Key workouts for 1/2 marathon?

Bump. Somebody throw me a bone here.

Do you have a current PR? What kind of weekly mileage have you been doing?

I had an athlete run right around 68 minutes this past fall.

He ran between 70-80 miles a week.

Some of the more specific stuff we did was a long run of 9 miles a tad under race pace. He also did a 15 mile run a tad over race pace. Did some floating work, 3x3 miles around race pace, a mile float in between about a minute slower.

I believe the longest amount of time I had him on his feet was around 1:40.

Nothing revolutionary, obviously. But maybe you can find some sense in those three workouts, regardless, best of luck.

My favorites:

3 x 2 miles @ pace minus 5-10 seconds

6 mile tempo at pace

10 mile progression run where the last 2 miles are faster than pace

Mile repeats at 5k pace: 3 then 4 then (ideally) 5. Do this and you should make it to ten miles on pace comfortably and for the last 5k you'll need the endurance from those long runs. 5-6 mile tempo runs at goal pace are also good and weekly mileage matters for a race this long.

Mook wrote:

Do you have a current PR? What kind of weekly mileage have you been doing?

PR is 1:14 but that is from the mid-90's. I'm 45 now, so slower. That said I think 1:18 is very doable. I ran a very comfortable 2:53 marathon off of 70 mpw last year and 10k in the 35-37 range a couple times just off mileage (2/3 with ice still on the ground but whatever) and maybe the odd tempo run. I did do a few Summer of Malmö type 200 workouts once a week on the track last year and threw a 3 min K on the end of the last one, so I can still run a bit.

Did a lot of cycling this year and skipped running races but still running 45-50mpw and starting to crank it back up.

Just want something I can throw in every couple of weeks over the winter that is reasonably specific to the 1/2. We have a 400m indoor track here, so thinking of something I can do there.

Very nice.

I wouldn't touch mile repeats at 5k pace as the one poster recommended. I'm not saying he's wrong, but I wouldn't do it, especially not with a 45 year old.

Doing something like 8-10 mile repeats at 10k pace, I would do though.

As far as using a 400m indoor track, well, I'd rather poke my eyes out, but I guess you could try and get some power endurance type stuff in there.

I might hit a mile indoors, throw on the flats and do a 20minute temp, hop back onto the track and hit another mile. Mile's at 10k, tempo at marathon. Something like that. Not terrible specific but good support stuff.

2 mile repeats at HM pace for 3 to 5 reps. Warm up/ cool down.

Weekly tempo of about 5-7 miles.

The long run is the bread and butter of the HM and Full IMO. I like to do one or two fast finish long runs per month as I get closer to my HM race. Basically start at your typical long run pace then drop the hammer on the last 5-8 miles towards HM pace and take a one/two mile cool down. If you're running 23 mile for your LR you should definitely be in shape to crush your half, but you could probably get away with running a 16-18 mile LR if you wanted, OBVIOUSLY the 23 mile LR will help more and make the 13.1 that much easier. Just be cautious to not run yourself into the ground with over training. I have no idea what your PR is for a HM currently, I'm assuming you're able to knock out a 1:30:xx no problem currently. Be sure to have plenty of easy/recovery miles in your weekly volume.

When you are pretty fast (close to 1:10 or under) I would be cautious with the race pace stuff because it's more stressful when you're hitting 5:20s than running 7 minute miles as race pace.

Do 3 x 2 miles at pace with 400 jog rest and perhaps 2 x 3 miles with 800 jog rest. Develop your tempos to 6-8 miles where you start at MP and work down to HMP (last 1 mile or so may be faster). Thos should be enough to hit target goals with your base.

Microfractured! wrote:

Mile repeats at 5k pace: 3 then 4 then (ideally) 5. Do this and you should make it to ten miles on pace comfortably and for the last 5k you'll need the endurance from those long runs. 5-6 mile tempo runs at goal pace are also good and weekly mileage matters for a race this long.

Thanks- I am not sure, per what one of the other posters mentioned, that I would do this workout a ton, just because I am a bit injury prone (lower legs always!) and this might be a bit aggressive for me at my age.

Having said that, I think it would be a good workout to do in a couple of weeks, just to try to figure out what race pace for 5K actually could/should be. I am running a 10K in mid-January and it would make sense maybe to have a goal.

I would then maybe do this workout in Feb-Mar to adjust. I haven't seriously prepared to "race" in a long time, so I see this mile workout as a way of keeping myself honest on what a race pace could be.

In the interim, some of the 2M intervals people are recommending and the tempo runs make a ton of sense to me.

longroad wrote:

My favorites:

3 x 2 miles @ pace minus 5-10 seconds

6 mile tempo at pace

10 mile progression run where the last 2 miles are faster than pace

Perfect this is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. I love the progression run idea.

Some people are tossing out longer tempos. Think 6 miles is long enough?

Mook wrote:

Very nice.

I wouldn't touch mile repeats at 5k pace as the one poster recommended. I'm not saying he's wrong, but I wouldn't do it, especially not with a 45 year old.

Doing something like 8-10 mile repeats at 10k pace, I would do though.

As far as using a 400m indoor track, well, I'd rather poke my eyes out, but I guess you could try and get some power endurance type stuff in there.

I might hit a mile indoors, throw on the flats and do a 20minute temp, hop back onto the track and hit another mile. Mile's at 10k, tempo at marathon. Something like that. Not terrible specific but good support stuff.

Thanks for all of the advice Mook. I live in Canada. It gets ridiculously cold here and the footing is always a crap-shoot. Sometimes if I want to do any real volume at race pace I will head inside just to avoid injury. At some point I will end up in there. Last winter I did two 20K runs at 4min/k on that track. Poking my eyes out indeed.

subelite ghost poster wrote:

When you are pretty fast (close to 1:10 or under) I would be cautious with the race pace stuff because it's more stressful when you're hitting 5:20s than running 7 minute miles as race pace.

Do 3 x 2 miles at pace with 400 jog rest and perhaps 2 x 3 miles with 800 jog rest. Develop your tempos to 6-8 miles where you start at MP and work down to HMP (last 1 mile or so may be faster). Thos should be enough to hit target goals with your base.

Thanks- I have no real need to try to run faster than 6 mins for any single mile of the race. I suppose if things go really well I could try, but I was really thinking that anything under 1:20 would be a reasonable goal. I'm going to try a fall marathon, so don't want to wreck myself and as you correctly point out, it is a world of difference running those faster paces, especially if a track is involved.

In the past when I was significantly younger, lighter and fitter, I did a lot of workouts at 5 and sub-5 minute pace. Stuff like working up to 10 x 1K with 90 secs rest starting around 3 minutes and trying to run faster as the workout progressed so the fastest k was the last. I think the fastest last K of that I workout I ever managed was 2:52. Guys in my club were closing in low 2:40s by comparison, so different level altogether. Totally different stress level on the body than what I am trying to do here, so I appreciate that comment.

Anyway, you and the Florida Guy, and others, seem big on the 3 x2 miles and similar workouts, so I think that is going to be my go-to workout for a while once I get my training paces sorted out a bit.

yes, HMP is no joke. It is much faster than proper tempo pace.

IMO, a 23 mile long run is unnecessary and possibly counter-productive for true HM training. You could substitute that with some better HM specific training.

I'm about to turn 45 and I still use long intervals at 5k pace as a staple of my training - I even do a six week block of these workouts as an early part of my marathon training. The vo2max boost makes the high volume of work that you do as the bulk of your training more manageable.

Of course, you know your body best - if you cannot handle 5k paced stuff, then don't do it. But a good block of it has been an invaluable part of every training cycle for me.

As to the bulk of the training, I would advocate lots of tempo work, including making part of your longs runs tempo paced. Don't think you need to go more than 16 or so for a long run.

I hear you. I went to college in one of the colder towns in the nation. I know what it means to slog through a run. Keep us updated on your progress.

longroad wrote:

My favorites:

3 x 2 miles @ pace minus 5-10 seconds

6 mile tempo at pace

10 mile progression run where the last 2 miles are faster than pace

how accurate do you find 3x2 mile to be? i'm definitely more talented on the endurance side of things, so intervals that much shorter than race distance tend to be a good indicator or even suggest i'm less fit than i am. i did 3x 2 mile with 3 minute rest a couple weeks ago. the workout was run at about 6500 feet on a mostly rough gravel loop path (ie a good but not great surface) with ~75 feet of climbing in the first mile and then dropping that in the second. i ran about 11:15, :12, :10, the first being comfortable, 2nd tough and the third was pretty hammered. trying to extrapolate that to a flat road half at about 2500'. i figure the altitude and surface/hills of the loop should be worth close to 10 seconds a mile but then factoring in that this was probably a little bit harder than HM effort on the last rep, it should equal out to an HMP of maybe 5:32-35ish at 2500'? race isn't for 6+ weeks as well, so i've got some time to refine speed, i unexpectedly got mileage up to 80 the last couple weeks so i'll probably back off to 70 for a bit and try to run some good workouts.

I wonder if, as someone suggested, you should try a progression run on one of your long runs so that you are closing the last 2-3 miles at the race pace you are thinking of? Can you drive down to 2500' to try that? Just thinking if that pace is comfortable at the end of a long run in the middle of a training block, then you are probably good once you taper. This is what I have done for marathons in the past, along with 10 mile tempos and it seems to work okay as a gauge of fitness.

half marathon i'm planning to run is STG utah (live in SLC). i may have the luxury to get down there for a bit over school break, which would be great because it's usually 20 degrees warmer than SLC. i don't think closing a 15 mile long run at 5:35 for 3 miles would be too difficult, but again i'm definitely more endurance based.