A Change of Pace/Half Marathon Training Part 2

For those of you who are planning to run a May or June half marathon, March is a good time to begin thinking about a change of pace. This is especially true if you want to do more than just finish. With two months in the books with a gradual increase in long runs and weekly mileage now is the time to add anaerobic threshold workouts such as tempo runs, cruise intervals and maybe even some aerobic capacity runs (vo2 max). To get the most out of speed training, it is important to understand what these terms mean and how do these types of workouts. Click on the underlined words for the McMillan running calculator for pace goals and for excellent definitions of these terms.

Two examples of anaerobic threshold training (AT)are tempo runs and cruise intervals. A heart rate monitor really helps keep my effort on these workouts in check. It keeps me from pushing too hard and from slacking off. The Runner's Web is a good place to find heart rate training zones.

My early season speed workouts are blind tempo runs of 20-60 minutes. For example, on my first tempo run of the season I ran for 20 minutes on an unknown course length. My goal pace was to keep my heart rate in my AT heart rate zone of 157-163 bpm. When I got home I measured the distance on USATF course calculator. I am not concerned about the distance until after the run. On the next tempo run I ran the same workout but on another unknown course. This time I was able to cover more distance was able to still keep my heart rate in my AT zone. Sometimes, I will do tempo runs in the last half of a longer run. I will usually alternate between these tempo runs or cruise intervals from week to week.

Cruise intervals are described in Jack Daniel's book, Peak Running Performance. These are another form of anaerobic threshold workouts. For example, I will do 3 to 6, 1 mile repeats within my AT heart rate zone or at 10k pace. After each 1 mile I will take a very short rest (for me approximately 1 minute). Each 1 mile repeat must be maintained at the goal pace with a variation of only 2-5 seconds. These miles should be hard but manageable.

I will sometimes add in an aerobic capacity workout. These are nearly all out speed workouts with a long recovery interval. I may run 3-4, 1 mile repeats but much harder/ within my AC heart rate zone. However instead of a short rest interval, I will take a full recovery approximately 3-5 minutes. For example, I may run 3 x's 1 at a pace near 5:30 or faster while keeping my heart rate between 163-177 bpm. Between each 1 mile, I will take a full rest (no jogging) until I am completely recovered.

Basically, these speed workouts will improve my ability to handle a faster pace for longer periods of time. I now am at the age where I can only do one speed workout and a long run a week. If I do more than that very often I don't recover well and run the risk of an injury. I still will deload every 2 weeks by lowering my quality miles as well as my weekly mileage by 25%. I also will alter these workouts around any tune up races. Remember rest is also a very important part of training. After a heavy load the body must have enough time to recover and rebuild. When in doubt, I will reschedule a hard run if I am having any symptoms or pain during my average day. Hopefully this post was helpful in explaining the need for speed and how to include it in half marathon training. In April, I will review tapering for the big race.

Note to readers:
Always consult a physician before starting any exercise program.

Early season half marathon guidelines

Well, It is almost that time of the year to begin half marathon training. It seems that January and February are the most common time for clubs to begin their organized training programs for the May and June races. Locally these races include the 500 Festival Indy Mini, Geist Half and the Flying Pig. Hopefully prior to beginning these programs all of you have been running at least 3 miles 3-4 times per week in December. If you are not currently a runner and are thinking about a spring half marathon we would encourage you to re-think that as a goal for much later in 2009. Stick to the 5k or 10 k distances and have fun with those distances. Let your body adapt to the demands of running for several months, injury-free before committing to a half marathon. For the more experienced runners, hopefully you backed off your weekly mileage in December as compared to November and October. This downtime is important to allow the body a break from the rigors of late summer/ early fall training and the late fall racing schedule. Give the legs a break! Here in the Midwest, it also works out well as our weather begins to really SUCK! Late December is also a good time to work on our functional strength and mobility exercise or add swimming as a way of cross training. Over the month of January and February most half marathon programs begin with a gradual buildup of weekly mileage and long runs. No speed or quality workouts yet. This is a good time to begin to get into a pattern of "de-loading" (2 weeks up / 1 week down). This will allow the body time to recover between the harder work load weeks and will help to decrease the risk of injury. In another post, we will share our guidelines for the next phase of half marathon training for the month of March. Check out some of the online programs but make sure to adapt them to your schedule, skill level and perhaps some of the guidelines on this blog. Good Luck in your training and Happy New Year!

500 Festival Mini Marathon

Just a few hours now to the start of the largest Half Marathon in the country!
In downtown Indianapolis 34,998 runners & walkers will join Lou & I at 7:30 AM for the One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon. The weather looks good & dry but WINDY! The wind should make our lap around the Indy 500 track a tough task. Check back for our race reviews.

Half Marathon

It sure was nice of Lou to point out that I'm a seasoned veteran (see the previous post). I have completed 44 half marathons, 26 of which have been the Indy Mini marathon. I'm not sure Lou was even born when I ran my first one. This is a great distance for a long challenge but not so long that it will zap your legs for several weeks of recovery as with a full marathon. This is not a good race distance for kids and even high schoolers if they are also planning on running track and cross country. I made this mistake in my youth. I was never blessed with wicked fast track speed and I never, as a youth, appreciated track. So, I started running long races at a fairly early age. I raced my first half at the age of 15, my first full marathon at 18 and my first Boston at 19 (2:38). I now know this is not the best plan for our young runners. I try to encourage my daughters to stick to short races. The early years of running are the prime time for developing leg speed. They then need to gradually build their ability to carry that speed. So, again if kids are interested in track and cross country, encourage them to stick to the shorter races. High schoolers and middle schoolers should learn to run fast in the shorter race distances (5Ks and shorter). This will only help them if they choose to move up in later years. Bob Kennedy didn't race longer than 12K until near the end of his competitive career. Many of the great Marathoners were very successful on the track and in shorter races before they moved up to the marathon later in their careers.

As I said earlier, for older runners (high school & up) who don't need to worry about competing in school sports the half marathon is a wonderful challenge. Just follow what Lou said in his post and you should be fine.

Other than the Indy Mini, my favorite Half is the Ludington Lakestride.
This small Ludington, Michigan race is held in mid June. It starts near the channel next to the Lake Michigan shoreline and goes north into the Ludington State Park for about 2.5 miles on a nice hard sand trail. The course gradually climbs to exit the trails over a large sand dune and then rejoins the road for the last half along the Lake back to the start. It is a hard course to run quick times but you can't beat the scenery.

The Mini

It's that time of year again. Here in the great state of Indiana, i think people are surprised to hear that there are other half marathons on this earth besides the famous "Indy One America Mini Marathon". You'll see what i'm talking about while you're waiting the 20 minutes to actually cross the start-finish line after the gun goes off. Personally, the indy mini is the only half-marathon i've ever done. I need to get out more i guess. John has completed many, many more and i'll let him give his own colorful commentary on those (wink, wink...he's been around a little longer than i have). The first time i ran a half marathon, i did it as a challenge to myself. Now that i've finally decided to up the ante and train for a full marathon, i'm beginning to think the half-marathon is the perfect distance for a race. It's not too long and it's not too short. It doesn't require a PDA to schedule 20 mile training runs. I don't need a GPS to actually figure out where i'm going to run 20 straight miles! I don't have to EAT while i run. More on this topic later as i continue with quest for 26.2.

Now for the good stuff:

There are several things to watch out for when training for the half-marathon. Like others have stated, just because it's a "half", doesn't mean it's going to somehow be easier to train for or that it can't cause injury if one doesn't train properly. We see many, many runners this time of year and it always seems to be the result of the same issues. In no particular order:

TOO MUCH TOO FAST
IMPROPER SHOE CHOICE
NOT LISTENING TO YOUR BODY (just because you can, doesn't mean you should)
NOT ESTABLISHING A GOOD BASE (cardiovascular base and strength/core base)

As a fellow runner, i have been guilty of all of these things at one point or another. I really have problems with number 3 eventhough i see the results of it on a daily basis (For a good real-life example see the excellent post by Frayed Laces). Hopefully, in the weeks to come, we'll be able to post some more examples, ideas, questions, and opinions on those issues and more. In the meantime, we encourage your comments and questions whether you agree or disagree. We love reading, learning, and discussing new ideas! Now Hit the Road!