Hi, I'm looking to run my fourth half marathon in Sept/Oct time and was hoping to go at least sub-1:15. I'm a bit of an unusual runner I suppose so I thought I should give you a bit of background about myself and then see if anyone could recommend the ideal approach to my training for the coming months, possibly year.
I took up running last February with the original goal of running a respectable marathon time in 10 years (currently 23). From scratch last February I've pretty much trained consistently every week (minus x2 1 month periods of injury). Prior to this I was unfit but not especially overweight, having done very little/ literally no sport throughout my teens. I've run three half marathons in this time, going from 1:38, 1:20, 1:16, running some shorter races around them asides from the 1:38 which was actually my first race, hence the much slower time.
My training is low, peaking at 62 miles so far because my body is still adjusting to daily exercise after so many years of inactivity....
I haven't broken 17 mins for 5k (Road 17:20 PB)
I haven't broken 35 mins for 10k (Road 35:11 PB)
I don't do any tempo runs, track work ect. just steady runs depending on how I feel on any given day anywhere between 6-8 miles with some 10-13 miles thrown in occasionally on a Sunday (everything at anywhere between 5:50 - 7:20 pace based on some recent GPS watch experiments). What I think has helped me most to improve my times and fitness so far is going through periods of racing every few weeks, doing either a 5k, 10k, 5 mile or 10 Mile road race. I ran my 17:20 5k PB 7 days before my 1:16 half for example earlier this year.
I know my times aren't amazing but I really want to continue bringing my half marathon time down, along with the others and feel 1:13-1:15 is not impossible this year or next. I was hoping some of the more seasoned runners on here could suggest what my next move should be now that I've got about 15ish months of I guess just purely 'base work'. Is it imperative I start doing track work and tempo runs maybe once/twice a week? Or should I prioritize increasing my overall Mpw to 70-80 miles in the next few months and try holding there for awhile? Or maybe I should forget half marathons and spend a couple of years running purely shorter distances to help improve my speed/ speed endurance? Train with a running club instead of solo perhaps? I really don't have a clue but am determined to improve now I have started.
Any advice would be much appreciated!
Also, if its of any help, the splits from my 1:16 half were: 5k 18:09, 10k 35:48, 15k 54:11, 20k 1:12:06, Half Marathon: 1:16:21. I finished this particular race a) feeling like I could have gone ALOT faster if I had put in additional longer runs (too many 6 mile days) and b) surprise, surprise, actually practised holding race pace in timed training runs. After about 10 miles I started to feel uncomfortable and felt mentally I was having to start working harder.