I have a half marathon in a week and have been following the Pfitzinger 55mile/16 week program from 'Advanced Marathoning'. They are calling for a 15 mile run with 13 at marathon pace. I planned to do the half but wanted to race (at about 20-30sec faster than MP), figuring its a race and I could push myself in that situation, and get a harder workout. Any drawbacks to this line of thinking?
I hate half-marathons. I have NEVER run even a half-way good half-marathon. I believe that I am jinxed for half marathons.
I recommend you run it as a marathon pace workout.
How long till your marathon? If it is 4 weeks or over, I'd say race it...Just make sure to back off the following week. No hard intervals, etc.
Marathon is Nov 10 (Richmond). So plenty of time to rest. I haven't been jinxed in half marathon and I think it would be a good confidence builder if I could run a time close to my first half a couple years back. I'm coming back from a foot injury and would like to test my fitness. Besides, after all the related talk here recently, I don't want to 'run it for a workout'.
Run at least 10k at MP and then see how you feel. Chances are you'll feel good, so take off from there. It's more fun to race, anyway. If you run the whole thing at MP, what have you proven to yourself? Nothing other than the fact that you can survive 13.1 miles. I say start hammering after putting in at least 10k of MP.
"... and get a harder workout. Any drawbacks to this line of thinking?"
yes, harder is not always better.
how will racing the half affect your training the next week? look at the next week's workouts and ask yourself if you'll be able to nail them if you're recovering from a race.
why not run 9-10 at MP and hammer the end? make for a better recovery.
27-tiimer wrote:
"... and get a harder workout. Any drawbacks to this line of thinking?"
yes, harder is not always better.
how will racing the half affect your training the next week? look at the next week's workouts and ask yourself if you'll be able to nail them if you're recovering from a race.
why not run 9-10 at MP and hammer the end? make for a better recovery.
That's why I was checking here as to what the opinions were. I ran this same course in early July and finished reasonably strong on a fairly hot, humid day and hit my MP pace. So for this one, I was planning on pushing it at least 15 sec/mile harder.
As far as following week's training, harder workouts are Wed 12 miler and Friday 11 with 6 at HM pace then 20 miler Sunday. Should be do-able with a recovery week up next.
That's usually my plan - pace for the first 10k or even 10 miles, then pick up the pace a little and pick off some runners. Deena Kaston often races a HM 2-3 weeks before a marathon, but not everyone can recover quickly enough.
Race the thing, dagnabit....!
A half marathon race is excellent training stimulation, especially this far out from November 10. Mind you, afterward go easy for a couple of weeks. But my vote is to freakin' pin on the number and put the hammer down!
Part of me wants to side with Pete and say, race it. (Assuming you're not forced to sacrifice too much of your marathon training in the week or two following, though with your race more than two months out, that's barely an issue.)
But I think the answer also depends on what your personal weaknesses are. If it's sticking to a goal pace, then running at least the first 10k or even 10 miles at marathon pace might be helpful.
Pacing is definitely a weakness for me, but I also love to race, so I'd probably split the difference along those lines. (I did that once with a 10-mile race about a month and a half before a marathon, and it was a great workout. By holding myself back in the first half I was still able to finish decently, reeling dozens of people in. It was a huge confidence boost, and a lot of fun. Of course, in the actual marathon, I forgot everything I'd learned, went out too fast - and paid for it.)
Race it. Do you think Geb, Meb, Hall, etc... are running their pre-marathon Half's (Halves???) at MP? No. They are racing because the best way to prepare for a race is to race. You should be in great shape to race a half (midway through marathon training) and how often is this the case? Of course, you should not neglect your MP stuff, but I firmly believe that it is important to truly race a couple times before your target marathon. And a half marathon is probably the best distance to test yourself. Good Luck!
Mike in HC wrote: As far as following week's training, harder workouts are Wed 12 miler and Friday 11 with 6 at HM pace then 20 miler Sunday. Should be do-able with a recovery week up next.
Race it, but then don't be a slave to the schedule as written. Swap the next two weeks so you get the recovery week immediately after the race. If there's anything even resembling a workout in the first 5-6 days of the recovery week, blow it off or move it back. Don't take recovery from an all-out 21k too lightly - I did last fall, and screwed up my legs for my marathon 3 weeks later.
One reason to race a HM during your marathon buildup: with any race but especially the marathon, you can have a real bad day. Give yourself a few other chances for good races so if you happen to run a dud on marathon day - due to sickness, injury, weather, just a bad day - you can still point to something achieved during that season. Otherwise that's a whole lotta time and training to put in, to put all your eggs in one basket.
You're worried about a race 3 MONTHS away? Just race the damn thing!!
I would definitely run it at MP pace, and maybe stop at an ATM machine, use your PIN number to get some cash, and then get tested for the HIV virus.
Thanks, I will stop and get tested.
And of course, I will have my Camelback with me.
Mike,
I've used pfitz plans before with solid results. My recommendation to you would be to simply leave your watch at home and run the half on feel.
I did this about five weeks out from my goal race and ran a HM pr by 4% (dropped two minutes off my time).
erik