1:11 -> 1:05 1/2 Marathon Help

Lengthening your long run to 2:30.

What sort of time are you running for a tempo? I'd recommend going to about 70 minutes, the confidence is amazing.

Do you like track training? If so, then some good long track sessions will help. 25 x 400m, 12 x 800m, 10x 1 mile, 16 x 1k are all ones I've used. Above race pace with recoveries kept to a minimum.

I've always like the plan laid out by Terrence Mahon in this Running Times article. Basically this was the plan Ryan Hall used to run the AR.

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=11292

More on the basics of the main workouts.

http://garmin.blogs.com/my_weblog/2009/08/half-marathon-training-tips-from-terrence-mahon.html

@Thamesvalleyharrier - I have been doing minimal work on the track thus far. My thought process is that yes, the track is great for having a specific measured distance to workout on, but no road race is. Instead I have been doing workouts on long paved bike paths that have mile markers. This way I know the distance is fairly accurate and I incorporate hills into the speedwork.

The longest true tempo I have done is 5 miles. Some of the distance workouts I rotate around are:

5 x mile w/2-3 min rest

3 x 2 mile w/2-3 min rest, 1 x mile (5:00 - and under)

10 - 15 x 2 min on / 1 min off

@The Stache - Thanks for the link. I'll check that out.

Three words: half tights AND arm warmers.

Yeah, longer tempos or progression runs would be the first thing I would add to your training. Remember tempo is just a catch-all term that kind of got adopted to mean lactate threshold pace. Obviously, you aren't going to hold an LT pace for 70 minutes in training, but sustained fast(er) runs.

Maybe you should work your time to about a 1:07 and attempt to qualify to the Olympic Marathon Trials with a sub 2:19 marathon! Why put in all the training for an event and race half the distance?

Personally I love track training, I feel very sharp when I'm doing trackwork consistently. It's not for everyone, but it can work wonders.

Indeed, Tempo is what we call it, and 70 minutes is perhaps a bit too long, but 5 miles is too short. I'd add five minutes a week to your LT/tempo till you get to 60 minutes.

The workouts your doing are fine, I think the increase in tempo running will see your PR go down. Best of luck.

@SalukiAlum - Good point. I do plan on running the full marathon as well. I am coming from a background of 10k and under and working my way up...hence the 1/2's first.

@Thamesvalleyharrier The idea to keep adding to the LT/tempo sounds like a good place to add on to slowly. Do you do any sort of rotating abs, strength exercises, etc?

I do a lot of weights on my legs, light weights for endurance. I also work my upper body a fair bit, I like to have a lot of power driving up hills! However, i'm still fairly lean, but due to years of core work I feel quite strong. That really helps in the cross country season. I find a lot of endurance runners don't do any strenghwork and it's neglecting a vital part of your training, El Guerrouj and Coe swore by it. I'm a longer distance runner than them but I feel in good shape when I'm doing workouts 2-3 times a week.