In 7 weeks, I plan to total 1200# and run a sub 1:30 half marathon, all in the same week.
Here is my endurance training plan.
Let me know what you think!
First off, quick background on where I’m at right now:
I’ve never run a half marathon.
In fact, the longest I've ever run is 9.5 miles.
And that was 2 days ago.
The most recent race time I have is an 18:46 5k in mid-March.
I’m 6’0” and weigh ~190#.
If I did a total today, I would likely total somewhere between 1100 and 1150.
TLDR:
-1 Interval run per week
-1 long run (60-90 mins) per week
-4-5 days of stationary biking (45-120+ mins per session) per week
Ok, back to the full endurance plan:
My endurance training will consist primarily of two modalities: running and stationary biking.
The running will be on a track or on trails/roads.
The biking will be done mainly on a Concept2 Bike, but some will be done on an Echo Bike (when at work).
Running
Due to a long history of running injuries (shin splits, knee pain, hip issues), I have only been running once per week for the past four months.
Starting this week, I plan to increase my running to twice a week.
My running will consist mainly of two types of runs:
Interval runs, and Long runs
Interval
These will include interval, tempo, and threshold runs.
This will be the ONLY high-intensity endurance training I will do.
Yes, only once per week.
All other running/biking will be low intensity, mainly Z1, possibly some Z2.
I’ve never run or trained for anything close to as long as a half marathon, so I’m still very unsure of what time I can run.
If I put my 18:46 5k into a running equivalency calculator, it says I can run a ~1:27 half marathon.
The problem is that the calculator doesn’t know that I weigh a lot and that I am naturally much better at shorter distances than longer distances.
I know that due to these factors, it will likely be more difficult for me to break 1:30 than the calculator suggests.
So, these early interval workouts will help me figure out what race pace to target.
I expect my target pace to end up being anywhere between 6:30-6:50.
A 1:30 half marathon is 6:52 pace, so I will do my first interval workout at 6:45-6:50, see how that feels, and adjust future workouts based on that.
Here are some examples of workouts I plan to do:
-2-3x2 miles at goal pace with 800m recovery jog
-2-3x3 miles at goals pace with 1,000m recovery jog
-30-40 min tempo run
-6-8 miles at goal pace
-5x1200m at 20-30 sec faster than goal pace with 400m recovery jog
Long SLOW Runs
These started last week at 60 minutes and was supposed to increase by 5-10 mins this week, but I got lost and ended up running for 96 minutes. Whoops.
Next week will be ~75-80 mins and will increase 5-10 mins/week.
I will keep my HR at 135-140 for all runs.
Zone 1 Stationary Biking
4-5 days per week, I will stationary bike.
I will keep my HR between 115-125.
My goal (including the long run) is to start at 5 hours of endurance training per week and increase that by 30-60 minutes per week based on how I feel and how I am recovering from this and from strength training.
My minimum bike time will be 45 minutes per session, and I will do one ride per week of at least 90 minutes, ideally 2 hours.
The idea behind this very low-intensity biking is that it is high enough intensity to improve my aerobic endurance but low intensity enough that it won’t detract much from my strength training.
It worked incredibly well from January to March as I improved my 5k time from 20:35 to 18:46, running only once per week and Z1 biking 4-5 days per week.
I have no idea if this, along with strength training four days a week, will be too much for me to handle.
Or if it will work.
But I’m going to find out and will adjust as needed.
Any advice or suggestions are welcome!