I apparently was away for a bit - new forum is wild! Hopefully this goes here. Trying to pivot from a mid-September 70.3 to a late October 13.1. Lots of details for those into that sort of thing:
I’m a 46 year old guy, 6’4”, 180s. I did 70.3 Michigan on 9/15, aiming to run 7:59s but fell off after 5 miles and settled for a 1:53 for 5:08. Generally 9ish hours training, a few at 12, normally 20-25 mpw running with two long runs of 14. Had a light recovery week, then missed some days due to a stomach bug the next week.
Ran 18 total the week of 9/29 including a 2 mile open cross country race that left me sore in a very different way than Michigan.
Just did 31 this week (10/6) including a 7 miler with 5 miles of tempo, a “speed” workout of 5 miles with 4x800 at 5k effort and an 11 mile upper Z2 long run.
So…what to do between now and 10/27? My last open half was a 1:33 in 2020, but I’m not close to that. Thinking I can do 2 long runs, maybe 10/12 and 10/18. Try and hit 30+ the next two weeks, then a week taper? Any benefit to runs above race pace, or focus on trying to find race pace?
Keep your running routine as is, don’t suddenly introduce loads of speedwork. Just ramp up volume gradually.
Back off intensity on you swim and bike, but don’t stop entirely.
I would take my pace guidance from the last 3 months training and metrics, not the result of a 70.3.
Fellow 46’er here. I have done the fall 70.3 to running event double before. The running event doesn’t take much planning on top of training for a 70.3. Your pure running peers at the half marathon are running 4-5 hours a week to get ready. You are doing 9-12 hours a week of training. Don’t get caught up in the run volume. I have done full marathons on 70.3 training (9-12 hrs/wk) where I only averaged 17 miles a week of running (14 miles in my lowest week and 32 mile is my highest week). I was better prepared for the running event than my pure runner peers and when they faded in the last half of the race I picked them off one by one to finish strong.
A typical half marathon plan will have the longest runs at about 12 miles. If you have done an 18-mile run and have got some intense runs in (i.e. 2-mile cross country race) you are ready for your half marathon NOTE: I like to get 15-18 miles runs in when I train for a half marathon. I feel that peaking at 12 miles is a beginner plan for someone who has never done anything over a 5k race and has never ran more than 5-mile. It will get you through 13.1 mile run but without some intensity in the training plan and the larger base you aren’t going to be as strong in the race.
So…you are really at the beginning of a taper for your half marathon. I agree that you should NOT increase volume. You may need to take a recovery week or two or three following the 70.3. Low impact stuff like swimming and cycling are best there. You probably only need about 5 days of a taper for your half marathon (although the pure runners who are putting in lots of high impact running may take 2-3 weeks for their plans). I would treat things like recovery and taper between races.
You really don’t need long runs as much as you need recovery. 30-60 minute recovery runs are what I would be doing. A 60 minute run on the 12th at recovery pace and a 45 minute run on the 18th at recovery pace will help loosen things up while maximining rest between races.
Depends on how much damage you do to your legs in the 70.3. If you are feeling the lactate in your legs or tears from your 70.3 then speed work will do more harm than good. If you don’t trash your legs in the 70.3 and have a lot of energy to burn off leading into the half marathon then short intervals at or slightly above race pace are a good low volume workout that is race specific. They are usually the most productive thing to do race week, but when you are recovering from another race that isn’t the case. I have had better success maximizing recover and waiting until race day to see what I have to give when I do two races close together than trying to do too much between races and risking new damage to the legs by doing too much on them before they are 100% recovered. If I did do race pace stuff it would be short intervals done more like strides than trying to hold race pace over mile repeat type stuff.
I figured 6 weeks between the 70.3 and the 13.1 was enough for a rest week, a rebuild week, two specific weeks with long runs and race-pace specific work, and a bit of faster stuff, then two weeks tapering down.
Sadly most cycling and swimming has gone out the window because of life stuff. Not ideal, I know.
Hoping the big summer base plus some specific running work will get me a decent 13.1 - just really trying to figure out the next 16 days now.
I know it is easier to do too much than not enough at this point, but I still feel like there are a few percentage points to be gained.
It looks like I glossed over the date of the 70.3 Michigan. I was thinking you had three weeks between the 70.3 and the half Marathon. With 6 weeks you theoretically should be fully recovered. I did National Duathlon 6 weeks after spring full marathon a few years ago. My plan was to do a reverse taper following my Marathon (i.e. cut volume 30% a week going into the Marathon and increase 30% a week coming out be back to full volume 3-4 weeks out. I totally misjudged how long it would take me to recover. At 4 weeks out from the Marathon I still was pampering my recovery. By 6 weeks I was starting to feel like I could start a build but by then it was race day for the duathlon. I had a good race at the duathlon, but didn’t do much training between races. If you are recovered from IM Michigan feel free to get some longer runs in and to do some race pace stuff before the half marathon. Some people recovery from a 70.3 quickly, others don’t.