slightly fast.
Game bird you will get under 2 ensure you get passed 13.2mls in training.
JR I have never had a sports massage but would imagine a few swear words being yelled out !!!!!!!
Club session on Thurs 1.6mls WU 4x1mls reps 6.37, 6.34, 6.32 & 6.34 0.6 CD. Sat lsr 13.3mls avg 9.01 Mon 6.7mls 8.31 avg pace
Gamebird - that's useful for you to live on the route! I have no idea what the route is like but I do know a couple of people who have done that particular hm and liked it.
Just Running and kevin70 - I never know the correct pace I should be running the lsr at. I run in with a large group of people and I just tend to run at conversational pace because I like to talk as it takes my mind of how far we are running.
Thanks for the advice though. I never know if I'm training correctly or not. I don't know if I'm doing too much or not enough.
I'll admit to running my LSR at 'comfortable' pace too. I'm a slow runner (~10 min/mile) so to force myself to go even slower would mean that it would take a very long time to get round!
I've read all the theories but I just can't accept that running that much slower eventually makes you better! (I put my speeds into a calculator once and it said my LSR should be @ 11.5min/m pace - I mean...!)
Some great running being reported. Too many great runs to comment on individually but their are obviously real training gains happening. Yeh!
Welcome to Gamebird and ilovestaffies.
I have not run since Friday because of my runner's knee and I am fast turning into a panicky, screwball, menopausal, back-tempered mess. I am completely off-piste with my running plan and don't really have another plan to replace it, except clutching my head in despair and growling. As somebody kindly reminded me this morning, I'm 10 weeks off my first marathon (and 5 from my half). And I can't run.
On the plus side (it doesn't really exist
) I am seeing a physio tomorrow. I have a few days off work so I may go the gym today and use every cardio machine that doesn't irritate my knee. Then the sauna and plunge pool for some hot/cold treatment. Then I could take the dog for a much longer walk then it needs.
Hoping for a return to sanity by my next post. Enjoy your running, you lucky things...
Morning all,
Benign - I feel for you, you must be climbing up the walls with frustration. I know it's sometimes boring but stick with the cross-training, at least it'll keep some aerobic fitness and maybe burn off a bit of frustration. Let us know how you go with the physio.
Mungus - know what you mean about LSRs. I sometimes feel that if I force myself to go much slower I'll lose all momentum and stop.
Kevin - Recovery much better than expected, although glutes slightly tight. 40mins cross-train on exercise bike yesterday. Will know for sure this evening. Some good running again by you and great mile reps. I wish I could get them as close together as that. In terms of hitting your targets, do you think it helps doing intervals as part of a group?
Sarah - agree with JR about doing some LSRs at longer than the half marathon distance both in terms of endurance and knowing that I could do the distance.
JR - Know what you mean about doing easy runs rather than cross-training and I´m currently doing one cross-train and one easy run in addition to the three key sessions. The long runs get slower the longer they are, although begin to quicken in the second half of the plan. There are five 20 milers, the slowest of which, based on my training speeds, should come in at just under 3 hours, although I won't be put out if it's a bit longer. So, quite a bit of time on my feet and I think Pfitzinger said in that interview that the long run shouldn't be more than 3 to 3.5 hours. However, I take your point and, as you say, it´ll be interesting to see how it works out at marathon distance. Might also rethink the paces a bit on hilly long runs, certainly noticed the difference in exertion compared to long runs on the flat. The new coat was a success and it was just as well I bought last week as it rained for the two hours I was out running.
Hope the stretching, rollering and massage are all helping. 11 miles and then hockey sounds like of activity! When do you think you´ll be reintroducing speed work?
12k for me tonight with 8k at long tempo.