Page 12 | Half marathon training, starting 1/1/23

JessicaBrassica · 2022-12-26T22:17:53+00:00

Hi, I'm planning to start half marathon training in n Jan 1st. Aiming definitely for an event on May 13 but plan designed around a race on 22/4. Just in case. Anyone want to join me? I've done several halfs before but not run a good one for a few years. I'm using the Garmin beginner 3x a week programme. Anyone want to join me?

OhOneOhTwoOhThree · 31/01/2023 08:28

I’m another one pace runner. Although I’m getting faster week by week, I’m not really pushing myself. I’ll do some intervals on Thursday as I’ll be at home and I can go somewhere flat and do some out and backs as suggested by @brooksghost

Three cold and grey miles this morning. Ran as usual on a cup of coffee but felt really hungry this morning. Porridge and banana for breakfast now!

TheOrigRights · 31/01/2023 09:27

Thank you!!! I've done them before just not for a couple of years which is the same I suppose 😁😁

And when you do them again you'll think "oh yeah....this is why I stopped doing them!".

If I didn't go to club I would never do intervals - well maybe some half hearted efforts before thinking sod this! Having other people to push, support and (friendly) compete with makes them a whole lot nicer. And you feel SO good afterwards.

Cantdoitallperfectly · 31/01/2023 10:06

Morning all, I’ve just done my long run. Slight change of plan as was meant to be doing speeds this morning but a friend wanted to do a run and I fancied the company. I managed 8.5km in 55 mins so I’m quite happy with that. The wind was unreal!! I too am looking forward to the longer days and being able to get out in the evenings. In the past I’ve either done only running or weight training and this time I’m doing a combination. @Turefu I don’t actually use any weights for upper body just push ups, a mixture of wide/military/plyo and use a set of bands for doing pulls. The push ups really help with core muscles too. I do a lot of plank work alongside them. This is what physio has got me doing since back pain issues. He’s also got me running in a slightly different posture which I have to keep reminding myself to use! Now off to stretch and coffee!

FusionChefGeoff · 31/01/2023 11:01

TheOrigRights · 31/01/2023 09:27

Thank you!!! I've done them before just not for a couple of years which is the same I suppose 😁😁

And when you do them again you'll think "oh yeah....this is why I stopped doing them!".

If I didn't go to club I would never do intervals - well maybe some half hearted efforts before thinking sod this! Having other people to push, support and (friendly) compete with makes them a whole lot nicer. And you feel SO good afterwards.

That really made me laugh!!!

I hate them but I know I need to do them otherwise all the plodding starts to feel a bit pointless as I never get any better.

They went surprisingly well and I even did an extra one. Did 30 secs then 1 min recovery x 8 in the end.

What would be progression?? Longer sprint / shorter recovery or just more??

Jumbojem · 31/01/2023 11:01

@chutneypig when does your new watch arrive? I have the 255 and love it. That and my Shockz bone conduction earphones are my fave bits of running kit.
I have been loving the super slow easy runs, it's a revelation as I too have been a "one pace" runner for years and years. Although there are some scary fast (but very short) intervals for Thursday this week. A pace I've never even been close to but I can try, it's only 15 seconds (x6, with 2 min recoveries).

Lamontaine · 31/01/2023 11:56

5k this morning for me, at a quick pace, felt like I pushed myself but could have done a bit more too.
I will start sprints soon… will try the 30 secs and then 1 min recovery. What kind of pace are we aiming at for the sprints? Or just running as fast as we can?!
i do Pilates once a week and body attack but maybe will try some weights too.

FusionChefGeoff · 31/01/2023 13:15

Lamontaine · 31/01/2023 11:56

5k this morning for me, at a quick pace, felt like I pushed myself but could have done a bit more too.
I will start sprints soon… will try the 30 secs and then 1 min recovery. What kind of pace are we aiming at for the sprints? Or just running as fast as we can?!
i do Pilates once a week and body attack but maybe will try some weights too.

I didn't really look at pace - just went as fast as I could!! From memory when I was aiming for a sub 2 half (never made it, alas) the sprints were a minute / 1.5 a mile faster than race pace. So around 7.30-8.00 minute miles

chutneypig · 01/02/2023 06:03

I'm hoping my watch will have arrived by the time I get home on Friday. It's great to know several of you have the 255. I've got a long trail run in a month and my current watch would never have lasted - it's very much a run/walk and eat cake type event that I do with my daughter. We don't rush

My speed repeats are aiming for zone 4 or 5 which I find a struggle in a short stretch. Strava is quite good for a retrospective on whether I've hit that, I find it a struggle to assess during the run. Also my current watch has started doing a very faint buzz when I hit the repeat so I've missed it a few times. I've used the treadmill in the past for slightly longer repeats of 0.5 km not so fast and that had a fantastic impact on my parkrun times - it's just I'd rather be in the fresh air.

shamoola · 01/02/2023 09:08

@chutneypig I find when I am trying an all out effort it's too much to focus on my watch! Getting into zone 5 should feel really hard and actually not very easy to do. So for a fast/hard repeat session I find it best for me to not worry about time/heart rate but just go by effort. By some sort of magic looking at my splits afterwards I'm always within the range set by my watch.

brooksghost · 01/02/2023 10:14

I just did my first interval session since my pre-covid days (August)!

The aim was 6 x 60sec with jog back recoveries (and a mile warm up and warm down). It was a bit of a disaster!

Rep1- completely misjudged where 60secs would get me so did double!
Rep2- ran looking at my watch but found approx 60secs
Rep3- due to looking at my watch on rep2, came in at 50secs
Rep4- perfect 60secs
Rep5- dog walker with 6 dogs got in my way so who know what happened
Rep6- ran my fastest rep but came
In short as it was faster than rep4
it was a good session to build on and I now know where 60secs will take me! All good fun though!

TheOrigRights · 01/02/2023 13:44

With interval training you should aim for your 5K pace for short sprints - 500m with 30 secs recovery or so, and 10K pace for longer efforts - 1K with 1 min recovery.
The best gains will be achieved if you are able to maintain the same effort for each interval i.e. aim to do all the efforts at 70% rather than the first at 100% the next at 80% etc.

A really good session is to do 2 sets of intervals with a longer recovery between each set e.g. set 1: 500m reps with 30 sec recovery x 5, 4 min rest and then repeat for set 2. A mile jog warm up and cool down ties it all up nicely. The first rep of the 2nd set will be HARD, but that's when the hard core training really happens and what you will use on race day.

It's better to maintain the effort and do a walk recovery rather than tail off the efforts while doing a jog recovery.

TheOrigRights · 01/02/2023 13:47

...and I want a 255 now!

OhOneOhTwoOhThree · 01/02/2023 20:54

TheOrigRights · 01/02/2023 13:44

With interval training you should aim for your 5K pace for short sprints - 500m with 30 secs recovery or so, and 10K pace for longer efforts - 1K with 1 min recovery.
The best gains will be achieved if you are able to maintain the same effort for each interval i.e. aim to do all the efforts at 70% rather than the first at 100% the next at 80% etc.

A really good session is to do 2 sets of intervals with a longer recovery between each set e.g. set 1: 500m reps with 30 sec recovery x 5, 4 min rest and then repeat for set 2. A mile jog warm up and cool down ties it all up nicely. The first rep of the 2nd set will be HARD, but that's when the hard core training really happens and what you will use on race day.

It's better to maintain the effort and do a walk recovery rather than tail off the efforts while doing a jog recovery.

Excellent advice which I will take tomorrow.

5 dark miles this evening after a very busy day at work.

chutneypig · 02/02/2023 06:16

I'll be taking everyone's excellent advice into account for my intervals today, 8 x 1 min zone 5. I'll do that at lunchtime, Bodybalance this morning and boy do I need it.

My 255 has arrived but I won't be home until tomorrow night. I'll strive for patience and set it up after parkrun on Saturday, probably.

Cantdoitallperfectly · 02/02/2023 08:40

I’m doing sprints tonight after work. I’m hoping writing it on here will actually make it happen! Thanks for the advice @TheOrigRights I’m going to try the 500m at 5k pace. Will aim to start with 2 sets of 4x500 and see how that goes..

Jumbojem · 02/02/2023 11:53

@TheOrigRights lol, that 1 mile warm up, 2 X 6 lots of intervals, 1 mile cool down is precisely what is on the Garmin plan for today.
As @Cantdoitallperfectly checking in here to say I'll be doing mine in about 40 mins. Had a mid morning cereal bar and water to fuel me up ready! Was going to do it yesterday but realised might be a lot of kids in the park due to the teacher strike so I took a second rest day.

brooksghost · 02/02/2023 17:08

I ran again today; I've not done two consecutive days of running in decades. Had a nice easy half hour plod...and the legs, joints and muscles felt fine.
Decided that 30mins easy exercise wasn't enough for me so went on my turbo trainer for half an hour too and banged out a few miles.
Tomorrow I'll rest the legs as we have a pacers day on at Parkrun on Saturday which is like to run well at.

chutneypig · 02/02/2023 18:30

That sounds very positive @brooksghost

My intervals went ok, my legs felt a bit tired in the warm up but were ok on the actual intervals, I'm not seeing much improvement in pace and I'm certainly not keeping the pace consistent, a clear steady decline! But I did more reps and felt ok, so I'll take that.

OhOneOhTwoOhThree · 02/02/2023 20:19

I should have run, but didn't. Will do in the morning when I'm feeling fresher.

Jumbojem · 02/02/2023 22:15

Urgh I looked at the wrong day on Garmin and it was 2 mins on/2 mins recovery intervals. These are the longest intervals I've done, didn't quite get up to speed for the first one but once I'd got a feel for the required pace I did better for the other 6 reps. I pretty much walked all the recoveries though.
It isn't my legs it's my lungs that give up on me, my breathing gets so shallow. I struggle to nose breathe at the best of times. How do you get better at breathing?!
@chutneypig I feel the same, my pace has been stagnant for a few years and despite running loads last spring it did nothing for my pace (admittedly I did no speed work at all though, just ran longer).

@brooksghost sounds like you had a great day!

I could not stop eating after my run today. Chocolate, peanuts, cheese, crisps. I ate it all under the pretence my body needed it for recovery😆

chutneypig · 03/02/2023 05:22

Hope you're feeling better today @OhOneOhTwoOhThree - sensible to listen to your body rather than push on.

You'll have to let me know once you've cracked the breathing @Jumbojem! I struggle hugely with it, I feel like I'm suffocating if I try and regulate it.

I'll see how my pace is coming on at parkrun on Saturday. I'm planning on my home run, which isn't the one volunteer at now - that's very hilly. I've done my home run loads so it's a great benchmark. My most recent run there was October, 30.30, just before I got covid.

The main thing for me is that I am motivated to run, I really noticed that this week, I was going, none of the back and forth with excuses in my head.

shamoola · 03/02/2023 07:12

@Jumbojem I very rarely only breathe through my nose when running. I sometimes might breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth for a short bit to calm my breathing down. I think some people just can't. I watched something on the running channel on YouTube about it. Might be worth a watch?

For the first time I may have to miss a scheduled run as I'm not feeling very well. Strange ache across my kidneys and feeling a bit queasy. Very poor sleep over the last few days. When you've worked hard for running to be a habit, something you enjoy rather than a chore there is a slight panic that I will lose all my fitness. Which is daft! I have to tell myself that I'll feel better quicker if I rest. It's supposed to be a speed session which does not feel like a good idea!

Cantdoitallperfectly · 03/02/2023 09:16

Morning, unfortunately I didn’t manage the interval training after work (DP was oncall and had to work late) so I did a boot camp workout instead with lots of burpees and jump lunges; it was brutal! I’m hoping that all helps along the way. Hoping to get out later for those sprints after some stretching. Hope you feel better soon @shamoola and that you get out for that run today @OhOneOhTwoOhThree

OhOneOhTwoOhThree · 03/02/2023 09:30

Morning all, just back from a 3 mile plod. My legs were really heavy but I think I feel better for going. Didn’t want to leave it until tonight as I’ll be at parkrun tomorrow morning and thought I’d need a 24 hour gap between runs!

TheOrigRights · 03/02/2023 11:27

I have a cold
I've had it since Monday evening. Did circuits that evening and felt OK (you know the stage where you know you're coming down with something, but you're not sure how bad and that maybe you can fight it off).
Felt lousy on Tuesday so just did a walk with a friend.
I did run on Wednesday as the cold was in my head not chest and only went for 4 miles. I had to go really slowly as my head torch was running out of charge (fuckwit), but that's not a bad thing.
I feel better in myself now, just worn out, but it's gone to my chest a bit.

I am torn between not getting my mileage in this week and letting myself recover so I will be fully better for my long run at the w/e.
Maybe a gentle one at lunch time?

I need it for my wellbeing but am not sure if I'm being a twit. I should know better.