About how many miles per week should I be running for a successful half iron run? My goal 13.1 mile time is ~ 1:40. As of right now my standalone 13 mile run has been clocked at 1:38, but I know I won’t be the same after 56 miles of biking. Long runs have come to 13 miles with no more than 35mpw running so far.
I tried searching for someone who asked the same question or some suggestions but the only things I found were for full distance ironman races. I feel like my swimming is fine as it is so I’m just aiming for 3 swims a week, ~10-12k meters maintenance. Also working hard on the biking…
23 weeks out, I have 12 weeks of base building, 8 weeks of threshold and 2 weeks to peak (not including this week). I’m preparing my own schedule right now which is why I’m asking. Thanks for input. I KNOW that there are a ton of variables for the running goal that would be more appropriate for a personal coach to answer, but I’m just looking for some ballpark numbers that I can tweak. On another note, how many hours a week of training do most compete-for-time 70.3 athletes do? I really appreciate your input, especially if its constructive
I just did my first 70.3 at Austin. 35 swim, 2:26 bike, 1:41 run with a complete bonk in the last .75 miles.
For the 2 months leading up to the race I was doing 1 6 mile tempo run, usually at around 6:50 pace, 3 easy runs from 3 to 6 miles at around 7:20 to 7:30 pace, and then a 13 mile run usually averaging around 7:26 to 7:35 pace. Total mileage was usually around 33 per week. I think I could have done a 1:37 in the race, but a combo of going out too fast at the beginning of the run and taking in almost no calories caused the bonk at the end.
I’ll start. When I’m in triathlon mode, I alternate my swim and bike training days but still run everyday. I usually end up working out 6 days per week.
On my biking days, I usually do a short and easy run. And on my swimming days, I do a longer run with some kind of workout. That workout can be anything from a tempo run, progression run of something slightly faster than easy pace.
However, I won’t be restarting my SBR training again until after Boston.
The more you can do while still doing your tempo runs, your long runs, your swims, your rides, all the while not getting injured. That’s what successful athletes do. They do the more they can within their constraints (physical, work, family, etc.)
Maybe you can do a 1.40 on 30mpw, but why not try to see what 40 or 50mpw can yield? Heck try the Desert Dude approved idea: 2 months (or 3) averaging 50mpw. Your running will thank you.
I had a great race this past year at my very first HIM. I probably averaged about 35mpw for running for 4 months, and about 120 mpw of cycling. I come from a running background so I wanted to have a strong run at the end, and I was happy with my 1:35 run after the bike. My legs actually felt really good coming off the bike (meaning I probably underbiked by a bit), and I actually felt like I might have a rock star run day for the first 7 miles, but then reality checked in at about mile 11, and by mile 13, I had to give it my all to not slow down, so I felt that the amount of training I did was very appropriate.
I’ll also add that I did very little pure speed work during my run training and focused much more on volume. My fastest intervals were at half marathon standalone pace, which is very close to my HIM run pace. I was actually shocked at how fast I came out of T2 - it was literally almost a full minute per mile faster than I was expecting to go based upon what many people warned me about with dead legs coming off the bike, and beginners having a hard time coping with the distance.
If you’re putting up a regular 35mpw, I think you’ll have a solid run, even without sandbagging the bike.
I’m personally keen on high volume cycling and high intensity running and swimming. 14-15 mile weekly long runs are nice, but if you go high volume in cycling you get diminished returns on aerobic fitness in high volume running. Up to 40 miles of running each week is more than enough if you make the miles high quality with tempo runs, mile repeats etc. Cycling fitness actually tends to predict tri run times better than running fitness, so if you aim to be unbreakable on the bike with high volume training, you will run closer to that standalone half marathon time. As far as total weekly training time goes, I might suggest building up to 14-16 hours during you base phase, then pulling back to 12-14 during the threshold phase. I’m a big fan of high volume training, especially on the bike, but if time is more limited cut out easy mid-distance recovery runs in favor of higher cycling volume or faster runs.
I think you should prob expect to add 10-15 minutes onto to run time goal. I run 1:30ish half and my half time on a very easy course was 1:50. It’s better to go in with lower expectations so when your legs aren’t there u won’t get frustrated.
From the sounds of it, u have the run pretty much in check. So i would Bike, bike and more bike. Sage advice from my fellow slowtwitchers that I wished I listened to more.
The more you can do while still doing your tempo runs, your long runs, your swims, your rides, all the while not getting injured. That’s what successful athletes do. They do the more they can within their constraints (physical, work, family, etc.)
Maybe you can do a 1.40 on 30mpw, but why not try to see what 40 or 50mpw can yield? Heck try the Desert Dude approved idea: 2 months (or 3) averaging 50mpw. Your running will thank you.
I wouldn’t mind doing a week or two of that but thats close to a +50% increase of mileage from what I’m doing right now, so I’d have to severely cut back on cycling to make up for it. My running would improve a lot, no doubt, but at the cost of the cycling base I need to build up much more sorely than the run.
I’m getting a lot of perspective from y’alls answers, thanks! They’re on-line with what I’ve got scheduled (sort of) so I can make a few adjustments and should be no problem
Currently I’m doing Jorge’s Winter Cycling plan from beginnertriathlete; it leaves me with about 8 weeks of cycling before the race when I finish that plan so lots of long rides and thresholds to keep the power increase if all goes according to plan.
My HIM run I I feel is only about 4 to 6 minutes slower than my open half marathon, but perhaps that is because biking is my best sport, so I get off the bike feeling pretty good. In fact for the first 2 miles in Austin, I could not get myself to run splits over 7 minutes, even though my target pace was 7:35. Just felt great after the bike… but if you look at others with similar bike splits, most of them blow me out of the water on the run.
My HIM run I I feel is only about 4 to 6 minutes slower than my open half marathon, but perhaps that is because biking is my best sport, so I get off the bike feeling pretty good. In fact for the first 2 miles in Austin, I could not get myself to run splits over 7 minutes, even though my target pace was 7:35. Just felt great after the bike… but if you look at others with similar bike splits, most of them blow me out of the water on the run.
Man I feel the same way about my swim. I’m still fresh out of high school (1st year college student) swimming, so all of the “fast” triathlete swimmers are generally the ones who have been at it for several years! I’m usually FOP or hanging off of the tail of the pack and by the time I get out of transition everybody is gone and out of sight on the bike been getting better though so I can keep them in line for a few miles. Then the fast runners start to pass me up =P
I’ve read through barryP’s articles and follow the 3:2:1, though a bit altered. I have a long run, lets say 12mi. A tempo/fartlek medium run occasionally with a running group will be 7 to 8 miles, otherwise a straight up 8 miler. Recovery runs are 3-4 miles. If I’m short on mileage from the plan I make it up with 2mi brick sessions off the bike. I’ll look up your wisdom! I looked for about 20 minutes but could only come up with ironman training info and I’m not really planning on an IM for at least another few years.
25 to 40 miles / 3.5 to 6+ hours. Any less is measly & won’t get you there. 40+ (plus all the biking!?!) is for the tiny sub 85-minute gang, those impervious to injury & those with all kinds of time on their hands …
I ran 35 mpw in prep for both my HIMs and felt that gave me a chance to run within 5-7 minutes of my open half marathon time. The one time I was able to actually run within 5-7 minutes of open HM time was when I biked conservatively. The other time I hammered the bike a little harder, and the run suffered a few minutes.
The bike is my strength though, and I believe that you need good bike fitness to run closer to your open HM time. I know guys that can run low 1:30’s in an open HM but can’t come close to cracking 1:45 in a HIM run because they don’t have sufficient bike fitness.
Rule of thumb: triathlon run splits for a given distance generally equate to running the same speed for twice the distance in an open run event. So a 10k tri split is likely to be around your HM pace, and a run split in a 70.3 is likely to be around your marathon pace. So a 1:40 HM run split is roughly the equivalent of a 3:20 marathon … probably a bit better than that, in fact, since HIM run legs tend to encroach on warmer times of the day.
Stick with your general BarryP-style approach, and aim to get your mileage above 40 mpw. Do that consistently, and you’ll probably find that the speed improvements take care of themselves. Oh, and make sure that you’re both well-trained and well-paced for the bike. If the bike leg is not comfortable, then you won’t run well off it.
25 to 40 miles / 3.5 to 6+ hours. Any less is measly & won’t get you there. 40+ (plus all the biking!?!) is for the tiny sub 85-minute gang, those impervious to injury & those with all kinds of time on their hands …
I like to think I’m impervious to injury but honestly I just listen to my body. If I ache, I stop. I make it up though. Say for example I feel shin splints coming on at mile 5 of a 12 mile run, I’ll stop. The way I make up those 7 miles without re-aggravating shin splints is adding in a 1.5 mile run before every swim and before a bike session. Its short and I still get the same distance, with only about 10-12 minutes added time to the workouts. I’m a college kid living at home, with a part time job. I don’t have a family to take care of so time isn’t a problem. There’s always time between classes, early in the morning, etc. to squeeze something in. Right now my base phase has me build up to 47 mpw towards the end, but its a long steady climb from about 31-35. Then its probably going to back down to 30 again to compensate for threshold, build to 38, then back to 30 for the second half of the build to get two threshold runs in per week.
If you KNOW there are a ton of variables then why are you asking?
(just messing with you…kinda)
As a triathlete your HIM half marathon time should be around close to your stand alone 13.1 (+3-4 mins) if not your doing it wrong.
So … I have done it both ways. Last year I spent more time focusing on run with average mpw 35-40 and less time in the saddle. This year I only ran 5, 6, 11 and 3-5mi off the bike after long ride.
For “me” I had a much faster year bike focused. And more important intensity focused cycling on the trainer x 2 a week and long ride 1 x a week.
The question I’m not clear on is this year better because I had a better base?
been getting better though so I can keep them in line for a few miles. Then the fast runners start to pass me up =P