Half marathon training, starting 1/1/23

[JessicaBrassica]

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?

Right I'm going to faff about with the watch / app today and try to do some kind of reset then!!

Anyone have any advice on the sort of gym workouts I should be doing to prep for my half in 3 weeks!!!

Physio says I should be ok to run then but I'm not allowed impact until next week. So cross trainer / bike all good but no running...

Ok I found my settings! Attached screenshot, I tried "reset" and it went down to max HR 177 so it seems like its done something (presumably based on what I do??? - but perhaps it's too low because I always plod?)

When I'm back running, I'm going to try doing a sprints session to see if I need to push that max HR up a bit...

@FusionChefGeoff how do your runs feel?
Are your eyeballs falling out or can you chat easily (ish!) or have short snatches of convo?

@chutneypig it always takes me much much longer to adapt to running low carb than just getting past the initial Keto flu stage - at least 6-8 weeks generally before I see the benefits at distance.

@TheOrigRights on the long runs I can stop and take a phone call immediately, so pretty relaxed and I ocassionally do run with a friend and can chat then. This is odd - I certainly don't feel like I'm racing when I run. Is it maybe because there's a lot of shortish hills so I'm working harder on those??

Well that sounds fine then I think. It seems like you're training at the right speed.

Where are you in your training i.e how confident are you that you could knock out an HM tomorrow (albeit not at your goal race pace)?

If you were planning a 2 week taper then you only have a week of training left.

My DH has to follow a low-carb diet but I really struggle with it when I'm training. I'm vegetarian which does make low-carb a lot harder but I find my muscles just don't feel stretchy/elasticy (can't think of a better word!). I've done low carb to support him when I've not been training but now it's tricky; my runs were always so much slower than with my normal diet.

Ran 8 good miles on Monday, just did an interval session this morning (8x1min with jog back recs), now for 2 days of leg rest before my 10 on Sunday.
I'm getting nervous about the 10 as it's new distance territory and im not sure how to pace it. It's all good practice before the Half though.

When are everyone's races? Add to the list if you want:

OrigRights Cambridge 1/2 5th March.

I'll add mine!

@theworldhasgoneninsane 5th March (Cambridge)

And right now I feel like after that I won't ever run again! Completely sick of it now!

Spooky I am also doing the Cambridge half

I was up to 9 miles, did a string half in October so feel happy I can get round just want to make sure I don't lose too much fitness / strength to improve my chances of getting round uninjured. If I'm not trained up enough my knee tends to shout at me for the last 3 miles.

@brooksghost vegetarian and low carb is nigh on impossible / incredibly boring so I don't blame you! I am slower on low carb but the endurance is massively better for me.

If you're training 8 miles and doing interval stuff you shouldn't find 10 too difficult. The risk with ANY distance is setting off too fast!! I made that mistake once when aiming for a target and it was such a miserable experience when I burnt out really early.

For long races I try not to go any faster than 30 secs faster than my easy run pace so if easy runs are 10.30 a mile then I start at 10.00. If I feel I've got it in the tank I will review and speed up at half way, then again with a quarter left.

chutneypig London Landmarks 2nd April

Well done everyone on the training.

I did my interval training today! 6*200m flat out, 300m easy pace back, warm up and down 1km so 5k overall. Was quite hard but felt good.

I was thinking of doing a 10k race the week before my HM. Is that madness? there aren’t many races apart from trials in my area.

My diet is quite good but I eat way too many treats 🙈

I looked at the London Landmarks and thought it looked a fab route. Then I realised that it was far easier to run my local on the same day, so
I'm doing Reading Half on the 2nd April. I last ran it 10 years ago in 2013!

It's not madness to enter a race the week before the HM, BUT I would treat it as an event to practise race day - eat and drink well, fanny about with your kit, worry about parking and toilets etc, rather than racing it. It'll be a great leg stretcher but you want to be as rested as poss before the main event.

I am very much a morning run person but that was not possible this morning so went out this evening in the dark. It felt so weird, my body felt all discombobulated and I couldn't see where I was going. Don't normally wear my glasses when running in day light but could have done with them this evening. That plus heavy legs made for a slog.
15min warm up, followed by 30mins goal pace followed by 10mins cool down.

Am glad that it's over!

Hello! Just came back from my run, shorter, 3.4km and realised last time I run last month! Ten days ago. I had very busy time at work, but can’t make excuses. Steady jog. DH bought me beanie hat with torch in, very useful for evening running.

Fist bump @shamoola - I did yesterday morning's run in the dark this evening, and will need to do today's run tomorrow. So 4 miles on Tuesday morning, 5 this evening and supposed to do 4 tomorrow.

We go on holiday Saturday-Weds, I'm taking trainers with me but not sure how much running I will do.

@shamoola me too! I can only run in the morning - every time I've tried to vary that it's been an unmitigated disaster so huge kudos to you for stepping out of that comfort zone.

Hello, my race is weston super half on 14 May.
I'm also thinking about entering the Forest of Dean Autumn trail half, which I'm hoping will be beautifully scenic to make up for the hilly course.

No running for 2 days here but have longer speed intervals tomorrow, 2.5 minutes on/off.
I prefer running first thing too, I loose motivation as the day goes on, unless it's a lovely spring eve

Well done on the sprint training and evening runs. I’m heading up to Edinburgh for my half on 28th May. I’ve done a lot of training/boot camp over last 2 weeks and after a 13 hour shift in A&E today, I came home and ate Chilli, drank a glass of wine and had some chocolate. Some days you just need to do that and today was that day! Back to it tomorrow 💪

@Cantdoitallperfectly DH ran the Edinburgh half last year and had a good time. I ran the full after 2 weeks off with a non-Covid according to LFTs but still horrible virus. Well I walked quite a lot of the last few miles as I was so wiped out. It’s a lovely route and great atmosphere.

I hope you enjoyed your chilli, wine and chocolate after a hard day.

There are days that need chocolate @Cantdoitallperfectly and that sounds like one of them.

I've got a torch beanie too @Turefu and love it, I had a chest light but it felt such a faff.

I'm firmly in the morning runner crew - I've always been an early riser. One year I did most of my runs in the evening and it was dire.

Some great sounding runs that everyone has planned. What's Reading like @brooksghost? I keep getting emails about it even though it's nowhere near me. LLHM is a stunning route. I've entered the ballot of Royal Parks. Again. It feels like I've got more chance of getting into the marathon than that.

Course check followed by parkrun tomorrow, hilly one so that'll test me. I've learnt from last week so I'm only planning 6 miles Sunday. I'm RD next week so will revisit my 10 miles next Sunday.

@chutneypig I've only done two Halfs- Reading 2013 and Edinburgh 2016 (charity run but didn't train for that one). I enjoyed Reading as it's fully closed roads and a smaller field (3500 runners). It's also on home turf so the route seemed to go quicker as the roads are familiar.
It's flat, around town and finishes in the football stadium which is quite exciting.
Now that I'm back running, I'd love to try a few more- Richmond Park being high on my list.

Just a swim today for me, a Uni visit day tomorrow and then the 10 on Sunday.