Disappointing Half-Marathon Time - need advice (Read 131 times)

Hi there, here are the facts:
30-40km per week
Was okay until 10k then started to fade
x-training is biking regularly
Orange theory (TM interval training, strength training, rowing)
running group speed work + tempo runs once a week
Long run 1.5 to 2h long

First and fore most, we have a forum here for half marathon training. I know the title says sub 1h30, but I don't think anybody ever enforced that limit, and the main purpose is to help each other out.

There's people there running 1h40, while others are running 1h14. The structure of training is very similar although the paces probably vary. See if you'd like to join and post your weeklies there,it's in the Racing forum.

https://www.runningahead.com/forums/topic/c54f423f3d064adb976620ccb4ff32a4/resume#focus

Here are some recommendations, things that might help you. See which of them make sense to incorporate in your training:

1 - Do not focus on caloric restriction to shed some weight. I've done that mistake earlier
this year, but in short, the issue is that you are either training under-fueled, or you
run into frequent bouts of colds, cause your immune system degrades.
Especially considering you're planning to increase mileage.
Let the weight come to you, eat sensibly (very little processed foods, junk, etc).
One thing that helped me a lot with the cravings was to introduce a protein source for breakfast.
I usually eat eggs, but sometimes roasted chicken as well. That helps tremendously with avoiding cravings.

2 - You will have to increase mileage, however very conservatively.
You can go sub 1h50 or even faster with some training similar to what you do, especially
with the fitness carried over from the previous training cycle.

3 - Go to Orange Theory twice a week for strength training. Drop rowing and TM intervals.
with regards to strength training, it will be the most important aspect of your new cycle.
You will need it to avoid injuries and to be able to successfully ramp up mileage.
Also, you will be training for a half marathon, so your focus will be on endurance strength,
so perhaps higher reps and lower weights. If there are PTs there they will be able to assist you.

4 - Cut back on cross training as much as possible, you can keep bicycling for fun.

5 - running group for intervals and tempos is okay, so long as you're training your paces, not theirs.
Variations of 12x400 or 6x1000 at 5k pace will be very helpful. I assume you can run a 5K
at or around 25 minutes.
Also tempos at HM pace, which is around 5:15/km in your case, 8:24/mile.
You can start with something simple as 2x2 miles and then increase up to 5-6 miles at HM pace.

6 - You could potentially use your long run for a tempo, adding a tempo block in the middle.
This could be nice in a week where you didn't run a tempo with the group.

7 - your weekly structure would be something like
1 day vo2max intervals
1 day tempo
1 long run
Others would be easy runs. If combining long run with tempo, then you've got an extra easy day.

I'd also add that there is a Half Marathon Trainers group, in addition to the discussion topic Flavio pointed to. Although the Half Marathon Trainers group has gotten a bit quiet as of late, its members are always open to discussions on training and running the half. YTD, we've had folks run HMs from 1:35 pace to 2:45 pace, so lots of varied experience.