Advice Need Please

Member

Now that i have your attention... Smile

. Sorry this is awfully long winded..

I am training for my first half marathon, which is on Nov 3. Because I am relatively new to distance running, I have concentrated on building an aerobic and endurance base, plus ensuring that my muscles, bones, ligaments and tendons are coping, rather than speed - everyone tells me that speed will improve with training anyway although so far i am well on the way to disproving that theory Surprised

. I plan to start doing some speed work after my first half, in time for my second in January.

While i have done a few short duathlons and done abit of cycling in the past, today I did my first actual road race. We ran at a pace that turned out to be 1min20/mile faster than our long slow (and i do mean slow) training pace, and so the good news was that we beat our goal time by 8mins. Our splits at 5,10 and 15k indicated that our pace almost didn't waver at all from start to finish. The problem was that I bonked at about 14k, and had to walk for about 20-30 paces Evil or Very Mad

but then got going again although i didn't feel that fab. I am fairly sure the reason for this is that during our training runs, my heart rate is usually 140-150, but on this run it was never really under 160 and often over 170. I experienced something similar at the 90k mark of a 100k bike ride earlier this year

.

So, the question is, with my half in 5 weeks, what should i do with my training from here on in? If I keep my HR at around 140, i can pretty much just keep on chugging. So do i try and do this for the half (that will be challenging as it is a hilly course), or have i got time to do something different with my training that will enable me to run at the pace / HR we did today, without falling over three quarters of the way through? Current training is 2-3 8-10k runs/week, plus a LSD currently at about 16k, plus a ride or two if i have time.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Member

I would suggest starting some speed work prior to this half, first for getting your body used to the idea of running faster, and to help prepare you for your second half in January. I would also suggest that you alternate your speed work sessions with some hill repeats since your half on 11/3 is a hilly course. Two weeks of speed work alternating with two weeks of hill repeats, then one week for the taper.
As for bonking on the course, it could be that you went out too fast and didn't have enough in reserve for the end of the race. Start at your goal pace for the first 8k to 10k, then check to see how you're feeling. If you feel like you can increase your speed, then do so. Just don't increase too much right away.
Also, be sure to hydrate a lot and often.

And congrats on the fast race!

Member

extend that long run, 16k is not long enough if you are running it a 1:20 slower than race pace. When I trained for 1/2...I had long runs up to 16. With the exception of races over 20 miles, you should always have a long run, longer than the race. At 20 miles.....well, that's where the "experts" start to disagree.

sue

Member

Advice Need Please

LIFEFORM SOCIAL COMMUNITY NETWORK