My training for my fourth half marathon has become more like a formula than a set schedule. Circumstances (child-care) made it hard to do the exact runs scheduled in the Run Less, Run Faster plan I originally selected. I followed them strictly for the first month, and then started to use the principals from the training schedule as a basis for this formula:
1 interval workout a week, preferably with a mile warm up and a mile cool down and 3 miles of interval work.
1 medium intensity run a week, 3-5 miles
1 long run of 10 – 12 miles a week
1 spin class a week for cross training
1 extra run of low mileage and intensity if I can squeeze it in
My goal is to have at least 20 miles of running and one spin class a week whenever possible.
I’m having trouble predicting my target race pace. Some of my long runs go really well, and some go poorly. It’s been hard to figure out whether it’s the heat, or the time of day, or the intensity of my training on previous days… but I’m not running consistently well.
At times it feels as though I’ve made no improvement from where I was when I started in June, and at times it feels like I’m a whole new runner (like when I did my mile test and came in at 7:45!).
I do know this – I’m training more for this half marathon than I have my previous ones. All I can do is keep at it, the best I can, and trust that it will pay off. If it doesn’t, think about where I would be if I hadn’t trained this hard?
I’d love to train for a half marathon using a normal training plan someday… you know, one where you’re running more like 30 – 35 miles a week and doing 15 mile long runs and actually TRAINING FOR A HALF MARATHON.
I’m training to survive a half marathon, better than I’ve previously survived them. As far as I’ve come, I’m still very much a beginner, and I’m running mileage that would put me in a better position to race a 10k than a half marathon.
But I’m signed up for two half marathons, and I’m running them. I’ll just think hard in the future about whether or not training 20 miles a week to scrape by during an endurance distance is really any fun at all.
Perhaps if I can only manage that many miles, I should reduce my target race distance accordingly. It’d take off a lot of the race anxiety!
In the meantime, I’m getting a lot of cardio each week, and the physical and emotional benefits of training for a half marathon are worth it, even if those last three miles will be tough because my long runs have typically been 10 miles.
Without the race, I wouldn’t be doing those long runs at all. So it’s worth it, for my health, my energy, my spirit… regardless of what I manage to bring forth on race day.
Right?
Sticking to schedules can be tough, but it sounds like to start with a pretty solid plan. This is my first one that I’m really planning on running, I had a failed attempt a few years ago. I finished, but did not run the whole thing. This time I am following a plan and sticking with it as closely as possible. However, I have a couple of business trips that will throw things off a little. I’ll pack my running gear and see how it goes. I run 4 days a week, do the elliptical 1 or 2 days a week, strength train 2 or 3 days a week – 1 of those days is with my trainer. But I’m lucky, I work from home when I am not traveling and my kids are grown. So, I need to get out of my chair and get a run in today and I”m running 6 miles with my group tomorrow. Happy training!
Good luck on your business trip! It’s also important to remember that a missed or modified workout doesn’t make or break your training… don’t try to make it up later, and don’t let it make you feel less motivated or off track. I had trouble with that when I missed a few because I was traveling this summer, and it was hard to get back into the swing of things. I wish I’d been more mentally prepared to just pick up where I’d left off, like all the training books I’ve read have said!
I’m running/walking my 1st half next weekend and I still can’t run a full mile. I can walk/run 1 mile in 15 minutes and have run in 5 milers and made better time than a 15 minute mile so I’m hoping my time for the half will be better. My goal is to finish the half and come out a runner not walker/runner. I mostly feel like I don’t know “how” to run. I stretch alot before I run but my legs get so fatigued that I feel like I can’t run any farther. I walk a bit and then run a bit. I’ve read about lactic acid during runs. What does that mean and can you offer me any advice on my running or on my first half?
If you find the walk/run strategy working well for you, I recommend looking into Jeff Galloway’s approach. If you’re averaging 15 minutes per mile, to be on the safe side I recommend checking to see if the race you’re running will have the course open longer than your projected 3 hour and 16 minute finish. The best prediction of your finish time is your pace for your ten mile run, which you should be completing this weekend according to the Hal Higdons novice half marathon plan. I recommend searching the Runner’s World website about lactic acid (and always talking to your doctor about your exercise) if you’re interested in learning more about it! There’s a lot to be said for run/walk programs, that’s the way we BECOME runners, is by running as much as we can, and then recovering and doing it over again. Advanced runners do the same thing, they call it intervals or track repeats. Regardless of whether you’re jogging, running, walking, covering 13.1 miles in one piece for the first time is a great accomplishment.
I forgot to mention I have been following Hal Higdons novice half marathon training schedule
If you are running 10-12 miles on your long runs, you will have no trouble with the half marathon. You’ll do great! My half plans only had me running 20-25 miles a week, no 15 mile long runs. Just think when you get to the 10 mile mark “hey, only a 5k left! I can do that in my sleep!”
Hahaha, I’ve totally thought that at mile 10 before! It seems to work well until mile 11, at which point my legs are usually like NO. Just no. But somehow I make it to the end without waiting for the sweep 😉