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Does this make sense, HM training plan? (Read 179 times)

Chuck1945


    A little background first, I started jogging for fitness purposes as an 'off day' break from cycling in 2010. Last year I did my first HM, walking 5 minutes and running 10. I was considering another half for October of last year when I had a major bike wreck in August. No idea what happened, was starting down a hill and was then in an ambulance and ER. Bad concussion and lots of road rash but fortunately no broken bones. By the time I really had my balance back, it was December and I did an early entry to the same HM I had done last year as an incentive for recovery.  Long story cut short, I didn't train effectively. the HM was yesterday and between not being prepared, 70 years old last month, and a forecast high of 90+ I skipped it.

     

    Now I want to prepare for the one in October with my older son. I have discovered that I can't maintain a schedule that requires running a minimum of 4 or more days a week. I can maintain an every other day schedule and occasionally double up two days in a row. The course is hilly (~550 foot gain) although the end is lower than the start. I have a hilly route (approx 180' elevation gains according to Garmin) in my neighbor hood that is 3.5 miles and can be repeated in full or part. I can currently run it at my HM goal pace and plan to increase by about 0.5 miles every third time I do it. In addition I do two other runs, one approx 2 miles further, about 30-45 seconds/mile slower than my target HM pace, and currently a long run (7.5-8 miles) about 1-2 minutes/mile slower.

     

    I want to work the HM pace training distance up to 10-12 miles. My question then is whether slowly increasing the distance i do at goal pace along with a couple of additional  slower runs going to get the job done?


    an amazing likeness

      Glad you're recovering from the bike fall....whew.

       

      So if I read your message correctly, it says something like:

       

      - 70 years old

      - need day off for recovery between runs

      - have a target HM pace in mind

      - want to get to running 10-12 at target HM pace

       

      First, I'd encourage you to drop the mental model of training at your goal HM pace. That's your race day effort -- not your every day effort.

       

      Second, I'd encourage you to start by being steady with you running -- keep to your every-other-day plan for some weeks to build up your endurance, but run slow and easy.  The tried & true simple edict of "run lots, mostly easy, sometimes harder". Time on your feet is more important than pace.

       

      To your question specifically -- run as much as you can without getting hurt. Do NOT run at your HM goal pace, slow down. Keep your daily runs at a mix of 4-5mi and  7-9 miles as your longer run, and then only stretch to your 10-11 milers a few times before your goal HM.

      Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

      Chuck1945


        You summarized my situation correctly.

         

        Question, if I train with slow runs, how do I get used to running at my goal pace? Or keep doing HM pace session each week or so, just don't make them into long runs?


        an amazing likeness

          As a general statement you get used to your planned pace by running some of your shorter runs faster than your planned pace, and some of your mid-distance runs (6-8mi) at your planned pace.  That is the "some times hard" part of the "run lots, mostly easy, some times hard".

           

          So you might want to run 1 run a week at your planned HM pace, and then the next week run 1 day as your mid-distance tempo of 1mi warmup, 5-6 at HM pace, then 1mi cool down. Using your 4 per week plan...

           

          Week1:  easy-shorter, easy, easy-longer, easy/recovery

          Week 2: easy-shorter, easy, tempo (HM pace),easy/recovery

          ..repeat.

          Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

          NHLA


            If you want to keep bikeing try Furman  FIRST plan.

            If you like HM pace runs the Hansons plan. HM pace runs should be 6-8 miles.

            You only run about 15% of your miles at a speedy pace.

            How many miles per week are you running?

            Chuck1945


              After the bike wreck, I have biked some and enjoy it while I am riding, but the mojo is gone, it is much more difficult to actually get going on a bike. I can plan to ride for example tomorrow morning, but in the morning I will think of several other things to do instead.

               

              My current milage is 15-20 miles/week depending whether it is a 3 run week or 4 run week (alternating weeks) with current distances being 3.5 miles (at HM pace) 5-6 miles, and 7-8 miles,, both at slower paces. My plan had been to add a mile to the longest run each month and increase the shorter ones proportionately.

               

              Tomorrow morning my schedule is to run my neighborhood loop at HM pace, extending the distance to 4 miles, then Saturday will be a 8 mile slower long run. From what I am reading here, I should cut back on the planned distance increases in the HM pace run, and increase the distances for the slower runs with a HM pace mile or two tossed in the longer ones (just not every time).

              Cyberic


                Most of us run on a 7 day schedule because it is more adapted to our work and family schedules. At 70 years old, maybe you're retired. If so, maybe you can run on a 12 day schedule, 6 runs, one every other day. Or a 10 day schedule. Then the plan might make more sense to you.

                In the 6 runs, I'd have 1 long run, one run at faster than target half marathon pace, and one run at half marathon pace. Those three would be your workouts. The other three runs would be easy running; quality time on your feet, great for the aerobic system, great for slowly building joint and tendon strength, with less risk of injury.

                 

                It could look something like this:

                 

                1- fast workout day: 1 to 1.5 mile warmup (easy pace). Then alternate between fast (faster than HMP) running and slow jogs for 1 to 1.5 miles total (the jogs can be walks, or complete stops, but usually it's better to keep moving). You can alternate in different patterns (2 minutes faster, 2 minutes jog or whatever you feel comfortable with). After that, finish up with a cooldown of 1 to 1.5 miles at easy pace. Here you're teaching your body to run faster. Good for the biomechanics.

                 

                2- A few miles at easy pace

                 

                3- HMP workout day: 1 to 1.5 mile warmup (easy pace). A couple of mile at HMP, you can split it up in 2-3 parts with a short break in between.  Then a 1 to 1.5 miles cooldown (easy pace). Here, you're integrating race pace in your muscle memory.

                 

                4 - A few miles at easy pace

                 

                5 - Long run. No need to describe it too much, the name says it all. The pace should be easy, but not too easy.  It's a workout day. But it's still much slower than HMP. Here, you're building endurance to running for longer.

                 

                6- A few miles at easy pace

                 

                Basically I agree with the advice that Milktruck gave you, and what NHLA said too: Most of the running I suggest is at easy pace. Some at HMP, and some at faster than HMP.

                 

                I'm not saying you should go on a 12 day schedule, or a 10 day schedule, but I'm trying to bring to your attention that it is perfectly correct to do so. The important part (In My Humble Opinion) is to follow the principle of "run lots, mostly easy, sometimes hard".

                Chuck1945


                  Yes, I am retired so there is no particular reason to make Saturdays or Sundays the 'long slow run' day.

                   

                  OK, I see what you are suggesting. I was trying to set essentially a three run plan and rotate through doing one every other day. By looking at it as a longer process it makes more sense.

                   

                  When I started to get back, January was the first month I was confident my balance was pretty much back to normal (I took a couple of tumbles earlier that I blamed on uneven pavement but in retrospect it was really more of a balance issue related to the concussion) so I hammered more miles (80, compared to 40 in December) and then spent February trying recover and again only did about 40 miles. March was another 80 and April was a repeat of February culminating in walking the last mile of a planned 7.5 mile last training run before the Bloomsday 12K in Spokane on my 70th birthday that turned out to be the slowest time I have had in the 6 times I have run it. That's when I decided 4-5 runs /week was too much and I have maintained an every other day schedule during May and so far this month..

                  hog4life


                    There is lots of good advice here, and I too will chime in with some info based on my experience. I'm 54 and work a rotating swing shift, so my running days are always a challenge, especially working a 12 hour night shift.

                      I used to run 5/6 days per week when I wasn't working as many hours. But with needing my rest from working, I do better with my running at 4/5 days per week.

                     There are tons of plans out there that you could try to follow, and adapt to your run every other day approach. But, the advice given here should be doable for you. Running an every other day schedule, I would look at it on a similar 2 week cycle like Cyber suggested.

                     

                    Mon - 4-5 miles with 2-3 of them hard(tempo, HM pace + 15-20 seconds on the hard miles)

                    Tues - rest

                    Wed - 4-6 miles easy(slower than HM pace by 1+ minute per mile)

                    Thur - rest

                    Fri - 7-8 long easy pace(slower then HM pace by 1:30 + minute per mile)

                    Sat - rest

                    Sun - 4-6 easy(slower than HM pace by 1+ minute per mile) 

                    Mon - rest

                    Tues - 4-5 miles with 2-3 of them hard(intervals, start with 400's, then 800's, then 1 mile repeats at HM pace -15-20 seconds)

                    Wed - rest

                    Thur - 4-6 easy(slower than HM pace)

                    Fri - rest

                    Sat - 7-8 long easy miles(Slower then HM pace 1:30+)

                    Sun - rest

                     

                    First week is 19 miles

                    Second week is 25 miles

                     

                    Run this 2 week cycle 5 times for 10 full weeks before your half, or even 6 times. I would try to add a few miles to the workouts as you progress through the 2 week cycles, maybe hitting a peak of 24-26 miles for first week, and 32-35 miles for the second week. Try to get your long runs up to 10-12 miles; these should be easy for the time on feet and endurance. Try to get the tempo runs up to where you do 5-8 miles close to HM pace. IMO, longer tempo runs, and the long runs(time on feet), are the 2 most important workouts to hitting a goal pace on race day, but these need to be backed up by the easy miles so you have a solid base.

                     Just my two cents, good luck.

                     

                    Mitch