Half Marathon Training Spring 2024

[xsquared]

The other thread got full, so I'm starting a new one to keep us motivated.

How is everyone doing?

Went out earlier today for a 8 mile run, when it was a little drizzly, but then got completely soaked as Storm Babette did their stuff! I'm still glad to have got out though.

Since completing GNR 2023, I've been training for a 10 mile race next month with Hal Higdon, as well as running 2 of the XC fixtures for my club.

I found out earlier this week that I got a place at a HM race in January 2024 through the new ballot system, so I will start training for that soon.

My race is Sunday too and I’ve done the same, if it helps! I do two 5k-ish runs a week and a longer run at the weekend. I did 21.1k on 8th, 10k on 15th, 15k on 21st and 10k this weekend. This is broadly what my plan wanted, although the 15k was meant to be 22.5k (I’m limited on time and took the decision than 3 half marathons in the space of a month wasn’t right for me, a beginner). I think we’ll be OK! I’m planning to do a 5k tomorrow, I think.

My run is on Sunday. I’m worrying I tapered off too soon… I did 12.1 miles on 21st and then just 5 miles on Sunday just passed

Well - that's quite dramatic taper, to slash your mileage right back to a 5 mile "long" run the week before a race - but it's not too ridiculous. At least you haven't stopped running altogether! And there's not much you can do about it now other than make sure you go into Sunday's race well rested and with fresh legs. If I were you I would do another 4-5 mile run today, 5k on Friday and then just a few strides on Saturday to turn your legs over.

Wow, lots of you with races coming up this weekend! Is it a big race weekend? I know it's Cardiff half and Chicago mara but that's a much as I know.
I'm def feeling FOMO, even for the pre race jitters! Some really positive sounding training been going on so I hope you all smash it!

Anyone doing the Royal Parks HM this year?

My children are both doing Royal Parks - they're very excited!

Ooh lucky them @chutneypig ! Hope they enjoy, I did it a few years ago and it’s still one of my favourites.

Good luck to all those running this weekend!

@gm2023 good luck for tomorrow!! Let us know how you get on x

Half marathon done! 2.23 - I was aiming for under 2.30 so very pleased!

Great work @Christmaspiggyjack!

I hope everything went well @gm2023

I think they're really going to enjoy it @OhOneOhTwoOhThree - I'm aiming for a couple of Hyde Park runs this week while I'm at work. Lovely spot.

Bravo @Christmaspiggyjack !

Thank you to everyone for the support on this thread! I managed just under 2:45 - which I’m so pleased with! I had hoped to run it in 2:45 but I felt that was a bit ambitious and that 3:00 was more realistic. Can’t believe I achieved my ambitious target (and by Jeffing too).

I am now focusing on improving my 5k time until the end of the year as I’ve spent the last year focusing on running for longer and further but not faster!

Super stuff @gm2023 ! Well done!

Great running @christmaspiggyjack and @gm2023!
Nearly 2 weeks with no running at all for me, and only a mile the week before that. Def won't be doing 1st XC fixture which is a shame. I think I'll try a run/walk later this week to see how the calf is.
At least it has given me the time to up the yoga, and I've actually done a small amount of weight training. Largely due to my worrying about losing fitness, and without running I should probably be eating less cake...

Great stuff @gm2023 and @Christmaspiggyjack !

I also had my third HM of the year on Sunday and hit my goal pace of 6'23/km dead on for another 6 min PB. Really chuffed!

I think I'll also be focusing on shorter distance and faster til the end of the year - Christmas fun run mid-December so either 5 km or 10 km (5 km is a relay so I'll have to see what my friend prefers to do). Spending less time outside running in the dark and the rain seems appealing right now 😅

That is wonderful @gm2023 and a tribute to all your training.

Yoga and strength work have got to be a good stop gap @Jumbojem.

That's also brilliant @Trickedbyadoughnut - that's a massive chunk off your PB!

Well done @Trickedbyadoughnut ! Great work!

Best wishes to @chutneypig offspring today. My neighbours have gone off to to to Oxford half this morning.

@Jumbojem I'll join you on the not much running but still doing yoga bench (alhough I have missed a few days yoga too).

This week I've managed 2 short runs (one longer than it should have been as I was somewhere unfamiliar and the Strava route I picked took me down some dead ends), a swim and yesterday I tail walked at parkrun.

Thanks @OhOneOhTwoOhThree - they are happily sat drinking hot chocolate now. Both enjoyed it, my daughter was more pleased with her time than her brother. He got a bit bored of Hyde Park!

I have been off running more or less since my HM as I have had a cold (it's basically just a lot of nose-blowing now, but I want to recover properly!) but I have of course signed up for my next spring HM!

When I feel better, I'm going to try to improve my 5k and 10k times on my own, then do one of those two distances in my Christmas run. Then HM would start again on 4 January - although I might try to start a couple of weeks early to give myself some wiggle room.

I'd love some advice - I'd like to improve my time again, but I'm not really sure what is a realistic target. I'm unsure how to set my training paces - all the online calculators work off my time on the last HM, but then I'd be running the same pace! I would love to go faster!

My April HM was 2 hours 21, my HM two weeks ago was 2 hours 15. My ultimate ambition is a sub-2 hour but I don't think that will be next spring somehow. Does aiming at another 5 mins off seem realistic? I'm also losing weight so hopefully would be a few kgs lighter by next April.

That’s a really great improvement already this year! I’ve only run one half marathon so I can’t really help you on what’s realistic but in case it helps, I’ve set up a dummy 5k improvement plan on Runna (as I’m focusing on shorter distances and strength training until Christmas) and that thinks I can knock 8 minutes off my half time in 8 weeks - although I am slower than you (2:45) so that might come into it. I am hoping to finish my half this time next year closer to 2:30.

But my aim is to run a 34 minute 5k before Christmas, which feels quite ambitious given my fastest 5k is around 37 minutes… I have only been running a year and have spent all of that time trying to run further rather than faster so looking forward to a change in approach!

My April HM was 2 hours 21, my HM two weeks ago was 2 hours 15

Sub-2 is definitely realistic for spring if you do some targeted training between now and then - 4 runs a week plus strength work and yoga would almost definitely get you there.
I would do one long run, one short tough run (eg a hill session or racing a parkrun) and a couple of easy runs that get the miles in.

For comparison, my first half was a similar speed to you - I ran 2:19, and then my second the same year was similar to that.
The following year I got it down to 1:50 without too much additional training, and now my PB is 1:33. I'd love to run sub 90 but it has got much harder to keep making gains, particularly as I'm now well over 40!

@gm2023 thanks, my only previous road HM was 2:37 and I was 7 or 8 years younger, so I'd definitely say you have a lot of room for improvement. I also lost 4kg between my two halfs this year, which helped with speed too.

Interesting that you're using Runna - I can get money off the sub with my next HM. IAnd sounds like we have the same plan for the end of the year with strength and speed!

@FeelinTwentySixPointTwo wow, you are super fast! I hope you get your sub-1:30 - being slow to start with like me at least gives a lot more room for improvement ha. Thanks for the encouragement, it always helps to hear someone who's been there and done it (especially as I am also in my 40s) although I suspect you have more natural ability than I have.

I have a physio strength programme that I do a little intermittently, so really want to do that. I do short yoga videos most days, but am going to do a lunchtime class at work to get in a bit more. I've been doing three runs (that's pretty much what I've always done) but I was thinking of adding an extra easy run so I guess I should give it a try.

I’ve just got a trial at the moment. I’m thinking about subscribing for a 2 or 3 months and just setting it up to do 3 runs a week for 8 weeks. I’ll just work through each run sequentially until I get to the end - which might take a bit longer than 8 weeks, as I usually run twice a week with my running club and I don’t want to replace those sessions (although I know you can set Runna up in such a way as to link them - I don’t want to do that though). The only thing is I might do Coopah instead - there’s an offer on with the Women’s Running magazine and it seems better value overall. I’m no elite athlete - I just need a bit of structure and guidance when I’m running by myself.

I did my fastest 5K this week (just under 36 minutes - good for me!) and feel like that’s a good starting point. And an encouraging step for me on my journey to get my half marathon time down to 2:30 too (mostly by strength training, a structured training plan and probably losing a few kilograms). Hopefully I’ll be able to track down to 35 minutes next month and 34 by the end of the year… but we will see - that might be a bit ambitious! But I need to get my 5k pace down before I can get my 10k and half marathon paces down, I think.

My first half was 2.21 and I managed to get to 2.16 later that year. Then as always I stalled for a few years. I did our local half one April and hadn't done a single run over 5km for the whole year,maybe 2-3 runs per week. I thought I'd toddle round and see how it went and knocked 4 minutes off my PB. Baffling. I felt great.

I'm aiming to get to 35 minutes at parkrun now, but I'm still nearer 40. I'm not feeling much improvement in pace although I'm enjoying the runs more. My daughter genuinely floated round Royal Parks and she really hadn't done as much training as she'd have liked because of her weekend job. Got her best 5 and 10km time in years and only felt it on the last mile. She does do a lot of weight training though so inspired by that I'm ramping up that front. Squat challenge and a dedicated couple of sessions at the gym.

Hello all! Lovely to hear all your plans for spring Half's. I really should enter something to give me focus over the winter.
The good news for me is the calf niggle seems to have gone. The bad news is the huge nose dive my fitness has had. The graph on Strava is a steep downhill from July onwards. So I am back running but it's a struggle, mainly run a mile, walk a bit, run a bit, walk a bit... Slowly getting there but conscious the next XC event is soon. I would love to do it but 4.5 miles continuous running, let alone in a race, is going to be a challenge. Trying to be sensible and take it steady but my head goes into panic mode and wants to do every run at a full clip, which I know is unsustainable.
@Trickedbyadoughnut I think with a focused programme sub 2 might be achievable? When I was targeting that goal I used the Garmin plan on my watch but there are others online where you set the goal and it will work out a plan to get you there. I didn't always manage to hit the paces it asked for but just tried to get as close as I could. Now I am less fit I'm a bit stunned by the paces I could run back in 2023, but it was built up by many weeks of slow build.
Loosing weight is something I could do with focusing on! Just feels so hard, especially over the winter.

Good news about the calf @Jumbojem and I expect the fitness will come back quicker than it's feels right now.

It's going to sounds a bit silly, but I have gradually come to the realisation that if I don't at least try to train towards a sub-2 hour, then I won't ever get it ...

I think I'll set up a plan for it and give myself a few weeks of training to those paces and see how it goes.