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Three half marathons in five weeks - how to approach (Read 123 times)


delicate flower

    **NOOB QUESTION ALERT**

     

    I am signed up for three half marathons in the span of five weeks this fall:

     

    Sept 14

    Sept 28

    Oct 12

     

    None of the courses are particularly difficult.  Is it realistic for someone to actually be able to race all three events, as opposed to just running them?  Is two weeks between races enough time to recover?  I'm fairly certain I could race the first and third ones with a month of recovery, but the middle one is my big question mark.  Should I plan on going easy in that middle race and save my legs for the third one?  Or would it be best to just pick one, give it my all, and just enjoy the other two?

     

    FYI, I basically missed the first five months of this year due to knee surgery but am almost back to full speed and mileage.  The first two races were deferrals from earlier 2013 races that I had to bail on due to said knee surgery.  My PR is 1:45:00 and I'm fairly certain I could top that in all of three of these races, as that PR is fairly soft (done on zero speedwork).

    <3

      **NOOB QUESTION ALERT**

       

      I am signed up for three half marathons in the span of five weeks this fall:

       

      Sept 14

      Sept 28

      Oct 12

       

      None of the courses are particularly difficult.  Is it realistic for someone to actually be able to race all three events, as opposed to just running them?  Is two weeks between races enough time to recover?  I'm fairly certain I could race the first and third ones with a month of recovery, but the middle one is my big question mark.

       

      FYI, I basically missed the first five months of this year due to knee surgery but am almost back to full speed and mileage.  The first two races were deferrals from earlier 2013 races that I had to bail on due to said knee surgery.  My PR is 1:45:00 and I'm fairly certain I will top that in all of three of these races.

       

      I ran a 15k, HM, a 5K and my first marathon in 5 weeks time, and then another HM 2 weeks after that. The 15k was a PR, the first HM was about 3 minutes off my PR which I got at that second one.  The 5K is also a big PR (by about 90 sec at that time, and am still 40 seconds off that time) The marathon was not raced as it was my first one finishing was the only goal.

       

      Not sure it that helps.

       

      MTA fixed some of my numbers after checking the log


      Feeling the growl again

        Sept 14 - race and learn

        Sept 28 - training effort - tempo -- start slow, use final miles as workout

        Oct 12 - race

         

        It is likely to be cooler in Oct, I'd make that your primary effort.

        "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

         

        I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

         

        joescott


          Dear Noob, I know that I personally could not race all three, at least not properly.  Oh, I could "race" them in the sense of running them as hard as I could, but certainly by the 3rd one I think my "race" would be like a long, tired grinder at best.  spaniel's plan could work though to maybe get a good 3rd one.  Be careful not to get too overzealous with those miles, amigo.... you know what I'm talkin' 'bout; don't want you to have a setback.

          - Joe

          We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.

            I have back to back halfs (sat/sun) in august and another the next weekend (sun)....  all I plan on doing it start/finish!  I'm sure there will be some walking involved.  I know runners who run halfs (or more) every weekend, (check out the MarathonManiacs/Half Fanatics websites or FB pages) so I know what you plan on doing is doable.  Good Luck!   Smile

            Tammarin.....

            LedLincoln


            not bad for mile 25

              I'm doing a double half September 7 - 8, my first experience with this.  Since it's not certified anyway, I'll probably take them both pretty easy.


              an amazing likeness

                I stacked 3-in-a-row like the a few times last year.  The last set was 11/3, 11/11, 12/1.  Ran them in pretty much the pattern Spaniel recommends -- tempo to a bit harder (few days impact)  - > hard (week impact) - > all out (ouch).  PR on the last one.

                 

                +1 to Spaniel's advice.

                Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.


                Resident Historian

                  Same advice as Spaniel - the middle one as a training run.

                  Neil

                  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  “Some people will tell you that slow is good – but I'm here to tell you that fast is better. I've always believed this, in spite of the trouble it's caused me. - Hunter S. Thompson


                  delicate flower

                    Thanks for all the input.  The third one really is my goal race for the year.  The first two are smaller events, but the third is the Hartford Marathon weekend.  A really festive day and 9,000 runners.  I don't want to put the pressure on myself to have to ramp up marathon training so soon after surgery, so I decided to do the HM this year instead.  I've qualified for start seeding too, which is a first for me.  Still bummed I'm not doing the full marathon, but thrilled that I can still do the fall races.

                    <3

                      I did this last fall.  The first two halves I got PRs but by the time I got to my third I was all raced out and I bombed.

                       

                      I learned my lesson and am only doing a couple of races this fall and I am spacing them out quite a bit.


                      delicate flower

                        Pardon the bumpage but I ran the last of these three HM's today.  PR was 1:45 going into this stretch.  I pretty much did exactly as spaniel suggested.

                         

                        Final results were:

                         

                        Sept 14:  1:36:05

                        Sept 28:  1:36:41

                        Oct 12:  1:34:49

                         

                        Today I ran the best HM I have in me right now.  Everything came together.  It's a beautiful thing when body and mind both show up on race day.

                         

                        Can I exhale now?

                        <3

                        obiebyke


                          Baboon, that's nuts! Congratulations. Wow. *bowing down*

                          Call me Ray (not Ishmael)

                            Awesome!

                            Live the Adventure. Enjoy the Journey. Be Kind. Have Faith!


                            Resident Historian

                                Nicely done!

                              Neil

                              --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              “Some people will tell you that slow is good – but I'm here to tell you that fast is better. I've always believed this, in spite of the trouble it's caused me. - Hunter S. Thompson

                              workinprogress11


                                You are amazing!  Congratulations!

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