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first half marathon-- 7 months to train (Read 471 times)

onefatchick


    New here.

    A little bit about myself.  Female, 57 years old.     30+ years ago I did some running  while training for a local triathlon (Olympic distance so was training for 10K run; ran approx. 25 miles/week if I recall).  I gave that up after two years (and proceeded to nearly ruin my health and life thanks to a drinking problem for those intervening years) and did zilch running/biking/swimming for the next 30 years. Kicked the drinking habit 14 years ago and have slowly recovered my life and health.  2 and 1/2 years ago I decided to start running again.  Why?  I have no idea; I guess I enjoyed it 30 years ago and decided to give it a go again.  The past 2 1/2 years I have gone from not being to able complete one mile without stopping/walking to now running 5-6 miles (no walking) approx. 4 times per week at average 8:30/mile (averaging 20-25 miles/week).  I have done a couple of 5K races with best time of 23:56 (7:44/mile) and one  quarter marathon with a time of 54:28 (8:19/mile).  I recently decided to sign up for a local half marathon that is taking place next spring so I have 7 months to work up to the longer distance.  My question to you good folks here is, what is the best way to go about this?  Would you add a few miles each week by adding in an extra day or two of running or would you keep the number of days and slowly increase the distance of each run?  Would you back off the miles run on two days each week and then add miles to one day to make a "long" run?  What would  be an "ideal" amount of mileage to run each week (is there an "ideal"?).  What should my "long" day be in terms of mileage?

    Thanks!!

    DennisF6


      The main thing I want to say to you, besides that you are pretty fast for a 57 year old woman just getting back in to running, is to run most of your training miles slower.  It sounds like you train at pretty close to your 10K race pace.  Easy training runs should be at least a minute/mile slower, probably more.  If you are increasing mileage I would be hesitant to have any runs that are not easy paced.  However, others will say you should have 1 to 2 days per week of faster runs and the rest easy.  Pretty much everyone will agree that most miles should be easy paced.

       

      You could probably finish a half marathon today.  If you want to do it in a time that better reflects your potential then the main thing you can do is to slowly add more miles.  I'd do it with a 5th day of running but you could still stick to 4 as long as the mileage keeps going up. The general guideline is to add no more than 10%/week and have a step back week every 3rd or 4th week were you reduce mileage for that week.  One of the days should be a long run. Work up to at least a 10 mile long run.  13 would be even better.

       

      There is no such thing as an "ideal" weekly mileage.  More miles = faster racing.  You do reach some diminishing returns at some point.  That point will vary tremendously by person but roughly 50 - 70 miles per week will get the average person pretty close to their potential.  More than that and your times will improve some, but not as much as it improved getting to that point.  Plus, for most of us the risk of injury will go up considerably with higher mileage.

       

      The one line summary of good training goes something like:  Run more, mostly easy, some faster.

      LedLincoln


      not bad for mile 25

        There are lots of good half training plans out there, and I'm sure you'll get good recommendations in this thread.  What jumps out at me is your training runs are pretty darn speedy (for someone almost my age!).  You might consider backing off the pace in most of your training runs so you can gradually increase the number of miles & days per week without injury.

         

        MTA: Dennis beat me to it!

          There are lots of good half training plans out there, and I'm sure you'll get good recommendations in this thread. 

           

          Higdon plans

          Not known to be the greatest for experienced runners, but a good start, if nothing else to give you ideas. And free.

          You have enough base that you may be able to bypass his Novice plans & go straight to Intermediate or Advanced.

          And +1 to Dennis's first line - you should be scooping up AG awards right and left.

          Dave

            To help give you an idea....

             

            I ran my first half marathon off a base of 20 miles per week, with a peak week of 27 miles.  My training pace was about 10 to 11 MPM, my fastest 10 mile run at 10 MPM.  I tried a 13 mile long run, and had to walk the last two miles.  I ran the half in 1:57, and was stiff and sore for a week afterward.  That was at 51 years old.

             

            I ran my second half a year later off a base of 30 MPW.  I finished 3 minutes faster, and was stiff for a day afterward.

             

            Miles per week is the secret.  Run slow so as to be able to run more miles and so as to not beat yourself up.  Save that (beating yourself up) for the race.

              I think you should change your username to "onefastchick". Smile

              onefatchick


                Thanks everyone for your input.


                Seems everyone agrees the best way to approach this is slow down and
                slowly add mileage.  The addition of 10% mileage/week initially sounded
                pretty conservative to me, but when I add up the miles each week it seems
                almost impossible to me to add that much that quickly!!  I would be going
                from ~20-25 miles/week now to ~ 50 miles/week by the end of the
                December/middle January.  Is that really possible??    Maybe I'm not
                figuring the mileage correctly?  If I start at 20 miles/week and then add
                10% next week I'd add 2.0 miles to the 20 (weekly total 22).  The
                following week I would add 2.2 (weekly total 24.2) the following week add
                2.42 (weekly total 26.62) Fourth week add 2.66 miles (weekly total 29.28).
                Take a break and drop mileage down for a week and then start building
                again.  Question here:  do you start back where you left off the week
                before? Sixth week add 2.92 (weekly total 32.2).   and so on for the next
                6 weeks.  Is this right?  It just sounds overwhelming to me;  but maybe if
                I slow down most of my runs it won't be too difficult???


                Thanks!


                Latent Runner

                  It's amazing what slowing down can yield.  Said another way, slowing down and doubling your mileage is not only doable, I strongly suspect, given your base, that you could double your weekly mileage in only six to eight weeks.

                   

                  FWIW, you and I are the same age and run 5Ks at about the same pace, and last year I bumped my weekly mileage from less than 20 to over 50 in six weeks.  That said, I did it on dirt so my body had to deal with far less pounding than folks who run on pavement.

                   

                  Good luck and keep us posted.

                  Fat old man PRs:

                  • 1-mile (point to point, gravity assist): 5:50
                  • 2-mile: 13:49
                  • 5K (gravity assist last mile): 21:31
                  • 5-Mile: 37:24
                  • 10K (first 10K of my Half Marathon): 48:16
                  • 10-Mile (first 10 miles of my Half Marathon): 1:17:40
                  • Half Marathon: 1:42:13
                  JPF


                    Thanks everyone for your input.


                    Seems everyone agrees the best way to approach this is slow down and
                    slowly add mileage.  The addition of 10% mileage/week initially sounded
                    pretty conservative to me, but when I add up the miles each week it seems
                    almost impossible to me to add that much that quickly!!  I would be going
                    from ~20-25 miles/week now to ~ 50 miles/week by the end of the
                    December/middle January.  Is that really possible??    Maybe I'm not
                    figuring the mileage correctly?  If I start at 20 miles/week and then add
                    10% next week I'd add 2.0 miles to the 20 (weekly total 22).  The
                    following week I would add 2.2 (weekly total 24.2) the following week add
                    2.42 (weekly total 26.62) Fourth week add 2.66 miles (weekly total 29.28).
                    Take a break and drop mileage down for a week and then start building
                    again.  Question here:  do you start back where you left off the week
                    before? Sixth week add 2.92 (weekly total 32.2).   and so on for the next
                    6 weeks.  Is this right?  It just sounds overwhelming to me;  but maybe if
                    I slow down most of my runs it won't be too difficult???


                    Thanks!

                    I feel that a method of plateauing works well in a mileage buildup.  So you build for a bit, then level off for a few weeks or even months and let your body get used to it.  Jack Daniels, a very well-respected coach, suggests adding mileage no more often than every three weeks.  When you do add, he recommends no more than one mile per week for every running session you do.  So if you run five times a week, you can add five miles per week after you've done three weeks at the prior level.  I've done this and it works pretty well, if a bit more conservative than some people would go.

                    onefatchick


                      I think adding a couple of miles a week and then giving myself a couple of weeks to adjust before adding more miles will probably work best for me.  I do plan to slow the pace as I increase the weekly mileage; one thing I do not want to do is injure myself.  I plan to add one extra day a week of running (at least for now)  so I'd be running a minimum of five days a week and try to build it so I'm running ~50 miles/week with a weekly long run of 13 miles by late January/early February. The race isn't till early May,  so I think this loosely constructed plan gives me plenty of time to get to where I need to be in terms of "racing" and not just finishing.  This year the time to beat in my age group was a 1:49. (8:23/mile)  I have the speed, I just need the endurance.

                      Thanks all for your input!

                        I think you should change your username to "onefastchick". Smile

                        +1

                          I think adding a couple of miles a week and then giving myself a couple of weeks to adjust before adding more miles will probably work best for me.  I do plan to slow the pace as I increase the weekly mileage; one thing I do not want to do is injure myself.  I plan to add one extra day a week of running (at least for now)  so I'd be running a minimum of five days a week and try to build it so I'm running ~50 miles/week with a weekly long run of 13 miles by late January/early February. The race isn't till early May,  so I think this loosely constructed plan gives me plenty of time to get to where I need to be in terms of "racing" and not just finishing.  This year the time to beat in my age group was a 1:49. (8:23/mile)  I have the speed, I just need the endurance.

                          Thanks all for your input!

                           

                          First, congrats for what you have accomplished RE: life and health recovery.  It conveys discipline and dedication.  Everyone has had great advice.  On paper, there are many HM training plans but you know your body the best.  It sounds like you have a very realistic and reasonable plan for the next 7 months.  I prefer HM & 25k trail distances and tend to follow and/or modify the Galloway 'run/walk/run' which has worked for me.  I agree with the reply that you could easily run and finish a HM but I understand our competitive spirit (at our age?!?) to go for the goal to race for a PR ......you do have the speed (awesome, BTW!!).  You'd kick my butt!   Being in your AG, I totally get the cautionary training so to avoid injury.  I do find the delicate balance of 'reaching the peak' too early and 'burning out' before the event.  That's just me.  I wish you the best and really hope you keep us posted on your training.  I know you will rock the HM in May!!

                          onefatchick


                            I will definitely post here occasionally and let you all know how the training is going.  Sure appreciate all the help here!!

                              From my own experiences and what I have learned from RA, you can try: If you can, increase 5 days / week, one interval, one tempo, the other 3 days, including the long run, easy pace for recovery. You should feel constantly slightly tired but be able to increase your mileage gradually without an injury. That is a good indication that you are steadily improving.

                               

                              Here is a sample of my half marathon training in April for May's race. Please don't pay attention to my rapid mileage ramp-up. I decided very late to run the race and I had only 7 weeks to train from my regular 10 miles / week. I paid the price after the race. I got a foot injury during my post-race recovery.

                               

                              5k - 20:56 (09/12), 7k - 28:40 (11/12), 10k trial - 43:08  (03/13), 42:05 (05/13), FM - 3:09:28 (05/13), HM - 1:28:20 (05/14), Failed 10K trial - 6:10/mi for 4mi (08/14), FM - 3:03 (09/14)

                              minhg


                                can't add much beyond other input.  you run at about my pace for the shorter distances and i run my half just under 2 hours now.  i think you could go out and run a half today and finish it at 9:00-9:30 pace.

                                 

                                arm-chair psychologist suggests that you work up to a run of 13-15 miles in training, you have the speed but need to over-come the psychological bit of running the extra 3-4 miles at the end.  if you need a structured plan, you can use any of the intermediate/advanced training plans.  with 7 months to train you can run 2 of them and get to a 8:00-8:30 pace half.  but try and get your first half in as soon as your comfortable, part of it is the psychological of just getting your first one under your belt so you can understand how your body reacts to the distance.

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