Forums >Running 101>Question for the smart peeps about half training!
Some quick background, I did a 50K on October 2nd. I took 2 easy weeks and now I plan to do the Gar Williams Half on December 11th.
Any suggestions on what type of workouts to do? I'm thinking one tempo run and one interval run each week, or is that too much?
Thanks, Mark
Congrats on the 50K finish. That's provided a great endurance base. I think it is safe to skip the long runs, or do at most one or two in November. Keep in mind that your body is still recovering from the 50K. Think of the next several weeks as the beginning of the training cycle for a full marathon about 16 weeks out, where you race a half at the halfway point in the plan.
Most of us lose speed when training for and running ultras. So focus on running faster than longer. I like the idea of doing 1 run a week which includes a few miles (i.e. start at 3 and build to 6) at expected half marathon pace, which combines tempo with building efficiency at target race pace. Pretty much straight outta Hanson's and Pfitz.
That leaves speedwork. Everyone has their own ideas on that. I do best with 3-6 minutes at 10K pace with 2-4 minutes jogging in between, for around 20-25 minutes of total volume at fast pace. Things like 6x 800, 5x 1000, 4x 1200. I did a round of that over the summer and really saw some nice improvement.
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For half marathons, my focus is on two general types of quality workouts, one per week, and a long-ish run per week. I use 1mi x 5 or 6 at 10K effort w/3min intervals for 1 type of quality (the only logic here is to get comfortable holding effort and that's how many ints fit into my daily route), and 1/2mi at 5K effort with 3min intervals to work on leg speed as 1 type of quality, and 6-8mi tempo at 1/2 mar effort for the other quality. I rotate through these, 1 per week.(ish)
(reality is I do the intervals more than the tempo workout) I do mix in 6-8 at tempo inside a 10-11 longer to work on 1/2 mar effort.
Good? Who knows? It's what my log tells me happens when I "prep" (massive, exaggerated finger quotes around prep) for a 1/2 mar.
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For half marathons, my focus is on two general types of quality workouts, one per week, and a long-ish run per week. I use 1mi x 5 or 6 at 10K effort w/3min intervals for 1 type of quality (the only logic here is to get comfortable holding effort and that's how many ints fit into my daily route), and 1/2mi at 5K effort with 3min intervals to work on leg speed as 1 type of quality, and 6-8mi tempo at 1/2 mar effort for the other quality. I rotate through these, 1 per week.(ish) (reality is I do the intervals more than the tempo workout) I do mix in 6-8 at tempo inside a 10-11 longer to work on 1/2 mar effort. Good? Who knows? It's what my log tells me happens when I "prep" (massive, exaggerated finger quotes around prep) for a 1/2 mar.
This is solid advice.
Depending on your volume and conditioning, you can do the long run and either 1 or 2 additional workouts per week. Especially if you are doing only one additional, I'd consider either incorporating the tempo run into it or doing it as a fast finish run to build grit at the end of tired long runs.
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When I did these I did minutes instead of distance. Something like 10k effort 6 x 4 minutes, building up to 5 x 5 minutes then 4 x 6 as I got more fit. All with 90 second jogs in between. I figured that I was still running the same amount of time at pace but made it more challenging by reducing the amount of recovery. I always did my tempos by time too. 45 minutes worked for a half for me. For whatever reason doing these by time worked better for me.
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Some great advice, thanks everyone!