I had so much fun participating in last week's Take It And Run Thursday over at the Runners' Lounge, that I couldn't pass up doing it again this week. This week's theme is "Backwards Take It and Run Thursday," meaning that instead of posting wisdom (or attempting to post wisdom), we should post a question that we have about our running, training, racing, gear, hydration, etc., that we need help answering. As such, I've decided to pose the following questions regarding training for the upcoming San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in November of this year.
For those of you who are new to my site, I have been running since October 2007, and am nearing the end of my fourth training program (started with Couch-to-5K, followed by Hal Higdon's Novice 10K, then Hal Higdon's Intermediate 5K, and now Runner's World's Smart Coach for 5K). I've raced in five 5Ks since December 1st, improving my time from 31:25 to 26:31. My most recent long run was 9 miles (twice), and my next two long runs will be 10 miles. I am currently running between 20-25 miles per week, 4 days a week, with my last two month totals at 93 and 89 miles, respectively. My first half marathon is November 16th.
Given all of this, here are my questions:
A lot of questions, but I know the answers are out there. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and help me out!
Hi Bryan, Sounds like you're already off to a great start and with several 5K and 10Ks under your belt, you're well on your way to running a successful 1/2 marathon (I love 1/2 marathons!) That said, I've had lots of luck constructing my own training plans using Jeff Galloway's books and plans. I find him to be encouraging and very positive. I think he has a book specifically on training for a 1/2 marathon and I would highly recommend it. Good luck!
Posted by Heather on 5/1/2008 12:14:31 PM
I love love love half marathons. LOVE them. I am running my 8th Half in a few weeks. I am doing the Runner's world plan this time. I have done Higdon, I have done Galloway. I'd say a good 10 to 12 weeks.
Posted by Nat on 5/1/2008 12:16:26 PM
Congratulations on starting your very first Trisko (my preferred term for a half marathon) training! I am training for my first right now, using Hal Higdon's intermediate program. Let us know how it goes!
Posted by Betsy on 5/1/2008 12:38:06 PM
Bryan, I have the exact same question so I will be checking back to see what wisdom you collect.
Posted by Amy on 5/1/2008 1:41:28 PM
It depends on what your goal for the Half is. Is it just to finish or is to race the distance? The first time I did the Half I followed the Hal Higdon plan and made my goal (complete the race). The longest run was 10 miles and the last 3 miles were a bit tough. The best time I ran the Half was in the midst of marathon training with much longer runs under my belt (16 or 18 miles) and longer tempo runs as well. That time I did much better and beat my PR by over 7 minutes. My suggeston would be to run longer than the distance required 14 to 16 miles and to have longer tempo runs than commonly practiced. You may even want to follow the Ryan Hall's race sim philosophy where the first half of a long run is normal pace and the second half works its way up to race pace by the end. Hope this help..
Posted by Kent on 5/1/2008 4:24:46 PM
Thanks to everyone for the comments! My goal is to finish, but I can't help to have a certain finishing time in my head. However, I will be very conservative with my pace. Since I am about to be at 10 miles for my long runs, I see no problem having my long runs up to or even longer than 13.1 before the race in November. And based on my long runs go whenever I move to a new distance (1st time is a struggle at the end, 2nd time is much easier), it would probably be very wise for me to get in a couple of runs at race distance or longer.
Posted by Bryan on 5/1/2008 5:23:27 PM
Great questions Bryan. I've got the same goal as you so am really lapping up these answers.
Posted by Andrew is getting fit on 5/1/2008 9:37:42 PM
When I trained for a half marathon last year, I used a Runner's World plan. It was tough but got me ready. Whatever plan you use, I would advise allowing yourself 12-16 weeks of training (plenty of time before November) and don't skimp on the long runs.
Posted by Bob Allen on 5/1/2008 9:44:18 PM