Hi All - it’s been quite a while since I’ve raced any type of event. I’ve done a half Ironman before but now feel like focusing on just a half marathon instead. Can anyone recommend a good plan for me to get going and follow? I always do better with a plan, helps hold me accountable
intermediate is more than just finishing. So first you need to do a 5k test run. Then use jack daniels calculator to figure out your paces for training… 1 speed workout, 1 tempo, and 1 long run a week building distance/reps each week
What does “intermediate” mean, anyway?
1 Like
Just use your half ironman plan, reduce the intensity of the bike sessions so that you’re always feeling fresh for the run workouts. Drop one of the swims for an easy run.
I agree with Synthesis. Those are the three key workouts that build every successful run plan. If you want to take some of the work out of finding a Jack Daniels training manual and figuring out how to set up your own training plan, you can look up the F.I.R.S.T. “Run Less Run Faster” half marathon plan. It is an 18 week plan that already has your speed workouts, Tempo workouts, long runs for each week planned out. This plan prescribes two (2) cross training days a week which are designed to be easy swim or easy bike days. I personally do three moderate bike days and two moderate swim days a week when I use this plan. If you really just want to run you can replace the cross training days with 5-mile easy runs. The important thing is that you nail the three key runs. The cross training days or recovery run days don’t need to be exact and are not where you want to go all out.
You can find running paces HERE
2 Likes
I am a huge fan of Pfitzinger. He not only designs marathon training plans but also 5K, 10K and half marathon. I have had an extremely high success rate of PRing using his plans:
https://www.amazon.com/Faster-Road-Racing-Half-Marathon/dp/1450470459/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1
With that said, a lot of people will PR in the half while training for a marathon. So if you like distance over faster workouts, you could also just pick a marathon plan and cap the long runs at say 16 miles or so.
Is that the free plan from RW a decade or so back?
The book is available of Kindle pretty cheap and worth reading imo, has a lot more material to make it successful.
Eg, You don’t want to go into that plan if you’re not running regularly, guidance on your 5km baseline, why the cross training is not optional and so on.
My personal experience has been that the interval and tempo runs can be brutal but achievable - the long runs not so achievable. Most people I know made the long runs easy pace and skipped the cross training.
I read the hard copy of the Runner’s World plan back in 1998. My mom had just got me a subscription to the magazine and I was soaking up everything like a sponge. That is NOT what was in the 1998 Runner’s World Magazine article. It is something that I found online about 10 years ago. It is from the same group but a later revision with different workouts. I used it in 2022 when I was training for The Woodlands Marathon. I choose it because I decided in 2016 that I was never going back to a running plan and that I was going to stick with triathlon training for all of my running events. That plan was developed by triathletes and fit my requirements as it allowed me days off from running to bike and swim. I PR’d by over 17 minutes and finished as the first overall Master in the non-elite division (and got the hardware at the awards ceremony to prove it). I haven’t read the book, I haven’t used the app, I haven’t used the workouts on the website, etc. People that are looking for more guidance have lots of places to look. The schedule alone was all I needed. Simple and sweet.
Oh…and yes I too have noticed that many people PR in the half marathon when they are training for a Marathon. Taking it one step further there are many people that set their 5K PR in the first half of a 10K and their half marathon PR in the first half of a Marathon. At first it perplexed me people can PR in the half marathon while running a marathon and later not be able to match that in an open half marathon. I now feel that it has everything to do with pacing. Most people go out too fast. When they go out slower for the longer distance they are faster (and feel better) than when they go harder for the shorter race. It is that, “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast” principle. I see lots of people early in races that appear to be straining or muscling their way out of the gate. They go out hard for 3-6 miles then “settle in”. Others go out easy and relaxed and when everyone else starts to settle in they are still easy and relaxed as they mow over all their competitor who went out faster than them and who are trying to hold onto their position to the end of the race.
2 Likes