Half marathon pacing

Ok quick update, it was freezing last night, like -2, so didnt manage anything too long. However did do 8 miles trouble free. Increased the pace this time to 9:45-10 min avg and found it much easier, whereas before by 6 miles my legs would be aching and tired this time they were not. Not sure how much of this was down to the new trainers or the HADD training, maybe a bit of both but very happy with the results so far! Will definately be continuing this after the HM.

This has been such an interesting thread! I have been upping my distance recently, leading towards a HM in early May. I haven't felt that I am particularly tired, but I have felt that I am taking longer than I should be. This article has been very interesting and I think that at least once a week I will try this method of loooong slooooow - is it best to do over relatively flat ground or should you try and incorporate some undulation?

Thanks for the great info

Its a bit of both for me, I strike a balance between pushing myself to beat my own times but also having fun. At the end of the day thats what its all about for me, the second I start to dislike something I stop doing it. I reckon this is one of the main reasons that beginners quit running. They start too fast get tired and feel crap etc etc. I dont blame them, i did the same thing ages ago! Slow and steady really does win the race (given enough time to train hehe)

So I decided that in the lead up to my 24km adventure run, I would try and incorporate Hadd's ideas into my training... I did a 17km pure uphill 2 days ago and rested yesterday, so wasn't even really sure whether I should run today or not as my legs still felt heavy. I decided to do a nice undulating 5mile run and use Hadd's method of going real slow. At first it felt really strange. The run I did has 2 laps and I generally always try and run each lap within 19 - 20mins (I guess because that is just the speed I went when I first ran it - stupid reason really). Today I deliberately went slowly, just plodding along. Like I said, it felt very strange to begin with but once I got into the rhythm it was really comfortable. I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep it up fot the uphills as I always feel like I have to speed up to make sure I have the momentum to get up there. The first climb is quite steep and long and the weird thing was that I hardly even felt like I was going uphill! I felt like my form was a lot better too and generally was a lot more comfortable. As for the last uphill which is longer but not as steep, yet usually more of a struggle, I felt great!! By the end of the run I felt like I could easily have done another 2 laps - my legs actually felt a lot better than before I started!! So going from my usual, lets try and get round the whole thing in 40 mins, I took 52 minutes! 

How many times would people suggest you incorporate this type of training into a schedule? I usually run 5-6 times a week so I was thinking twice??

Thanks again for all this info, real interesting stuff!

Im doing it twice a week with normal runs and training inbetween. Im finding it really heplful but will go all out with it once the HM is out of the way next week.

yeah I really think that this could be a great form of training and the physiology behind it is very interesting!

Good luck with training everyone 

Hey thought Id give a quick update. I did the Livepool 1/2 marathon last Sunday, the second time Ive attempted it. Last year my time was 2.05 and this year I beat it by 1 minute haha really close. However there were some big differences which I think I can put down to the HADD training.

Unlike last year where I found every mile after 8 to be quite difficult, this year everything was great up to 10 miles. My pace was 9.30 ish per mile only going into the 10's once I think, which I was really happy with. The final 3 miles were tough but I was expecting this so it wasnt a suprise and I still managed to sprint the final 1/2 mile to beat my PB from last year.

Recovery this year was much much faster, I only had a sore ankle for a day or 2 my legs didnt seem nearly as tires as last year. But I know I exhausted every last ounce of energy from them.

So Im going to continue this type of training, next goal is to get up to 20 miles on the long slow runs.