Half Marathon Workouts- Last four weeks

Yo are probably fine. I ran 1:14 last year off of 90 mile weeks, the only workout being a progressive long run 17 mile averaging in the 6:20's. I think the longer the distance, the less you should complicate it.

My three suggested workouts in the final weeks:

5-6 miles about 15s/mile slower than target HM pace, 4 mins of 'normal' running, then 2-4 miles at target HM pace.

45 - 60 mins about 15s/mile slower than target pace

30 - 45 mins at target pace

I especially find the first one is useful to bring fitness towards a peak.

15k tempo at HM pace on the track. get it son.

My suggestion given what you have shared:

Last 4 weeks

Week 1:

hard workouts:

#1: 8 miles @ HM pace + 15-20 seconds per mile

#2: 5 x 1600 @ 8k pace with 2:30 jog recovery

#3: 17 miles easy

Mileage: 60-65 miles

Week 2:

hard workouts:

#1: 5 miles - alternating half miles at HM -10-15 and HM +15-20 (i.e if HM pace is 6:00 per mile than alternate half miles at 2:53-2:55 and 3:08-3:10)

#2: 6-7 x 1000 @ 5k pace with 2:30 jog recovery

#3: 13 miles steady state (practice taking fluids from cup)

Mileage: 50-60 miles

Week 3:

hard workouts:

#1: 5 miles at HM pace

#2: 5 x 1600 @ 8k pace with 2:30 jog recovery

#3: 14-15 miles easy

Mileage: 50-55 miles

Week 4:

hard workouts:

#1: 2 miles @ HM pace, half mile jog, 3 x 400 with 200 jog

#2: Half Marathon race

Mileage: 40-45 miles

Hope this is helpful.

MPR

Very helpful. Thanks everyone.

I got some very useful guidance from Tinman a couple of years ago and set my masters PR of 1:31:03 (6:57 pace) at St. Jude. He suggested progressive tempo runs of 2 x 3 mile and 3 x 2 mile. I did that, plus some longer tempo runs (5-6 miles) and fast-finish LR's (15-16 with the last mile or two at goal HM pace or a little faster). Here's a report on my training:

______________________________________________________

My goal half marathon is 13 days away. I finished off the hardest week of the training cycle with a solid workout: 12 miles (instead of the 15-18 mile LR I've been doing), with 6 x mile at goal HM pace, on short grass. 1:30 jogs between miles. Below are my times and average HRs (as % of max HR) during each mile:

6:55 (85.5%)

6:56 (86.5%)

6:53 (86.5%)

6:54 (88%)

6:53 (88.5%)

6:42 (89%)

I'm shooting for a goal pace of 6:57 or better. (6:58 is my Master's PR pace, set a few years ago)

At the end of the second mile my legs were a little tired, but they stabilized. The third mile was strong. And the final mile, more than 10 seconds faster than Mile 5, felt good. This was a tough workout, but not a real ball-buster.

The most significant thing about this workout is that it came at the end of a week in which I'd emphasized specific endurance paces (plus/minus a few % of goal HM pace) more than in ANY previous training week of my entire career. Wednesday was 3 x 2 miles progressive tempo (7:08/6:55, for example); Friday was 5 @ 7:08 continuous. Today was 6 x mile @ 6:52 average. That adds up to 17 miles of training in the vicinity of HM pace, out of 43 total miles: 40% of my mileage this week! The fact that I could hit my 17th such mile as hard as I did, without coming near my redline, seems like a good sign. My mpw. dropped slighly from my recent average of 50 mpw.

___________________________________________________

So I did a whole lot of running, two weeks out, in and around my goal HM pace, but I did it as intervals, not as a continuous run. I grooved the pace, but I didn't try to run the race before I actually threw down on the race course.

I also did an 18-miler about three weeks out. Just a solid run, not a fast finish.

I ran a very strong race, for me, with a slight negative split. Actually, I think I ran 7:00 for the first 7 miles and 6:52 pace for the last 6.1. Tinman advised me to wear a HR monitor and run slightly below threshold for the first 3 miles, then gently begin to push. When things began to hurt in the final three miles, I was ready and able to keep on cranking.

I should clarify: that "report on my training" is from late November 2009, just before that HM race.

To keep it simple, I would substitute the 1200 repeats with 3*2miles at HMP with 2 min jog recoveries. You can build into the first one slightly slower and finish the last one slightly faster. This will groove this pace and let you comfortably find this rhythm during the race. You could flip it and run 2*3 miles one week too.

kudzurunner,

Thanks. Interesting about the hrm when racing. What does he recommend to threshold heart rate? What recoveries did you have between the 2 x 3 miles?

Does anyone else do 5 mins hard - 5 mins easy for 80 mins or 10 mins easy - 10 mins for 70 mins.I know it was a Malmo favourite, I really like the 10 minute version. Also is there any reason why you couldn't make this session a bit longer?

half mary runner wrote:

To keep it simple, I would substitute the 1200 repeats with 3*2miles at HMP with 2 min jog recoveries. You can build into the first one slightly slower and finish the last one slightly faster. This will groove this pace and let you comfortably find this rhythm during the race. You could flip it and run 2*3 miles one week too.

I second that.