Hi All,
I have a half marathon coming up in a couple of weeks as part of my marathon training schedule (7 weeks until race) I plan to race the half marathon to get a good gauge of what time I can go for in the marathon (Current PB is just under 1hr 25- if i take a couple of minutes off this conmfortably will consider going for a sub 3 marathon if not will stick to original goal of 3:05-10) was just wondering if I should do a "mini taper" before this race or continue training as normal?
Thanks!
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But you could rejig your week, take a rest day the day before your half and any speed sessions move to the early part of the week, then your legs should be fresh for the race.
Good idea to race the half as this will be the best indicator of how your marathon training is going and as you say give you a guide of what pace to aim for on marathon day.
Good luck, hope you get that PB.
how might you use info from a bad race to adjust? I recently did a half marathon in the midst of marathon build up - similar timing to OP. i was hoping for 1.40 (5 min PB, although i've never really trained solely for half) and died in last 5 km. Should i adjust marathon expectations? I was hoping for 3.30- 3.35 on a flat course (i did 3.43 last year in first on Dublin, which is a bit hilly).
my marathon is end of sept and i had been doing really well, until last few weeks...
A 5 minute PB in a half is quite a big expectation so maybe that was a little over ambitious, but you know your training paces and how your training has been going. But there are times when we all have a bad race and often not for any obvious reason, we can't all feel brilliant every day and sometimes it just doesn't happen even if you didn't make any of the usual mistakes like going off too fast.
You can use a race predictor using your recent half to give you a guide for your marathon, but a lot depends on your training. There are many other factors to consider too. Weather/nutrition etc. It maybe that at this stage of your training you are a bit weary, the most common reason for this is running your long runs too fast.
I've done Dublin 15 times and it's not hilly, it's one of the fastest marathon courses around. Which marathon are you doing?
i have been doing some MP chunks in my long runs.
i dont have a recent HM to use to predict - other than the 'bad' one. would you back off a bit now on training? i have one more long run scheduled - 32km. i have been doing these in around 5.30 pace (feeling great), and then last weekend, 5.45 (1 week post bad half, and i didn't feel fantastic).
Yes, a 45 min 10k does mean that your expectation of a 1:40 half was reasonable.
I've just put your current half PB (1:45) in a training pace calculator and it does seem you've been training too fast for your long runs, pace should be 5:49 to 6:49 for long runs.
So I would suggest that you need to ease up, especially as you didn't have a great long run last weekend. This weekend do say 12 miles at slower long pace, then following weekend 14 miles and last weekend pre race 10 miles. Ditch any MP sections, what you want now is to recover your energy so you feel strong and healthy on that start line with some bounce in your legs. Eat and sleep well and you should be feeling ready to take on that marathon course.
You maybe just had a bad race, followed by a disappointing long training run. You have to put those behind you and run easy until you feel confident again. The mind is a very powerful tool in distance running and if you worry about your marathon time and whether you can reach your goal it will have a negative effect and make you miserable.
Marathon training rarely goes to plan, we're human and it's not an exact science. All you can do is train to the best of your ability and run the race the best you can on the day. You may still achieve your target time on race day, don't be so hard on yourself.
Your marathon training is done now, so you just need to be kind to yourself now and prepare as best you can now for race day.
i went a bit 'off plan' yesterday and did 13.1 training run in 1.39.59. massive confidence boost, at least i know i am fitter, and the training has had an impact. now to recover, recover, recover.
do you think 3.30 or 3.35 is unreasonable to aim for in 14 days?
Taper well and I think as long as you feel good on race day go out at no faster than 3:27 pace, that's 7:55 min/mile or 4:55 min/km, see how you feel at halfway. OK you might slow a little in the 2nd half but you should still be on for a good PB.
Good luck and do come back here to tell us how the race went.
went out with the 3.30 pacemaker, who i ended up leaving (there was only one guy and he ended up far behind- bad day at the office, poor guy ).
DELIGHTED
With less than a month to my race great to hear of someone who stuck to a plan and got the result they wanted, was beginning to have a few doubts and this has put my mind at ease somewhat
wishing you a great result also!
trev84 - be strong, stick to your race plan.
i've done 45 min 10k, 21.10 5k, and no reasonable recent half marathon. decisions...decisions
Maybe aim for 3:20 next autumn and a good half PB in the spring