My splits are always really consistent. I hold back on the first 10 minutes and then really lock in. Literally 6:50 the whole way with the occasional 6:30-6:40 on a downhill. Weather has been close to ideal both times. Rest and nutrition have been great.
This is a tough one OP based on this response. Your 5k gives you 1:25 half marathon potential. I would think you could break 1:30 with even pacing on a good weather day on 50mpw. Agree with what others have said. Think about some slightly longer long runs & adding in a mid week medium long run if that's not already there. The 4 x 2 miles is a great workout but is that workout normal for you in training or do you mostly do shorter/VO2 max type stuff & occasionally do something like that? I would look for 8k-12k worth of threshold stuff each week in a half specific build.
Some progressive long run stuff could be good for you. 90min long run with 60 ez/20 build/10 c/d. The build would be 5 @ GMP/HMP/T/faster than T. Something like that.Maybe think about fueling. People go in circles on that topic on here but I'm pro fueling in a half, even a gel around halfway + some fluids. Make sure you're eating enough pre race and race morning. Pacing is really important in a half. You said you're running at goal pace so I'll take that at face value. For a half, I'd rather be 5s too slow than 5s too fast early on. If 6:50 is goal pace, I'd go 6:55-7:00 through 1 mile & then spend miles 2 & 3 getting down to 6:50. Lock in through 10 miles then try to pick up the pace where you're currently fading.
Wouldn't try a ton new in the next 5 weeks. But 4 weeks @ even 60-70 miles would be fine. Run 6-7 days/week. 1 mid-week threshold session (you're doing 5 x mile @ T, let's do 6-8 x mile @ T, switch it up- 3-4 x 2 miles, 2-3 x 3 miles, 10-12 x 1k), 1-mid week ez medium long run (start @ 9-10 miles, build to 12-13) the day after, long run @ ~25k (ok to build a little more), then basically up to an ez hour on the other days. Tack on strides to an ez run or two.
Thank you for this. Let's break it down. Week 1: 80 miles Monday - Easy Tuesday - 2 miles warm up, 8 x 1 mile at Threshold, Cool Down Wednesday - Easy Thursday - Easy Friday - 12 mile run (last 20 minutes faster) Saturday - Easy Sunday - 14 miles Week 2: 80 miles Monday - Easy Tuesday - 2 miles warm up, 4 x 2 miles, Cool Down Wednesday - Easy Thursday - Easy Friday - 12 mile run (last 20 minutes faster) Saturday - Easy Sunday - 15 miles Week 3: 75 miles Monday - Easy Tuesday - 2 miles warm up, 3 x 3 miles, Cool Down Wednesday - Easy Thursday - Easy Friday - 12 mile run (last 20 minutes faster) Saturday - Easy Sunday - 15.5 miles Week 4: 50 Miles (taper) Monday - Easy Tuesday - 2 miles warm up, 10 x 1k, Cool Down Wednesday - Easy Thursday - Easy Friday - 12 mile run (last 10 minutes faster) Saturday - Easy Sunday - 10 miles Race Week: Monday - Easy (strides) Tuesday - 2 miles warm up, 2 miles at HMP, Cool Down Wednesday - Easy Thursday - Off Friday - 4 miles (strides) Saturday - Race Sunday - Off
The Magic Wizard coach jumps in and help you out. 👋🧙🏼♂️As some already told you are with a 18:38 5 k capable of around 1:26 half. I see your easy runs are at correct pace. Your 20x 400m are at 6:13 pace a little bit too slow. Do them at 87-88 sec ( about 5:50 pace) and easy walk rest back to 120bpm. Then change your lactate threshold intervals to be 800m- 2000m reps and keep them at around 6:25 pace. You need to do them both straight e.g 13-15 x 1000m and in ladders e.g 2000m + 3 x 800m + 1600m + 3x 800m + 2x1200m + 3x 800m = total 13.2 km and all at 6:25 pace and rest back to 120 bpm .At last you can try sometimes a specific long run of 1:50- 2 hours where you run the last 20-40 min at intervals 1-2 min reps @ 6:25 pace with slow jogs of 1-2 min inbetween . This will help you to finish strong in the half.
Follow this and you will guaranteed break 1:30 (at least ) at the half.Good luck! 🇸🇪🧙🏼♂️🇸🇪
8:15-8:30 pace is fine for your easy days. Keep that heart rate lower. Easy days easy. Running 7:45 pace in a 80 mile week is a recipe for burnout and injury. I don’t know what some of you are thinking.
Go comfortably hard in your workouts. Lots of volume and at pace. Taper with a 50 mile week. You should be good to go with a few 70 and 80 mile weeks after running 1:30 off 50 mpw.
Can someone use Georgetown as an example? They have had a pretty decent running program with some good runners. They don’t have division 1 football. Just basketball as the major other sport i think.
So now if they want, they can have 17 on scholarship on their XC team and 45 on scholarship for the track team.
But it is at their discretion to increase or not and can people still walk on there or no?
Ditch the long interval sessions and do more straight threshold/tempo runs.
With your mileage and 5k time you should be able to run 10k in 38:15-39:00 and 10 miles in 65:00ish. If not, you need a lot more strength (stamina) work. Easiest way to do this is doing as much running as you can at 6:20-6:40 pace with little to no rest.
1. You aren't as fit as you thought, because that workout is not as specific as you think it is, especially if you simply hammer it, rather than running at half marathon effort. I'd recommend jogging/floating for a km between reps (rather than standing still), and trying to keep your heart rate below threshold for at least the first 2 reps.
2. You could be a heavy sweater, and you're losing electrolytes/becoming dehydrated. This is usually only a problem in marathons, but I've seen certain people struggle with it over the half.
3. You burn through carbohydrates quite quickly and you're experiencing what cyclists call "hunger flatness". Again, this is usually only an issue in the marathon, but lots of people take gels in the half also.
OP, your post drew my attention because your numbers are similar to mine (though I am M65+). And I was puzzled a bit because my mileage is way more moderate. Previous years I was more focused on 5K and 10K and trained not more than 7 hours per week (50/50 running/cross-training because I am injury prone) that could be roughly considered as less than 50 mpw in equivalent. Had 18:28/5k and 38:03/10K in 2023 when some friends invited me to join them at HM. Had a lot of reservations as it seemed (and was indeed) too long a distance for me, but finally agreed. No surprise I was stupid and started too fast and then struggled after 10 miles, but not dramatically and finally made it at 1:27:20.
With this regard I wonder why you had a problem to break 1:30. You mentioned it happened to you twice, but maybe you made the same very mistake both times? Did not you start too fast? What were your per 5K splits?
Or maybe (as was mentioned in one of the posts above) you have some physiological peculiarities and just quickly “run out of fuel (or oil)” after an hour of running? Better nutrition in general and gels/water on the way could fix this issue. And right tapering, of course.
Also, what is your weight and height? Maybe you are too strong and heavy for HM, while this strength is OK for 5K?
And finally, if it is somehow related to psychology (after the first failure), just convince yourself that you indeed train enough and are fit enough to make it at 1:25.
Good luck!
This post was edited 4 minutes after it was posted.
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