best workouts for half

I would say more miles in general. Hard to run a decent 1/2 on 35 mpw

Yeah, more overall miles in the next 4 to 5 weeks. Push that long run out to 14 or 15 miles if you can.

Other than that, keep with the hills. I would probably add a 20 to 30 minute tempo once a week. Or I would consider turning one or two of your mid mileage days (5 to 8 miles) into progression runs where you squeeze down the pace over the last 2 to 3 miles.

Is this your first half? If so, I think the best thing is to keep building that aerobic base you have and your overall strength. That will set you up for a solid half marathon. After that, build more base and then perhaps follow a plan with specific half workouts that will help you lower your times.

He cant go 5mins on and 5 off for 70 minutes on 35 mpw...

Agree with more mileage, longer long runs and more tempo efforts.

That being said, you are kind of trying to cram for the test at this point. Success at distance running comes from training cycles that cover periods of months, not weeks. You can do some things to make the experience on race day a lot less painful and to improve your time some, but if you want to get a real test of what kind of half marathon you can run, you should have started this process 2 or 3 months ago.

That is not said to be insulting, it is just said in an effort to educate others who may read this string in the future and think that a 6 week training period is adequate.

i am 50 years old with previous bests in past few years of 23:40, 50:40, 1:57.

I run 5-6 x weekly with that long run, a hill repeat and 3-4 easy runs between 3-5 miles

I was doing 40 MPW last year and ran a marathon last Nov- had an injury and didnt run much Jan- March. I put this race on the calendar to get me going again but at my age it took me awhile( 6 months) to get back up to 35 mpw.

This race is the first hurdle to getting back to where I was last year- it isnt my goal race- I know still have alot of work to do, just trying to squeeze the best performance out of this race I can as I move on

Workouts? Come on buddy tie up those runners and go out for a jog.

Just run.....you are probably a plodder who finishes in the middle or worse.

It's a pure aerobic effort at the level 99.999% most of you run.

So at what mileage point would you add any workouts- 40 mpw, 50, mpw ?

I understand 99 .9 % is aerobic but at some point dont you have to push the pace once or twice a week, relatively speaking . Yes I am a plodder who finishes in the middle.

scubacane wrote:

So at what mileage point would you add any workouts- 40 mpw, 50, mpw ?

I understand 99 .9 % is aerobic but at some point dont you have to push the pace once or twice a week, relatively speaking . Yes I am a plodder who finishes in the middle.

Quit plodding. You plod in training - you will plod in races. Twice a week just go out and run fast. It can be fast stuff for like 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off. Or 3 minutes hard and 2 to 3 minutes easy. Just get used to running at a much faster pace and your normal pace will feel that much easier.

suburbanxcore wrote:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3941353

Wow, that is a really great thread. I've only been reading this site for maybe a year, and I feel that that thread is about 10x better than anything I've seen in my time here. No drama or BS trolling, just straight up running talk. Would be great to see the site return to that kind of vibe.

scubacane wrote:

I have a half marathon in 6 weeks and feel like I have a strong aerobic base with my long run currently up to 11 and consistent 30-35 mpw. The only other workout I have been doing beside my long run is a hill repeat workout- 7 .3 mile hills at about 4% grade ( 7 miles total).

I fee like I have my aerobic base, now I want to add some speedier workouts to the mix. Should I just do tempos, 800 repeats? Any advice is appreciated.

For the half marathon I really 2-3 times 10 minutes at T pace (a smidge faster than half marathon pace) with 2 min rest in between

That's a 6 to 10 miles workout function of your warmup/cooldown and gets you 20-30 solid minutes at a very useful pace.

You can start with 1 mile repeats if new with 1 or 2' rest, progress on to 10 min with 2' rest, and perhaps up to 2 miles with 2' rest. Typical Daniels' T pace workout.

Work up to:

SMTWT: 6 miles

F: rest

S: 13 miles

You will get more value from increasing your mileage than by doing speed work.