So it's been 4 years since I bumped my mileage from under 1000/ year to over 1500/year. I have been doing a spring and fall halfs. I have 1 PR to show for this (half 2:05:41 in April 2015).
Is there logic to focusing on shorter races for a while? My 5k PR is 25:37 from November 2012 and 10k is 55:01 from September 2013. My thinking is how the f can I expect to run a half faster if I can't run a shorter distance faster (the 5k PR is from a 600 mile year).
Increasing mileage is not a viable option. I'll spare you the list of female issues when I go over 7 hours per week of running. Plus, there is zero personal data to support it is benefitting me.
Are we there, yet?
Yes, though the yearly mileage may not change much. The shift in balance between speed work and distance will shift the training stress to different areas and you'll get a different response. Do a quick review of a Lydiard based periodic training schedule. This would be like moving from base building to strength and speed phases. The timing is great for some possible PR 5K races in November and December, then you could shift back to base building for the rest of the winter.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
When you do your half marathon training do you include work at 5k pace and faster?
Yes. When i look at the Hudson's 5 or 10k plans, there is definitely more faster work than the half plans.
I'll share my opinion, based on very little experience.
Given how the race time calculators are programmed, there is a correlation between the shorter race distance times and the longer distance times. So training for shorter distances should be beneficial for HMs, and the other way around.
Periodic training schedule, as suggested by wcrunner2, makes a lot of sense as you body will have to adapt to different kinds of stress over the year.
I might focus my training towards running faster for a couple of months this winter. Hopefully gain some added strength and flexibility in my stride.
So yeah, if you feel like you're not improving with what you're doing right now, why not try something else!
I 5k trained once. I think it helped me. I also think it's good to switch things up. And to do what's hard for you. For me that is the short fast stuff.
I actually find shorter, faster stuff way easier than lots of time at HM or M pace.
From the Internet.
Definitely can be worth it. Especially if you like the shorter stuff and feel like you've stalled out on the HM for now, it can be mentally refreshing to do something different.
oh I am all about the moderate pace stuff - hmp to MP and struggle to accelerate for short junk
this is me too
I am the opposite. My best results came from periodized training; high intensity moderate volume in the spring, moderate intensity moderate volume in the summer, moderate intensity high volume in the fall, easy, easy, easy during the winter.
Any time I've tried to carry volume it ends in disaster, so I exercise discretion when deciding to train long. Ditto intensity, I dial it back a couple times a year for that reason.
Not everyone has that problem though, so one just has to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em.
Cyberic, I haven't found much correlation between shorter and longer races with the calculators. Basically, when I ran the faster 5k and 10ks, my half times we in the low 2:10s. When I ran the few good halfs in 2015 and 2016, my 5k was a good minute or more slower.
WCRunner, yea, I wasn't planning on reducing miles, just adding in more harder running.
LRB, through trial and error I've found all easy miles and more volume does nothing positive for me.
What I meant is that if you put in a faster 5K time, the "race predictors" will give you a faster estimated HM time. And if you pit in a faster HM time, it will estimate a faster 5K time.
I'm training for marathons, and my 10K race time has improved proportionnally.
Obviously you haven't had the same experience. I can't really comment on why that is.
You could say, how can you expect to run a shorter distance faster if you can't run a half faster?
But yes, I vote to switch it up. Because variety and new goals keep you energized, 5k/10k's can be raced more frequently, and setting PRs is fun. Maybe it will improve your half times, maybe it won't, but those are all good enough reasons anyway.
Dave
Hmm, it could be the makeup of the runner; those who thrive at middle distance, don't always do as well at distance. While those who can carry a pace seemingly till infinity, for whatever reason have trouble holding a faster pace for a shorter distance.
Some people get faster by working on speed, while others run more miles. There are some who can do both, and a few who have to choose between the two.
There is also the possibility that one has plateaued or is suffering from over-training, which is something we don't talk about much around these parts. In that case, maybe the answer is to back off high intensity all together, and just run easy and let the body reset its systems?