Forums >General Running>Four week HM training.
4 weeks on Sunday I'm running a half. I'd like to beat my time from last year (1:29). I recently ran 19:30 for 5k and ran a 50km a couple of weeks ago, so the 5k shows roughly the right kind of speed - possibly a little bit slow, and I should have some endurance. I am, however, a little worried about maintained the required pace for 21k.
I'm thinking I should do a run @ race pace once a week (I did 6km on the dreadmill at that pace yesterday), plus some intervals a little bit faster once a week. What else? I'm not sure long runs are really what I need atm - I feel it's speed rather than endurance that needs the work.
I'm off hiking for the weekend - so probably wont run - after that it's exactly 4 weeks so what kind of 4 week buildup would people recommend?
MTA: Saturday mornings I often do my local weekly 5k race, so I'd pencil that in as part of the plan - although I can do this at less than full effort if need be - people quite like having pace-makers for different target times, so sometimes I do pace-making.
I think you should be confident that you have the required speed and my thoughts are that you need to ensure you have the endurance to hold it. You may know from the sub-90 thread that I just did a 1:28:03 off a 5k time of 19:25 so we are in a fairly similar place. Most of my work consisted of steady miles. At this fairly late stage i don't think you will influence your time that much and it is mostly a case of going into the race feeling confident and refreshed. This is what I would do - and I am assuming that you are fully recovered from the 50K.
1. Week 1-3 - 50-60 miles all at easy pace - including one longer run. Maybe introduce a faster finish (not race pace) for a mile or two in a couple of runs. Strides.
2. Week 4 - Do what you like to feel relaxed before the race - generally lower mileage. Run most days but ensure that you go into the race refreshed.
3. Continue with the 5k races even up to the previous weekend if your recovery is good enough. Use these for your speed work.
I would do higher mileage but I have adjusted to stay within what I see you have done within the recent past. Good luck with the race.
2013
3000 miles
Sub 19:00 for 5K 05-03-13 Clee Prom 5K - 19:00:66 that was bloody close!
Sub-40:00 for 10K 17-03-13 Gainsborough 10K - 39:43
Sub 88:00 for HM
Whilst I'm sure there are benefits in more mileage, I'm not confident that it's the way to produce results in a few weeks. The question is where the balance lies... obviously I don't want to train like an 800m runner, but I probably don't want to train like a marathoner either.
If you were racing a 1/2 MILE I'd agree with this. But, not a 1/2M. It's never been my lack of speed that hurts my 1/2M time. Sure, do a few striders for form and efficiency. I'd do 1K to 1 mile reps at 1/2M pace w/ short rests, and longer continuous runs at MP for my key workouts.