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Training for half marathon.
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I plan on doing a half marathon in the november-january time frame. anyone else planning to do same. we can compare training. and hopefully stay motivated.
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I just ran my first half marathon last weekend in Southend. Have signed up for 2 more - Bristol (Sept), Norwich (Nov). My time wasn't great (2:32) and neither was my form at 10 mile onwards! Want to run a better faster race. Aiming for 2:23 at Bristol and 2:17 at Norwich. Definitely have the bug and learnt good lessons from training for my first ie need to make my "long" training run longer and add interval training to the regime.
How's your training going?
Hi guys
I signed up for Bristol Half & Burnham on Sea half and had every intention of upping my training plan today, i downloaded all the data i needed onto my Garmin but as soon as i came in from work i was greeted by hubby who had cooked me spag bowl and garlic bread.....so day 1 was an epic fail. Will try again tomorrow.
Haha Kizzandrooroo
Not to worry - Bristol is 12 weeks away or as my marked calendar says - 81 days!! Plenty of time.
Had my first "long" run on Sunday (15Km). Have introduced interval training to the regime this time round. We'll see what difference that makes.
Cheers!
I'll sign up to this thread! I'm doing my second half-marathon in October: the Aviemore Highland Half Marathon. I did Sheffield in May: finished in 2:18:57, which I was pretty pleased with, as the last three weeks were disrupted with a quad strain.
Going to focus on the half in a couple of weeks after the K-Swiss Manchester 10K is out of the way. I'm going to follow the FIRST training plan (I think this is what the SmartCoach plans are based on): 3 focussed days running each week, and 2 cross-training days. I would like to think I can crack 2:15.
I've downloaded the sub 2:15 onto my Garmin and i'm determined to follow the plan to the letter! i've been guilty in the past of going off to fast getting caught up in the intial rush and as this is my first half marathon i don't want to knacker myself. Went out for my first run and my watch was constantly beeping telling me to slow down...opps.
Good luck on you 10K Dan,
I am going to start training for a hm soon - soon as I get my training plan.
I am sitting on the fence about what to do really. I have run hm's before, usually hilly ones so I've done mostly hilly runs - oh and off road races. Last year when training for vlm I ran a road hm for the first time and apart drom one big hill at the start it was flat. I surprised myself with my time which I was pleased with.
I am now wanting to train for a hm pb - I heve entered a gently undulating hm in Sept. I'll see how this one goes before deciding what to do next, probably find another hm early next year with some 10k's inbetween.
OK - my quandary - in the past my club coach has written me a plan where the total weekly milage is much less than I run at the moment. (I try to maintain 45 miles for 3 weeks then an easy week). Also the long runs are much shorter. My long runs are minimum of 13 miles, he has 10 miles never excedding 13. Am I better off running shorter and faster or longer and slower?
Anyway: Training:
Thur - core & track
Fri - swim club
Sat - 40' farlek
Sun core + 10 miles easy
mon - swim club
Tue - 6 miles steady + 10 mile cycle
Wed - 10 miles cycle
Thurs - core + track
Fri - swim club
Sat -
Sun - 15 mile race
Good luck with the 10k Dan.
Love your Avatar kizzandrooroo, hope you have kicked off your training now. I don't like spag boll but having it cooked for me by my partner - I'd think he must love me.
I have started on a 12 week plan for the Great North Run. I have a 2 week holiday late August so my plan takes me up to just before. I will try and run a bit when I am there so as not to lose too much fitness.
My goal is to get below 1:50.
Started a 16 week half-marathon plan today, and have a lovely new workout devised for me at the gym. Motivation is high. Looking forward to those long runs.
Trashed my training plan. Ran a 10k on Sun and am running a 5k tomorrow.
10k time suggests that my hm target time is very achievable which is good.
Have to see how to fit in training with new job.
Hello Guys,
I'm doing my first ever half marathon in November - Lancaster. I've never run further than 10K before which I can do in 57 minutes.
I really I want to do it in under 2 hours but we'll see! At the moment my only training is BMF 3 or 4 times a week so I'll be devising some kind of schedule this week.
I can;t believe I'm doing this. Last year I was a hard drinking, chain smoking, fast living gal.
Now I'm a hard drinking, chain smoking , fast living gal who's running a half marathon LOL
I'll be running my second Half Marathon in September, so only 10 weeks to go.
My first HM while I ran it in a quicker time than anticipated (aimed for 2:30 finished 2:14), I still felt that I could have done better if I had trained properly. Unfortunately injuries and illness held me back quite a lot.
This time, my training seems to be going a lot better and while I have missed a few sessions, I am still seeing improvements in my speed and performance.
I have taken the Garmin sub 2:15 plan and slightly jiggled it around to suit my plan.
On a Tuesday, I go out running with my local, Sweatshop and since this is just under 3 miles, I was incorparating it into my schedule. For the next few weeks however, for the Tuesday run, my runs are 5 and 6 miles. Since I still want to go to my Sweatshop run, I decided I'd double up (and exclude the short run from counting as training). So, this morning I dragged myself out of bed at 5:30am and was out of the house at around 5:50am. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed the run. It was nice and cool and it did try to rain (which would have been welcomed). I just need to make sure that next week I don't sit around too much first before going out.
Hello All,
Mind if I join the thread? Doing my second Half in October (Royal Parks) and aiming at sub 1:50. Did the Hastings Half in 1:59 in March so should be do-able, although I am finding it a lot harder than I thought to knock off 9 minutes over 13 miles! Will need to do some real training I think this time but wont be getting up at 5:30am.
There are a few runners around here that smoke. A friend of mine smokes and is not a slow runner either.
Royal Parks looks fun scottles, flat I presume but with a lot of sharp corners. Still looks like quite a fast course.
Good luck and have fun.
You can include me in that category as well unfortunately! Not that much - but too much obviously.........
Should be fast unless its so busy that you cant actually put one foot in front of the other. Hopefully long enough away to get some reasonable training in but find it tricky to run any more that 20 miles a week, either with time or niggly pains/injuries that crop up as I increase the mileage. Am trying to motivate myself to go running at lunch right now.
Knee playing up - looks like a few weeks off running: hopefully should be able to keep fitness up on the bike, and in the pool / gym. Seeing the physio on Friday, but the K-Swiss Manchester 10K on Sunday has bitten the dust. And I had the number 757: I reckon that could have got me a fast time!
Tomorrow I have my first set of Hill Intervals. Can't say that I am looking forward to these very much.
Since I live in a flat area, I'll be doing this training on a treadmill. Still, anything that will help me improve my time
Is pretty pricey, but as you say, save me all the extra money on travel etc etc and its flat, and after the Hastings HM I want to do a flat one!
Cant say I have ever tried hill intervals - sounds too painful, there is a 1 in 6 hill though where I live and that does for me.
I'm in. I've signed up for halves number 2 and 3 in October & November.
Did the first one in 2:37, which I was pleased with, seeing training got thrown by Christmas, the obligatory january cold and an ankle. I'd like to sneak under 2:30 and maybe faster.
I felt I died at the end of the previous half, having gone no further than 10 miles in training, so I'm definately going to make the long run longer, in order to get used to the distance. I'm 14 weeks out, so I'm looking for a 12 week plan to get stuck into.
Anyone going to try energy drinks/gels for a half?
Hi HL.
I tend to drink a mixture of cherry juice concentrate and PLJ before a race. Well actually everyday at the moment. I dilute about 25ml of each into a pint or 500ml of water depending on what bottle I'm using. (I'll drink this after a training run as cherry juice is s'posed to help relieve muscle soreness).
If I am tired then I drink redbull before a heavy session be that track or pool or cycle.
( I'm actually caffeine intolerant so I try and avoid the stuff but I have a mucked up sleeping pattern which is made worse by working nights.) I don't really know if any of it helps but I think if you are not feeling 100% or even 80% then it's worth it.
I have drunk lucozade during races and have found that if I'm flagging it does wake me up but I would have have to have started the race under par for that to happen.
I'm def going to run over distance for my training runs, I believe that this helps you to judge pace and distance come race day and gives you a much better chance of realising your goals. If you know how far 13 miles is then you are better prepared to judge how fast you should be running and if your current pace is to fast or too slow. Having said that I may be being far to anal and analytical about my running. Can't help it I have OCD and have to count every pace during a race. I'm just L7
I used an energy gel for my last half: a single one taken just after half way - difficult to tell whether it had much of an effect, really: I was shot by the end, but that would have happened anyway. Someone I was chatting to on the race reckoned they had a tendency to give a temporary energy rush, followed by a dip, but I'm not sure: surely that means just take another one?
Anyway, next time (October) I am going to take one just before the start, and one half way, and possibly one more towards the end. Might even take one before this weekend's 10K. I used the Isotar lemon ones - horrible, but just about managable with a drink.
For my first HM, I fed in the morning before the race. If I recall, I had a bowl of porridge - too avoid having fluid sloshing around making me need the loo more (didn't work as planned).
I then had a number of 'breakfast bars' which I ate whilst walking to the race. I think I may have also had a banana. I didn't eat so much that I felt full - I just felt comfortable. Plus with me eating about an hour before the gun, this gave enough time to digest. The hope was that this would provide me with enough energy through the whole race.
Throughout the race, along with water, there were about 3 Lucozade stations. I took a bottle at each and drank probably about an eigth before throwing it away - several sips to help replace lost fluid.
Being my first race, I have no idea whether the energy drinks helped me or not as I have nothing to compare it to. I can't imagine that in small quantities it did that much for me other than help with my thirst and replacing some of my lost fluids.
From what I have read, I don't believe there is much need for energy drinks/gels etc for a HM.
I can manage a 10k first thing in the morning and this is without food or water before hand. Never felt ill effects from that.
Just signed up for the Cardiff HM in Oct. It's my first HM (needed a scary goal to get me motivated!)
Took up running in Jan 2010 and was doing OK - ran a couple of 10ks. Then from November til last week I've not been doing much at all.
Not even sure I could even run 10 k now, as have lost a lot of fitness!
Anybody think a HM in October isn't giving myself enough time to build up the distance?
Louise
No, you have plenty of time to build up the distance even if you only ran a mile this week and increased by a mile a week you'd get there. You'll regain your fitness quicker than if you'd never run at all.
I know everyone says follow a training programme but when I first started running I just went out and ran. It worked for me. Sometimes we can get a bit bogged down in what the plan says rather than doing what we want. There again following a structured plan works better for others.
Not thought about it the way you put it...! So true - I have 15 weeks and if I ran just a mile further each week I'll be fine...thank you - feel bit better with that in my head! Still, increasing by a mile a week is quite far no?
I can fairly comfortably run about 4 miles now and have a 10k race booked for end of July so will look to get a decent pace in that 10k and then concentrate on getting the mileage up I think...
Thanks!