Half marathon as training for marathon

Im in the same boat as you. Mine is this weekend and I am aiming for a similar time in the actual marathon. If I run anything sub 1:16 I will be really happy but even if that doesn't go as planned I'm sticking to my guns for the actual marathon.

Just remember, like you said, you are not tapering for it and most likely it will be right before you do start your taper (so coming off your hardest training) so don't worry about the results too much. It will be a practice run for the marathon.

Another idea would to be to run the first half of the half at roughly marathon goal pace (~6:00-6:05) and then see if you can drop the hammer for 6 miles at like 5:35-5:45's. The closer my half is getting the more I am thinking about this type of race strategy. It will also benefit you by showing you how to go out controlled even in a shorter distance.

Good luck!

I'd probably shoot for about halfway between marathon and tapered-and-trained HM pace. So McMillan says that a 2:40 marathon (6:07 pace) is roughly the same as a 1:16 HM (5:48 pace). Splitting the difference would be 5:57 pace. I might even err a touch towards marathon pace, so 6:00ish. But definitely not as slow as 6:05 -- you need to be perceptibly faster for the HM, or the marathon effort is going to seem too fast (you're going to be pretty cashed whether you run 5:55 or 6:05).

And if it matters, a pretty typical "final" elite marathon workout is a 15-18 time trial (untapered) at race pace, so your HM isn't too far off this. Though it is a little short (which is why you want to go a little faster).

I ran my half marathon PR one month before my goal marathon and felt strong as hell doing it. BUT--big but--I felt flat in the marathon itself.

Next time around, if I'm serious about the marathon, I won't try to hammer the HM. I'll back off a bit.

This is a training run, not a PR attempt. At the time of the race you will be at the point where you can no longer improve your marathon performance, but you can sure as hell screw it up. So no hammering.

Between 5:55 and 6:00 sounds about right.

If it's 4 weeks before the marathon, wouldn't that be enough time to recover even if the OP tried to PR? I'm in the same boat, but actually would like to PR in the half marathon that is one month before the full.

It worked out pretty well for Kara Goucher.

Too Fast For Love wrote:

If it's 4 weeks before the marathon, wouldn't that be enough time to recover even if the OP tried to PR? I'm in the same boat, but actually would like to PR in the half marathon that is one month before the full.

Funny thread. I'm also doing a half this weekend, 4 weeks before the marathon, and aiming to go sub 1:16 (and 2:37-39 for the marathon). I did the same last year, except a 20K 5 weeks out (3 min. PR), and had no problems with the marathon (PRed by 3 min. in freak weather). I also flew to New York for a hilly 10K 2 weeks before the marathon, and PRed there as well (but made sure I held back a bit).... I'm not doing this, this year.

I guess the biggest difference for me is I took time off from my job last year and this year to train full-time for the marathon (sub-elite lady). So I'm able to put everything into my recovery, training, and races. Personally, I feel like I need a serious half before the marathon to feel "race ready" and confident for the marathon. I train solo, so I need something with people around, splits, drinks, etc.... the practice and what you'll experience with the marathon (the stress of traveling too). Plus it gives me an idea of my current fitness and what pace to shoot for in the marathon. I treat the half as part of the training (longer cooldown = 20-24 miles for the day), but I race it and don't hold back.

Last year I raced more before the marathon (5K, 20K, 10K) and tapered a bit more for each race (and then cranked the mileage on the non-race weeks). This year I'm not racing as much (half only) and putting more into my training/recovery, so I'm planning only a slight taper for the half (in volume, keeping up the frequency and cutting back each run). I feel that if you're trained appropriately for the marathon, you should be able to recover quickly from the half, no problem. Something else: I find that my body responds best to routine (running twice a day, 6 days a week), so I keep this up by doing 2 short runs the day before a race, of any distance. Had great success the past year with this, so worth trying.

Thanks for your replies. Would it be worth doing the half at marathon pace throughout and then adding on another 8 miles or so easier pace at the end, or does the "half easy/half marathon pace" type long run not really work the same if the MP is done at the start?

All help/advice is appreciated as I'm fairly inexperienced when it comes to marathons (this is my third)...

If you plan on running the full marathon at 2:40, I would run the half in 1:20.