Chasing a sub 75 half, looking for help

I'd recommend plenty of threshold training. I was never someone that was successful with continuous tempo runs, but found 2 mile repeats to be really effective. I was able to build up to 6x2miles with 2 minutes rest at 5:30ish pace when I was in sub 75min HM shape. So over a training cycle I'd recommend starting with 3-4 miles at that pace to start, or a bit slower, eventually getting to 3x2, 4x2 and so on. It really builds confidence that you're able to hold 5:40ish pace for a HM. Your goal based on current race results is a bit ambitious. But given your lower mileage training I'm willing to be you've got plenty of room to improve once that ramps up.

minong wrote:

I'd recommend plenty of threshold training. I was never someone that was successful with continuous tempo runs, but found 2 mile repeats to be really effective. I was able to build up to 6x2miles with 2 minutes rest at 5:30ish pace when I was in sub 75min HM shape. So over a training cycle I'd recommend starting with 3-4 miles at that pace to start, or a bit slower, eventually getting to 3x2, 4x2 and so on. It really builds confidence that you're able to hold 5:40ish pace for a HM. Your goal based on current race results is a bit ambitious. But given your lower mileage training I'm willing to be you've got plenty of room to improve once that ramps up.

70-80 mpw with some interval workouts around 10k pace or a little slower (closer to threshold as minong says).

Sub 75 is within your sights.

I don't think you need to up the mileage. I've gone sub 75 on 40 mpw. I think the important thing for half training is the quality.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the last few weeks– You've got 16 weeks to work off of what seems to be a solid base. That's a lot of time to train. You've also run 77 minutes, so 75 minutes is definitely in your wheelhouse.

I've chased a sub 75 half about 4 or 5 times and succeeded once. What I've learned is that I have a tendency to overtrain toward the end of the cycle. My main strategy has been to progress through a series of goal-paced workouts once a week (10 x 1k, 7 x 1 mile, 6 x 2k, 5 x 3k, 3 x 5k) I would run these reps around 5:40 to 5:50 pace and give short rest in between. I've noticed that the earlier workouts like 1k-2k repeats would start to get me in really good shape, but once I was feeling really good on these goal-paced workouts I would overdo it on the 3k-5k repeats and leave my best running in practice.

When I did break 75 I probably still overdid the goal-pace workouts but I raced a 10k a couple weeks out and averaged 5:37/mile which made me realize I was overtrained. I took it really easy for a couple weeks with a couple of really slow long runs. When race day came I had no idea what to expect, but I must've recovered because I averaged 5:40/mile for the half marathon.

If I ever train for the half marathon again I would go for more variety to avoid over-training. I would do more of the longer tempo stuff just by feel, and I think I would incorporate more multi-paced workouts to touch on the faster-than-tempo paces.

My advice to you would be to not try and reinvent the wheel of your training. What got you to a 77 min HM? Keep doing that! Don't forget the importance of recovery and when you're recovered do a workout that you know gets you in shape and gives you confidence!

The above is great advice. I've only run 1:16-low but thought I had gotten myself to 1:15-flat shape last spring. Caught a not so great weather day for the actual race & had a really weird one where I basically ran 12/13 miles @ 1:15-low pace but had a side stitch in the middle where I ran a super super slow mile, worked through it and ran the rest of the race at pace. Without that mile I would've been 1:15:20.

In my build-up I did a lot of the big workouts and agree that overdoing it can be easy. I hit 3 miles-6 x 600m-3 miles with the 3's at 5:35-40 and the 600s sub-2:00 (2.5 weeks out). I did 3 x 2 miles on short rest at 11:10 (1.5 weeks out). I might have left the race in these two workouts even with the side stitch and weather.

I think it's a good idea to bump the mileage up and then progress through the workouts. I think 6 x 2 miles is extreme unless it's at marathon pace and you're training for a marathon and doing 100 mpw. 3 x 2, maybe 4 x 2 max, is sufficient. It's also going to be hard to get down to 1:14 without knocking some time off of your 5k & 10k. I would maybe guess you came to the sport like me and usually do the longer stuff? Since you have 16 weeks, I would take 6ish weeks now and do mile to 5k type training, then move into the 10 x 1k/6 x mile stuff in the middle, and build to the 3 x 3 miles stuff for the last third of the program. If you look at what's needed for speed for 1:14, it's at minimum sub-16:30, 34-low. Gotta try to make those times happen and the paces for those longer workouts will come naturally. Good luck! Imma keep chasing that sort of a time with you!

QFE

This is a recent “what does 1:11-1:12 half training look like?” thread on which I posted my 12 weeks of quality days leading up to my half marathon PR. The time there is a little faster than your goal, but the concepts remain the same. As pointed out by others, lots of threshold work in the form of cruise intervals. My threshold pace work is done at closer to half marathon pace than 10k pace

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=9424621&page=1

Thanks a lot guys, some great advice, exactly what I was looking for. Will definitely take on board.