Paul in the Peaks
having achieved a stretch target of under 1hr 50 in my first half marathon I am about to start a 10 week plan to break 1hr 45 in my next.
8min miles over this distance feels difficult but I think achievable with right training
comments and advice gratefully received.
I love running - after the event...
Full: 3:59:26
Half 1:39
15k 1:17
10k 48:24
5k 22.18
Hi Paul,
I checked your log and I see some 5-6 miles Tempo runs at target half marathon pace, or a bit faster. How do you feel in those? Do you feel totally wasted, or could you go a bit further if you had to? From what I see in your log, it's a realistic target.
The advice I'm going to give you is all about adding some volume and a little more regularity:
I think you're already doing fine in the "workouts" department:
You can do it!
Thank you for such a considered response.
The tempo runs are hard and yes I could go a little further. The plan I was going to use is below (the headers have shifted left but you will get the drift).
Clearly this doesnt get even half way to 50 miles a week (I am hoping you may have meant 50km,,). Anywhow perhaps if i increase all of the numbers below by 10 - 20% that might be ok with my work/life balance.
I wont follow this religously each day but will try to even out something similar over each week.
The last two rows I have created to work out my race, tempo, slow paces etc.
I'm sorry about the 50 miles per week. I was thinking 50 K per week (I live in Canada) so it's 30 MPW I meant to say (forgot to convert). You had that right Since you're running 20 miles weeks right now, increasing to 50 would not be very good advice
One extra easy day per week would bring you close to 30 MPW. But from what I see, you're already following a plan. It looks like a balanced plan (although I never run "slow". I run 'easy") and you seem to want to stick to 4 days per week, which is perfectly fine. So yeah, increasing each run by 10-20% would make sense.
The tempos are supposed to be hard, but they shouldn't drain you totally. Just leave you tired. You're running them at race pace, and half the race distance.
So I'm not going to give you more advice as this plan was probably made by someone more knowledgeable than me. Maybe some others on this forum will give you comments and advice.
I wish you the best training and a succesful sub 1:45 half-marathon
Thank you for the response.
The plan is just one I have downloaded on the web and seems reasonable. I tried to work out the paces to give some correlation to the 1 hr 45 target. I would really like to get to 1 hr 30 mins in the very long term so learning how to improve is the key for me right now.
There are so many plans available but I am never quite sure how they fit. I do know that I could easily get stuck in the same pace:same distance repetition if not careful and I am not detailed enough to follow a rigid improvement plan.
So would you say a tempo run is race pace at a shorter distance or not? that s how I have planned it..I am not against runnig 5 days but find it hard to fit that in,
For the definition of Tempo, it depends on the author. For example, Jack Daniels has the tempo runs at near 10K pace. Whereas the Hansons' definition of a tempo run is at Marathon pace. Both the Hansons and Daniels are very succesful and knowledgeable coaches, and their plans make sense as a whole. Other authors may have different definitions.
On the running ahead forums, there's a saying: Run lots. Mostly easy. Sometimes fast.
Whatever the plan you choose, try to apply that philosophy.
And yes, I'm all for running 5 days. But I'm not saying you can't be succesful on 4. The 'Run lots' part is easier done with 5 days of running, that's all.
MTA: It's usually better to stick to one plan than try to mix many plans all in one. Again, not an absolute rule, just advice.
"Run lots. Mostly easy. Sometimes fast."
Like that alot! :-)
an amazing likeness
Those day's miles are gone, let 'em go....you can not make up for lost miles by stuffing in more miles.
Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.
shin splints....joy
shin splints went over night - very strange. Then went on hols and managed to run every other day but only for mileage sakes as it was very warm.
Now back and feeling ok, low on mileage and busy at work but determined to get back on track. I hour 45 is probably out of reach now, but lets see what the next few weeks go like.
Advice on making up ground welcomed as ever!
IMO, making up ground could lead to an injury. I would just pick up where I left off and not try to make up the miles.
Excellent advice.
Give yourself a few days of easy running to assess your current fitness (maybe that's already done) and start from there. Adjust your goals accordingly. You just got back from injury, now is the time to train conservatively for a little while, until you're pretty confident you're strong again.
its going ok, 24 miles in last week at easy pace and occasional hill and interval. Making sure I go easy for rest of day after run (shin problem started after run and 7 hours of rotavating ground preparing for lawn turf..)
half is three weeks away and a fast point to point trail, so will decide on target pace once I hit taper. That sound ok?
not the perfect build up but a pretty good last few weeks.