Last run before half marathon

Hi everyone,

I've been following an asics training plan to get my time down for next weeks half marathon. This week its planned

 

1 x3mile at9min/mile-Tuesday

1x 5mile at pace -7.24/mile-Wednesday

1 x 3mile at 9min/mile-Friday

Somone said I might burn out by doing the 5mile pace run, what does anyone else think?

Cheers

Karl

 

Comments

  • What time are you aiming for in the race?
  • If the race isnt till late next week the 5 miler will be fine , I wouldnt be doing anything hard next week though as it will take too long to recover so all easy miles.

  • Im aiming for about 1:38, the race is next Sunday-29th

  • I would find 5 continuous miles at half marathon race pace quite hard, especially without a reasonably long warm-up. Could you split up the 5 miles like this instead: 2 miles 9mm, 1 mile 7:25, 2 mins recovery, 1 mile 7:25, the rest at 9mm?

    Also, do you have any other recent race times or if not how did you choose your target of 1:38?

  • My pb is 1:51, my plan originally said 1:45 but ive ben running faster and the plan has recalculated a new time.my last long run besides gnr was 11miles in 1:23

  • okay, well if you're happy with that as HM race pace, then I'd suggest doing 2 x 1 mile rather than 5 miles of it in a row. Unless you feel you can add a couple of miles of warm-up on the front of that 5-mile session too? It just seems a bit hardcore to plunge straight into it.

  • It's a good idea to practise running at your race pace, but it's more important to be well rested.

    Personally, I wouldn't be doing a hard session that close to a race. I'd probably be doing a couple of easy runs (slow as you like, no more than 5 miles) and nothing else.

  • I normally do do a bit of faster stuff in the week leading up to the race, but much less of it than in previous training weeks. That's why 5 miles at race pace seems like way too much to me, as I probably wouldn't have been running 5 miles continuously at HM pace even at the peak of my training, let alone during the taper.

    I have to say I'm a bit suspicious of automatically-generated plans if that's what this is. Can you tell us what your last three weeks' training have been, Karl? That should make it easier to see how to keep some of the intensity of what you've been doing but scale back the volume. Or you could just follow Tom's very sensible suggestion.

  • The few Asics training plans ive signed up to but never reallly followed seem to be basically for the most part near race pace mileage every run with the odd easy 3 miler  and 3 eleven mile runs  as you long run at very close to racepace in the last 5 weeks.

    You rest quite a bit though and only run max 4 times a week.

  • This is my plan for the last 3 weeks,the days inbetween were rest days:

    3/9/13 - 3 miles @ 8:49

    5/9/13 - 11.1 miles @ 7:30

    11/9/13 - 3 miles @ 8:59

    12/9/13 - 7 miles @ 7:47

    15/9/13 - gnr,steady 1:52:00 @ wifes pace image

    18/9/13 - 3 miles @ 8:37

    19/9/13 - 5 miles @ 7:21

    21/9/13 - 5 miles @ 7:15

     

    Lerslie, youre right, though its only the last few weeks where the pace has gone up in "race simulation mode".I've followed a plan as its difficult for me to join a club due to me working shifts which include nights/weekends.Ive been running 3 times a week

     

  • For race week I usually do my last fast run on the Tuesday before.

    Before Wokingham I did 2x2 miles at race pace with a mile easy in between.
  • Blimey, that looks harder than most of what I've been doing, and I'm training for 1:27ish. Millsy's 2 x 2 miles on the Tuesday rather than the Wednesday sounds good though.

  • I might try that then and still do the 3 mile steady on Friday. I was hoping originally for 1:45, so under 1:40 is a bonus, I dream of under 1:30 image

  • Literatin, id be interested to know about your training for 1:27

  • I might try that then and still do the 3 mile steady on Friday. I was hoping originally for 1:45, so under 1:40 is a bonus, I dream of under 1:30 image

  • KARL WALKER wrote (see)

    Literatin, id be interested to know about your training for 1:27

    much higher mileage, but greater proportion of it at easy pace. Mostly running 6 days a week. Longest long run 16 miles. image

    edit: don't know if it's worked yet!

  • Let me know if it works and i might nab your plan off youimage, might struggle with 6 days a week though!

  • It's not a secret plan Karl, just that you will find you need to gradually build up your mileage over the next year or so if you want to keep improving your times, and you'll probably end up running more than three times a week too.

  • Hi literatin, I'm new to the forum.  I've completed a couple of races over the past two years (London Marathon, Silverstone Half & GNR).  I've always struggled in the races even though I never struggled too much during my training long runs.

    I read your comment above about higher mileage but mostly at an easier pace.  I'm extremely interested in the theory behind this and how you then manage to up your pace dramatically for something like a Half or even full marathon?

    Apolgies if you feel that's a novice question but that is what I am really! image

  • The asics plans are usually quite a low overall mileage compared to other plans but a lot more at your race pace.



    If you have stuck with it until now, why not just stick with it for one more week. I 'very done 2 marathons with it and was faster just then it's predicted time both races. Makes no sense to suddenly decide it Isan't right now.



    If it doesn't work out and you feel it wasn't right use a different plan for your next half. image
  • Hi GLG1980, this thread should help explain better than I could: http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/beginners/training-for-the-right-distance/166481.html

    I do train at race pace (and faster) but it is a much smaller proportion of my running. As booktrunk says, the asics plans like the one Karl has been following are low mileage but more of it at race pace. I do the opposite, so I might run 45 miles in a week but only about 10 miles of it in total will be hard, and that might be in two separate sessions.

  • Hi everyone, just thought I'd update you on my progress.

    I ended up doing 4.5 miles mid week, which included 3 minutes warm up and a 5 minute cool down.

    I was mentally ready on race day, though I think I should have declined the free massage the day before-my legs fealt like lead weights after the first 100m and didnt let up, ended up finishing in 1:39:26, which is a new pb for me so pretty pleased image

  • That's brilliant well done image

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