While I'm reviewing training plans for my first marathon in November, it seems that a half marathon race is part of training plan for a full marathon. Approximately 4 weeks out from the date of marathon. Now, should I take that recommendation with a grain of salt since it's my first marathon and just focus on a training run that distance instead, or participate in a HM to judge my fitness and guestimate my finishing time for the marathon?
I've run three HMs but my concern is that I would get caught up with the excitement on HM race day and try to race instead of just running it.
Fellow forumites, what are you thoughts?
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” - T.S. Eliot
Hmm, I would say that if you might end up racing it, 4 weeks out could be a bit too close to the full, depending on how well you recover.
6-7 weeks might be better, since banging out 13.1 miles considerably faster than MP induces some wear and tear.
I used to do HMs as part of my marathon training, but now I prefer 10ks (I save the HMs as part of my recoveries. haha) The reason for the 10ks is that I can recover more quickly after racing them and get back into regular training the day after the race. After a hard HM, my legs are sore for 4-5 days. But if there was a HM that was really appealing to me, 5 weeks before goal race day, I'd do it.
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
Are we there, yet?
Generally if it is included in your plan, it's intended to be raced to give you a better assessment of your fitness and help you select a goal race pace. I think most plans assume you have some race experience so running onoe jus tto get familiar with what race day is like doesn't hold water. I've always raced something 2-4 weeks out even though I've usually had a good idea of my fitness and what I should be able to run. I do that more for being sure I'm race ready and have a race mentality. I also like to race and often race every 2-3 weeks during training when I can fit it in. Most people would be shocked to see my race schedule leading up to some of my marathons.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
Bozy, thanks for posting this. I am actually going to follow this because I am about to run my first full in December. I actually want to do 3 HM's leading up to mine, and I'm not sure which half to race. I like Shirfan's idea about the recovery time being a factor.
Here in the Big Mitten, one of our most popular half marathons, The Brooksie Way, is strategically scheduled three weeks before the Detroit Free Press marathon for that very reason. Another, Romeo 2 Richmond, is scheduled five weeks out.
When I ran my first marathon however, I did not want to race another event while training for it. I was injured for my second marathon so running a tune-up half marathon was out of the question.
For my third however, I am looking forward to racing an all out half marathon before the big 26 2.
You could always do a tempo or marathon pace run instead that weekend if you do not want to risk injury as I did.
Mostly harmless
For me, running a HM 4 weeks out would be perfect if I was able to stay disciplined and run it at marathon pace. You could do a mile or two before and after the race at slow pace so you would get in 16 miles with 13.1 at MP. You get to practice running at your goal MP in a race environment. That sounds like the perfect run four weeks out. Plus you get a medal at the end.
"It doesn’t matter how often you do it or how much you accomplish, in general, not running is a lot easier than running." - Meb Keflezighi
I have never understood the point of racing a half marathon 4 weeks out. It just doesn't make sense. If all you want to do is run 13 miles at marathon pace, then save yourself an entry fee and go run 13 miles at marathon pace. The point of a race in the middle of training is to discover your strengths and weaknesses so that you can make any needed changes to your training plan. However, if you race a half marathon all out, it will take you anywhere from 10-14 days to recover. Then, you're into your marathon taper and even if you weren't, you are far too close to the marathon for any changes you make to your training plan to make a difference. If you race one all out about 8 weeks out though, you can recover for two weeks and then have another 4 weeks of modified training based on your half marathon results followed by a two week taper. That makes perfect sense.
BTW, I'm running the Charleston Distance Run which is a 15 mile race about 9 or 10 weeks before my next marathon and I'm planning to race it all out. The timing is perfect.
Short term goal: 17:59 5K
Mid term goal: 2:54:59 marathon
Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).
I have never understood the point of racing a half marathon 4 weeks out. It just doesn't make sense. If all you want to do is run 13 miles at marathon pace, then save yourself an entry fee and go run 13 miles at marathon pace. The point of a race in the middle of training is to discover your strengths and weaknesses so that you can make any needed changes to your training plan. However, if you race a half marathon all out, it will take you anywhere from 10-14 days to recover. Then, you're into your marathon taper and even if you weren't, you are far too close to the marathon for any changes you make to your training plan to make a difference. If you race one all out about 8 weeks out though, you can recover for two weeks and then have another 4 weeks of modified training based on your half marathon results followed by a two week taper. That makes perfect sense. BTW, I'm running the Charleston Distance Run which is a 15 mile race about 9 or 10 weeks before my next marathon and I'm planning to race it all out. The timing is perfect.
I wouldn't recommend racing one all out, but as I described above, running one as a dress rehearsal for a goal marathon four weeks out makes perfect sense. Bozydeco doesn't specify what pace his training plan has him running the HM. I would be interested to see what the plan says.
I have never understood the point of racing a half marathon 4 weeks out. It just doesn't make sense. If all you want to do is run 13 miles at marathon pace, then save yourself an entry fee and go run 13 miles at marathon pace. The point of a race in the middle of training is to discover your strengths and weaknesses so that you can make any needed changes to your training plan.
It is used as a dress rehearsal for some, a chance to try gels, practice consuming fluids in-race, pre-race meals etc. While I personally would not run a half marathon at marathon pace, many people do just that, for whatever reason.
As for discovering strengths and weaknesses during marathon training, if one does not know that four weeks out from their marathon, then they have bigger problems than running (jogging, racing or otherwise) a half marathon going into their taper.
It's not always obvious. Are you weak in your speed, or your stamina, or your endurance? Are you particularly strong in one area at the expense of another? The reality is that in marathon training, you'll probably be weaker in your speed and that's OK but you need to be strong in both stamina and endurance. Hard training induces enough fatigue that it's not always clear what you need to focus on during your last few weeks of training. Of course you can always use a canned plan and swear, "but it's Pfitizinger (or Daniels) and he knows what he's doing much better than I do." While that's correct, it is also correct that he didn't design that plan with your strengths and weaknesses in mind.
I would agree that if you don't know your strengths and weaknesses four weeks out, you have a big problem.
It's not always obvious. Are you weak in your speed, or your stamina, or your endurance?
I would add mental strength (or weakness as it were) to that query, especially where the marathon is concerned. No, it doesn't make up for deficiencies in the other areas, but it certainly can keep one from falling completely apart when the going gets tough.
I appreciate the diversity of opinion from everyone. Exactly what I was looking for in a response. I'll probably select a HM or 10M farther out than 4 weeks so I do not risk inadequate recovery for a first marathon.
Earlier in the training plan a race can be used to determine needed adjustments in training, but 4 weeks out it's an assessment to help determine goal pace. You aren't using it for anything other than planning race day strategy. It's actually a good lead-in to the taper. At that point you are well beyond base building (I can't understand why so many plans insist on still including 20-mile runs in the last month). A hard effort with a short recovery working back to normal training levels, then a 2 week taper works very well.
Case in point: I ran a HM two months prior to a marathon. I modified my training and ran a series of shorter races at sub-maximal efforts except a 5K to hone my speed. Three weeks prior to the marathon I raced a 10M which indicated I should be able to run about 5 minutes faster than the HM had predicted. I was very close to what the 10M had predicted.
Squidward Bike Rider
Everyone's different, but when I trained for my last marathon 2 years ago, I actually ran my tune-up half only 2 weeks before. Part of the issue was that my original half that I was supposed to run 4 weeks before ended up being cut down to 9.55 miles due to flooding, so that wasn't satisfactory to me. (Plus, this was my local half that I can't help but support every year.)
I also thought the point of running a half prior was to help gauge what your goal time should be for the full. I personally used the calculation of half marathon time doubled and add 20 minutes, and it came out pretty close for me (1:57 for the half, 4:18 for the full).