Half Marathon Trainers

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HM Training and Objectives (Read 339 times)

Regina


    What are your objectives and how do you train for your next HM(s)? My first one this year will be in Gorizia (Italy) on March, 11th. This was the first HM I ever run two years ago, about 8 months after starting my training. And I ran my PR of 1:58:32 there last year, although the course is not completely flat! This year I definitely want to beat this record Yes !!! Then I want to run also the "Maratonina dei due Castelli" HM in Trieste - the city where I live now - on May 6th. It will have a new course and should be more fast this year. So I can go for a better time also here ... I will also do a couple of shorter distance races starting from February, but the timescale for those is not yet decided. I plan my training in the following way: I have started already to increase my weekly mileage to about 60 km/week currently. I will go on during the next weeks until I reach 75 km/wk and hope to stay on this level until I start tapering for Gorizia. More is definitely not possible for me with job and family ... During the next two weeks I will - more or less - only do easy running. After that I will restart doing also some speed work (tempo runs and 400 m reps, later also intervals of 1k or 2k). I plan to extend one long run to larger distances than HM. I started with 18 km last week, will do that 3 times, increase then by 3 km and so on. In this way I hope to see whether I will be able to run my first marathon in fall ... If I manage I will also have a second long run of 16 km in the week. The other runs will be easy and between 8 km and 12 km. One of the will be on gras, as the first races in February/March are usually off-road. Most of my training courses are rather hilly.
      My HM is in May, but I'm already increasing mileage because I'm starting fresh. I increase one or two miles, but if I do two miles then I stay there for a couple of weeks. I'll also take one long run a week and skip it for a shorter run. I run 4x/week, one day intervals like mile repeats, the other tempo with added easy miles before and after, and two days of easy running short and long. Right now in Wisconsin it's pretty cold, so I only do one run a week outside, but by March I will start doing more running outside. I also strength train 3x/week. I am working up to 50 repetitions with stuff like hammer curls, hamstring lifts, and core work. I don't know if this will directly help but it helps me focus on my breathing not my tired muscles! When my mileage gets really heavy, I'll only do 2 lighter sessions. My objective is just to finish, first time! Smile
      Kate ;) "The pain of regret is greater than the pain of self discipline."
        Runkaterun, Which HM are you runing in May? I am attempting to run the Indy 500 Festival on May 5th

        To paraphrase an old poster: Today is the first day of the rest of your training. It doesn’t matter where you started or how far you’ve come. Today is the day. Your training didn’t start 6 weeks ago. Your training started the last time you hit the road. John “the Penguin” Bingham Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire

          Green Bay Half Marathon, last lap in Lambeau Field! I did the 5k last year, it was a lot of fun.
          Kate ;) "The pain of regret is greater than the pain of self discipline."
            The Indy 500 Festival Min has 2.5 miles on the Indianapolis 500 Speedway track. You get your second widn crossing the Yard of Bricks!! Not many people get to reach down and touch the most famous of all Start Finish lLines!!

            To paraphrase an old poster: Today is the first day of the rest of your training. It doesn’t matter where you started or how far you’ve come. Today is the day. Your training didn’t start 6 weeks ago. Your training started the last time you hit the road. John “the Penguin” Bingham Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire

              Anyone doing the Flying Pig HM in Cincinnati?
              Cincinnati Flying Pig May 4
              thmmpr


                Yeah, I am running the Flying Pig HM in May. It will be my first HM. Ran the 15k Heart Mini in Cinci this past weekend. Should be fun. Would like to come in under 2 hours if possible, but some tough hills, I am just not sure.
                Regina


                  In the meantime I have run my first HM of this year - in the beginning of March in Gorizia. I didn't manage to beat my personal best or to to finish in under 2 hours as I wanted Roll eyes But things don't always go as you plan ... Already my training before the race had not been ideal. I got sick in February and missed thus some of my long runs. Then the course of the race was new and more challenging as compared to last year - indeed most people I talked to told me that they had missed their times of last year by some minutes ... But the worst: It became hot just that day. And I really don't like hot weather for running!!! In particular I cannot adapt to it from one moment to the next - usually I need two or three weeks. I had no problems in the beginning, started the race well, and felt comfortable with my pace. I had also no problems with the hills, as long as I could run mainly in the shadow and not under the sun. But everything changed after we crossed the border to Slovenia near km 13 or 14. Now the course was always straight, no trees, no buildings, no shadow at all - and the sun was already high. I could feel how I became always more cooked Dead - I was completely red in my face for some days afterwards. I became always more slow, too... And we had even to run back on the same course!! I was really happy when we finally came back to Italy. At least some shadow here - and only 1 km left to go! In the end I finished in 2:01:39. Not really good and not really bad - nothing special, but o.k. Now I'm preparing the next one on May 6th. Will also still do some shorter races before. The training is going well for the moment. And I've still that personal record to beat!!!