Background:
In the last 3 years I’ve completed marathons and a 50k. Qualified and ran boston this past year and now have a few more races on my schedule. I want to
Half Marathon Times: 1:31, 1:25:08, 1:20:58 (same course each time over the last 3 years)
Marathon Times: 3:28:25, 3:21:39, 3:40:15 (bonk), 3:02:35 (Grandma’s Marathon/BQ), 3:03:28 (Boston)
Goals for my next 2 races:
Half Marathon: 1:18
Full Marathon: Sub 3 hours
Anyway, I want to run the same half marathon again, Des Moines Half is on October 19, 2014 and then run the Monumental Marathon in Indianapolis on November 1st, 2014. That leaves me 13 days between. Is this wise to run both hard? I usually do a 2 week taper anyway. Thoughts from experienced runners?
mmmm. Three weeks would be better. A workout like that will defiantly effect any ‘quality’ work you’d do in the next week or so leading up to the race. Moreover there is a risk of injury too. If you were to back off the Half, maybe running it 3-4 minutes slower than it could work well. It would be similar to the last big key workout you’d do before a mara then.
Frankly I’d pick one and put all your efforts into that.
Also I note your HM time is in comparison a lot stronger than your Mara, I think a 1.24 is an equivalent to a 3hr.
i agree, had my best marathon after doing an all out half 3 weeks earlier (1:20:40/2:55), i wouldnt do that two weeks out though, if you really want to do the half for some reason you could do it at marathon pace
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If your fitness level is high and you feel like you recover at an average/good rate, I think two weeks might set you up for a fast marathon. I think running the half could potentially help your marathon performance.
Go with your gut feeling on this, but I think that you would be fine given you feel no aches or pains going into the half.
I think 2 weeks could fit pretty well into a taper for a full mary. Race, easy runs for 4-5 days than some sharpening taper workouts to reenforce you marathon pace and you good to go. If you slower than 1:30, you however, might want 3 weeks as it’s getting to be a longer race.
I think I’m going to go for it. I’d really like to PR both races and I have a lot of time to get ready while still racing tri’s this season.
the difference between your HM and full times indicate that you are undertrained for full distance. Hence, running the HM two weeks prior will affect you more than it would a fully trained marathoner. I would be hesitant to race a HM two weeks out. Three is fine, but I personally think two weeks in someone who is undertrained will hurt your full mary performance. my two cents.
I would try to get 15-16 in total, and do it as a progression, beginning below mpace for first half, miles 7-10 at mpace, and last 5k at 10 sec faster than mpace. I think it’s important to do long runs (up to 20 miles) at close to mpace, but certainly not within 2 weeks of the race.