Sub 1:25 training plan

Week 15 at 69 miles seems like a large jump in mileage only 3 weeks before the half. I would take that down a bit.

I'd also consider switching a few of your Tuesday or Thursday workouts to just moderate-pace runs. This is a pretty heavy training plan with two hard workouts every single week.

I would not run 400 m intervals at my 5K/10K pace if I were shooting for a fast half marathon. I wouldn't do intervals shorter than 800 m and the pacing is super important because too fast or too slow and the training effect is very different. I can't tell from your plan but do you have a weekly 6 - 10 mile tempo run at say 30 to 45 seconds slower than your target race pace? I've always found that if you have a tempo, intervals, and a long run every week and you run the correct pace for these 3 workouts - everything else falls into place. My PR is 1:10 high (from 35 years ago) and we would do 4X or 5X repeat miles at between 4:50 and 5:00 minutes and the weekly tempo run would be between 6:15 and 6:30/mile

Thanks. Yeah, I might just shave a few miles off of the Saturday run and make it a 65 mile week. I would still like to do one 16 mile long run. This lets me get about 2 hours of pretty easy pace.

Maybe every 2-3 weeks I can do one of the Thursday runs at HMP+15-30 seconds that way it is more of a moderate effort. This plan is cutting down on my mileage (I like doing 60-75 miles per week) so I am hoping that I can handle the 2 hard workout a weeks. I really want this training block to be about quality over quantity.

Okay, I might keep the first 400 workout just to get use to doing intervals again but I agree that the 400 repeats are not super helpful. I think I will replace the second one with mile repeats. So right now I have my intervals on Tuesday. Every Thursday is an uptempo run with 1.5 mile warm up and then 3-8 miles at HMP (depending on the week) and a 1.5 mile cool down. I am using this as my tempo effort. Sundays will be long run ranging from 10-16 miles. I don't think I will need to do more than 16 miles for HM training. I think other than the two harder efforts on Tuesday and Thursday my other runs will be done at 1 minute to 1 minute and 45 seconds slower than HMP. (7:30-8:15). Did you ever do 2*3 mile repeats and 3*2 mile repeats when hmp training. A lot of plans have those worked in and it seems like a good deal. Maybe even doing this workouts at 10 seconds faster than goal pace.

Some thoughts:

If you do tempos longer than 4 miles, prepare to slow down the pace. There's no way I (a hobby jogger slightly faster than you) could do more than about 4 miles straight at HMP. Trying to progress the distance is good, but 8 miles at HMP two weeks before the race is not a good idea. If you're sticking with HMP, progress the workout in smaller steps, like 3 - 3.25 - 3.5 - 3.75 - 4 miles, etc., or by 2-minute time steps. Or alternate weeks between shorter HMP (3 - 3.5 -4) and longer MP tempos (6 - 7 - 8).

The first half of your build-up has short 5K/10K-pace intervals, and the second half as high-volume, long 10K-paced intervals. I think the shorter intervals are okay has maintenance workouts, but the 10K-pace workouts look super intense. 2 x 3mi @ 10K pace doesn't sound possible to me. You'll probably have to start at lower volume and progress up to 5 or maybe 6 miles of total volume.

Thanks, this is the first time I am really building a plan based on speed. Yeah, I do not know if I am being overly ambitious but I could do 3 miles at HMP right now pretty easily so the build up doesn't seem that bad. But I do like the idea of doing anything over 5 miles at MP as a good hard effort. As for the workouts I did think 2 by 3 miles at 10k pace looked very ambitious for mid week training run. Do you think I should just stick with mile repeats or maybe 2 by 3 at HMP - 10 seconds. So it will still be a good hard effort but not a 10k effort.

I am really trying to focus on the intervals. I think I have a talent for distance and holding a pace for a long time (I have done well in a 50 mile race) but I think I need to really work on my speed.

You don't need a plan. You just need to run a fair bit and try harder in a race.

You're already in 1:25 shape.

Just updating this thread with each week of training to keep myself honest and see how I am progressing. I am combing week 1 and 2 since week 1 was just to get back to moving after 10 days of no training after my marathon.

Week 1

12/24

4 miles @ 7:03

12/25

4 miles @ 6:52

12/29

10 miles @ 7:08 (This was done on the treadmill so it was not really a ton of effort)

Notes: I was pretty much sick from 12/20 to 12/28 so I did not feel great during the runs but my legs felt like they got a much needed rest. Also I had a nagging ankle injury that was bugging me before my marathon in mid December and that has gone away. Ran without looking at my watch. Just felt good to get the legs moving again.

Week 2

12/30

10k @ 7:07

12/31

On the track

1.5 mile warm up @ 7:11

6.2 mile workout

11*0.25 mile with 0.25 recovery @ 5:38 on and 7:30 recovery then one last rep of 0.35 on and 0.35 recovery @ 5:31 on and 7:30 recovery

1/1

4 miles @ 7:15

1/2

On treadmill HMP workout

1.5 mile warm up @ 7:15

5k in 18:57 @ 6:07

2.75 mile at 7:04

Some very light jogging after workout

1/3

4 miles @ 7:15

1/4

10.5 miles on treadmill

First 5.5 @ 7:18 Last 5 @ 6:50 (Did the last 5 with Zoom Fly 3 because I wanted to break them in before using them for a workout.

1/5

5 miles on treadmill @ 7:50

Notes: I just ran everything way too fast this week. I think I walked into the trap of having fresh legs and just going with the flow. I do not think this will be a problem in the next few weeks because the freshness will slowly fade and it will be more of a grind. All of the non workouts felt great and I am excited to keep hitting workouts hard. But I am going to focus on having the hard days hard and the easy days easy. Also carbon plate shoes feel very strange.

What percent grade are you using on the treadmill?

I don’t normally run on the treadmill with any incline unless I am training for a trail race and know that I need to get in elevation. I use the treadmill for steady or easy efforts so I just pick a pace accordingly. If I am trying to run a target race pace like marathon or half marathon pace I run on 0% but I take the pace down 15 or so seconds per mile and that feels appropriate. So I am aiming for 6:24-6:29 pace for my HM so I would target 6:10-6:15 per mile on the treadmill. Not an exact science but the effort feels right to me.

Week 3

1/6

10k @ 7:26

1/7

On the track

1.5 mile warm up @ 6:53

5 mile workout @6:24

6*0.38 mile with 0.25 recovery @ 5:40 on and 7:30ish recovery

3 mile cool down @ 7:24 (little fast because I wanted to get home instead of running on a dark track)

1/8

10k @ 7:49

1/9

On treadmill HMP workout

1.5 mile warm up @ 7:04

5k in 18:51 @ 6:05

2.75 mile @ 7:40

1/10

7 miles @ 7:52

1/11

12 miles @ 8:33

Ran with a group and a lot of people started to die around mile 7 so we were logging 9 minute or so pace the last 5 miles. Was actually kind of a nice recovery.

1/12

3-4 miles of hiking with some good vertical in the morning

6.3 miles on the treadmill progression (8, 7:42, 7:30, 7:14, 6:59, 6:44, last .3 @ 6:15)

Total Miles 53-54

Overall was a pretty okay week. Bummed because I have been trying the zoom fly 3s and they are killing my feet so guess they wont work for me. Thought they would be a great shoe. Any suggestions for shoes for faster track workouts? The 12 mile run was fun to do with a group and did give me a good chance to recover from two tougher workouts during the week. I think that the Thursday workout will really make or break this training cycle. I am really going to take my Wednesdays easy so I can be prepared for hard Thursdays. In the future I will probably do long runs at closer to 7:30-7:45 pace with maybe some faster miles at the end.

Week 4

1/13

7 miles @ 7:36

1/14

On road segment that unfortunately in not flat

1.5 mile warm up @ 6:36 (This is not really a warm up I should have been slower but it was a little down hill)

Total workout was 4.6ish miles

6*0.50 mile with 0.25 recovery @ 5:47/mile on and 2:10 recovery

5k mile cool down @ 7:16

This workout was a lot harder than it looks on paper. The second and and fifth 800 were all uphill so holding 5:50 pace was significantly more effort than the other reps. Normally I would try to do my quarters in less than 2 minutes for recovery but I really needed to slow down to hold the effort. Was pleasantly surprised at my cool down pace. That sounds weird but it was odd how relaxed it felt after a hard effort.

1/15

OFF did about 20 minutes on a stationary bike and a little walking

1/16

On treadmill HMP workout

1.5 mile warm up @ 7:05

3.5 miles in 21:02 @ 6:01 went through 5k at 18:48

2.35 mile cool down @ 7:15

This workout surprised me. The faster pace felt pretty smooth. I just settled in and it did not feel terrible. I know that this effort is probably closer to 6:15 on the roads but I am happy with how I am progressing. I still had a good bit left in the tank.

1/17

Treadmill

10k @ 7:22

1/18

Double (I know that doing doubles under 80 miles of weekly mileage is kinda dumb but I am trying to incorporate them back as I build the mileage.)

AM 8 miles @ 7:52 (rain storm and a lot of hills)

PM Treadmill 4 miles @ 7:53

1/19

13.1 miles @ 7:03 (1:32:27)

Ran with a group and people were feeling good so we threw in a few 6:40 miles. The run did not feel that taxing. I guess I will know if I am going to pay a price for this run on my Tuesday interval workout.

Total Miles 54.5ish miles

If you look at the plan that I posted I am not following it perfectly. I am doing the speed and tempo workouts and a long run but I am sprinkling in extra miles throughout the week. Overall I do feel like I am getting fitter and my goal of 1:25 will be possible but my main goal now is to just keep building mileage and stay out of injury trouble.

I signed up for a 10k that will slightly alter my training but it falls on a good week. It is when I am suppose to do my first 6 mile HMP run. I will just eliminate that run Thursday and do an easy interval session Tuesday. If I am feeling good in 4-5 weeks I think my goal for the race will be sub 38:30. That would be a PR.

Week 5

1/20

10K @ 7:45

1/21

On the treadmill total 10.5 miles

2 mile warm up @ 7:03

5 mile workout

5*1K with 600 jog (1k @5:36/mile 2K@5:36/mile 3K@5:36/mile 4K@5:27/mile 5K@5:21/mile) jog 3.5 mile steady @7:13

Very chill jogging after

1/22

8 miles @7:21

1/23

On treadmill HMP workout total 9.5 miles

2 mile warm up @ 7:03

4 miles in 23:44 @ 5:56/mile went through 5k at 18:35

3..5 miles steady @ 6:51

Very chill jogging

These uptempo efforts are becoming smoother. I feel like I can just fall into a faster pace and the turnover feels right. I think the ultimate goal will be getting to 6-6:05 on the treadmill for 8 miles before my goal race. I am 6 weeks out from my 10k and I think that will give me a good indication of my current fitness.

1/24

7 miles @7:43

1/25

Had to take an off day. Was doing some hiking in the morning and had a bad fall that left me with a lot of bruising on my quad and some serious bursitis on my left elbow. Could barely walk much less get a run in.

1/26

On the treadmill

12 miles@7:14 (last 5 miles @6:40)

Ran with a group and people were feeling good so we threw in a few 6:40 miles. The run did not feel that taxing. I guess I will know if I am going to pay a price for this run on my Tuesday interval workout.

Total Miles 53ish miles

The speed two workouts this week were solid. I know that I am getting faster. I will keep a eye out on my leg after the bad fall I had this Saturday. I was glad I was able to do 12 on Sunday but the leg was not at 100%. I will take Monday easy and hopefully by okay to do my 1200 repeats on Tuesday without any issues.

On a side note I am looking for shoe suggestions. My go to shoes for training and racing was the kinvara 9s (I do not love the fit of the kinvara 10) and am currently cycling between my last two pairs. Any suggestions for a similar shoe?

Week 6

1/27

On the treadmill

10.52 miles @ 7:10

1/28

Track workout 8.72 miles @6:18

2 mile warm up/steady @ 6:31

4.65 miles @6:06

.75 miles 4:14.6

.38 miles 2:38.4

.75 miles 4:18.6

.38 miles 2:40.6

.75 miles 4:19.9

.38 miles 2:40.9

.75 miles 4:11.8

.38 miles 2:37.5

.13 miles 35.9

2:07 miles steady @6:34

Very chill jogging after

1/29

3.11 miles @ 6:42

1/30

On treadmill HMP workout total 8.13 miles

2 mile warm up @ 6:52

4 miles in 23:35 @ 5:53/mile went through 5k at 18:22

2.13 miles steady @7:23

Very chill jogging

1/31

7.17 miles @7:42

2/1

On treadmill

8.42 miles @7:07

2/2

On the treadmill

16.8 miles @ 6:44

Total miles 62.87 in 7:12:58 about 6:53 per mile for the week

I think this week was a perfect example of how to get injured running. I kept track of my exact mileage this week because I wanted to know the average pace per mile and it ended up being 6:53 which is just way too fast for me. I think that I am probably somewhere in the ballpark of 3 hour marathon shape maybe faster but no better than 2:57 so I basically did 62 miles this week averaging about marathon pace. On the same note it was fun to just grind really hard this week and finish it pretty strong. I do think things need to change going forward to avoid injury. I am fine adding mileage to my plan and living in the 60-80 mile range but I do think that my easy days need to be easier. I am going to try to do a minimum of 2 runs next week at 8 minute pace. Also to give my body a rest I will be doing my interval and uptempo workout slower next week. I am going to aim for mile repeats at 5:55 pace and my uptempo run to be in the 6:05 to 6:10 pace range. Happy training.

This whole thing is silly. You're in much better shape than someone shooting for sub 1:25. If you don't run under 1:21 you should be disappointed.

browski wrote:

This whole thing is silly. You're in much better shape than someone shooting for sub 1:25. If you don't run under 1:21 you should be disappointed.

Agree

When I last ran 1.25 I would struggle to do 3-4 miles at 7 flat pace. Your running 4 miles at sub 6? You could just jog about the remaining weeks and do 1.25 based on the above. Stop training so hard, either change your target or dial it back a bit.

browski wrote:

This whole thing is silly. You're in much better shape than someone shooting for sub 1:25. If you don't run under 1:21 you should be disappointed.

I do not know what workouts you are seeing that indicates that I am in 1:21 shape. Maybe if I had done a 7-8 mile training run @ 6:11 I would think that this is in the ballpark. Also the sub 6 minute tempos were done on a treadmill so I think 5:53 pace is more realistically worth 6:05-6:10 pace on the road. I am doing a 10k in about 5 weeks so I will see what I can do. 1:21 is basically two 10ks back to back in under 38:30. So unless I hit 37:30 or so I do not think I have 1:21 fitness.

I might change the target but I think it is silly to stop working hard just because my fitness is improving. Also how did you go sub 6:30 pace for 13.1 miles if you were uncomfortable running 7 pace for 3-4 miles.

thewinthatwas wrote:

I might change the target but I think it is silly to stop working hard just because my fitness is improving. Also how did you go sub 6:30 pace for 13.1 miles if you were uncomfortable running 7 pace for 3-4 miles.

No at clue. The 1.25.40 half (flat road/town, chipp timed, measured course with 2k people) I ran wasn't a goal race so I hadn't trained for it much apart from a few tempo runs, hadn't gone under 90 before either.

This 7min pace 'tempo' run (actual paces were 6.50/6.55/6.55) was my last 'workout' and was 10 days out. The only other tempo runs I ran were exactly the same - i.e. 5-8 mile runs with 3 miles at 6.55ish pace. All genuinely felt tough! Prior weekly mileages were 15/40/40/50/55 then race week. Long runs for those weeks were 0/10/10/10/16/16. Easy runs during the week were simply 4-5 miles, at 8-9min pace. I was 39 at the time. Hope this info helps. Your faster than you think, just don't over train.