I plan to run a half marathon in early April. Goal: 1:34:xx My best from 2 years ago was 1:36. Currently running about 25 mpw, with 10+ of those miles done on Saturday. The pace has been (recently) about 8:30-9:15/mile. The rest of the week consists of no structure, maybe 5 here, 3 there, 2 with the dog...
No weights, no core work, no speed work. I am about 15 lbs over what I weighed 2 years ago and have decided to drop 20 lbs. It should not be too hard, as the weight gain is all from poor eating habits and too much McDonalds.
Assuming I plan to run 25-30 mpw on average, how would you structure a training schedule?
As an aside, on less than 25 mpw I ran a 3:30 marathon.
Would it be better, at only 30 mpw, to SKIP all speed work and just do "long" runs? or would tempos be helpful? Would speed work have the potential to do more harm than help since it increases the chance of injury?
I want to get the most bang for my buck out of 30 mpw.
Thoughts?