Forums >General Running>Possible to be competitive/PR with this arrangement?
I am shooting to do the Houston Marathon this January. I have half marathon scheduled that I would like to do a month later that I would like to be somewhat competitive in. I haven't signed up for either because I don't want to sabotage myself for the Feb race. Has anyone hit a HM a month after a Marathon and had little drop off?
Consistently Slow
3 - 4 weeks apart should not be a problem.
Run until the trail runs out.
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an amazing likeness
With gap of a month, you should be fine. The training for the full will set you up for a great HM result, and the couple slow, easy weeks after the full will not cost you fitness for the half.
On the other hand, if you really want to run a great HM, find one about 3 weeks before your full and put your training for the full to great use in hammering out a fantastic half.
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I've never tried but I think if I raced a marathon all out, there would be no chance I could PR at the half marathon 4 weeks later.
As always, ymmv.
Runners run
I ran my second fastest marathon (3:01:20) a week after I ran my marathon PR (2:59:50). The second marathon was a tougher course than the first. But I have often been told that I don't race hard enough and I am sure that that assessment is true.
So I am evidence that it is possible to run two personally fast long distances within four weeks but I don't race all out.
I've never tried but I think if I raced a marathon all out, there would be no chance I could PR at the half marathon 4 weeks later. As always, ymmv.
Agree completely. I've never tried it either and if the HM was important to me I wouldn't even consider racing that marathon. I might jog it with a little quality thrown in somewhere during the race but then why pay the money for a training run?
Feeling the growl again
There's a big personal component to this, but personally if I run a hard marathon I can't resume anything resembling real training for 2 weeks. So that leaves one week to really train before starting to cut back for the HM.
A HM 4-5 weeks before a full is ideal. The other way around, not so much. I could see running a good 5K that long after a marathon, but not a half. I'm sure you will do OK but probably not quite what you could if you didn't do the marathon\
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There is another HM in my area that I could do about 5-6 weeks beforehand. I might just go with that based on you guy's feedback. I don't really race a whole lot throughout the year normally, but my schedule is going to be a lot more free from now on.
I ran my marathon PR in March and then ran a 10 miler 3 weeks later. Not exactly the same, but close. If you plug my marathon time into McMillan, I ran a good time. But, it was 35 seconds slower than my PR set about 6 months earlier leading up to the NYC Marathon. My legs were dead. I started off strong but faded. But, that could also be poor race strategy and windy conditions.
I'm kinda curious though... what's your ultimate goal in all of this? Are you trying to figure out the best way to get a marathon and half PR around the same time? If so, then yes, I would do the half first. In recent years, my half (and 10 Miler) PRs have all been set in the month or so leading up my goal marathon.
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There's a HM that I do every year in Feb that I enjoy doing. A group of people I run with do the Houston Marathon and I thought it would be nice to do it with them along with doing my first Marathon. I have a goal assigned to each race, but they just happened to fall right by each other. Now going to do a HM early in December instead of the one in Feb, I think.
Yeah, I would shoot for a half PR in December, marathon PR in January, and run the race I like in February knowing it probably won't be a PR. It's hard for me to skip running my favorite races altogether.
+1. Agreed. Heck, I ran a PR speed short race 2 weeks after doing a 24-hour race, so full recovery can happen fast.
I think it depends on the person though and how fast they recover, but for most folks, 3-4 weeks is plenty of time for a full recovery, with all the training put into the first race benefiting the second race.
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I agree with Mikey & Spaniel. If I've raced a marathon on the very edge, no way could I race my best in a half 4 weeks later. However, if I've backed off in the marathon for some reason (slowed for weather, run as a long training run), I'd be ready.
It the half is a month before the marathon - I could definitely race both well.
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
2 weeks after my 1'st successful BQ attempt I raced a 5k that was sort of okay, and the next day a half that was an abject effing disaster. I couldn't even hold the pace I'd just run in the marathon 2 weeks prior. I imagine with 2 more weeks it might have been a little better, but probably not much. I'd pick the half beforehand, no question.
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I know a locally-competitive guy who ran his marathon PR a month after winning a 100 miler, and he ran another race in between. He also won a 50k a few weeks before the 100 miler. Seemed like the more he raced the better he raced.