Question regarding my training plan

Hi guys,

I am in to my 2nd week of my Half Marathon program which I downloaded from this site.  (Garmin Sub 1.30).

I have looked at my training days and Mondays clash with my circuits classs i do at the gym.

Yesterday I did cicuits in the morning (7am), day at work,  then as soon as I got home I went out for a 7 mile run at 7.20 pace which I struggled with if I am honest.

This morning I has 8 x 400m intervals which again i really found difficult with heavy legs.

I am in a catch 22 because I like circuits as it is the only bit of weight training I do and keeps me ticking over.  But running in the evening after the class i feel might be wearing myself out and causing more damage than good.

If i missed the monday evening running which seems to be on average 7miles, do you think this would impact on my goal of a sub 1.30 time?

Hi, can you move the days about so that the days you do circuits are the 'rest' days on the program? I think as long as you dont have 2 hard days next to each other (eg long run next to intervals) you should be able to without affecting the program much?

what time are you aiming for, and whats your PB for the HM distance?  Reason for the question is that its supposed to be 7miles at an easy pace.

I've used this plan before (and run just under 1:30) but my easy pace was around 8:20 min/mile compared to your 7:20 min/mile.  You shoudn't be struggling on the easy runs as you won't have recovered enough for the hard sessions.

Agree with Stutyr. If it's an easy run it shouldn't be a struggle. Run it at whatever pace is comfortable and leave the Garmin at home!

That 7 miles doesnt sound like easy pace at all. Its only about 5 mins slower than your 10k race pace I'd guess ?

You'll definitely struggle running a pretty tough session at night and then again about 12 hours later. 

What does the rest of the training plan look like - I dont see why you'd do a fast run followed by more intervals ?

For me I'd spend more time getting easy miles in and have one or two fast sessions a week. 

Sounds like a pretty bloody stupid plan to me!  Does the Monday run come the day after a long run by any chance? 7:20/m is more like marathon pace than easy, so 7 miles would be a fairly hard work-out in itself - and then you've got intervals the next day!  If I were you I would just make the Monday evening run much easier.  Treat it as a recovery run; 5 miles @ 8:30/m, certainly no faster than 8:00/m.

The 7.20 pace is the "Steady" run which is the faster pace in the program.

With regards to my current PB 1hr.34.

And about moving the days around, I have already done that so I can fit as much of the training in to my normal day to day routine.

Basically would dropping the run day that clashes with circuits going to have that much of an affect? 

I think your plan assumes you're not doing anything else. If you're putting two harder days up against each other - then you will struggle. 

How many run days are there ?  Could you give up an easier day rather than the steady/fast one ? I'd want a rest day after that. 

I will look at my plan tonight and see if there is something I cold drop from the easy pace.

Sorry Chris, I mis-read the schedule - you are right it was a 7m steady rather than a 7m easy run.  

I must admit, I found this plan had too many steady runs & I replaced a few with easy runs when I used it.  Rather than mess with training centre, I didn't follow the workout on that day (otherwise it would keep beeping at me to Speed Up!)

I did the RW Garmin 1:40 schedule over the summer and there are a lot of 'steady' paced runs.  These get quite tough once you get into double figures with the mileage and like stutyr, I tended to run the longer ones at least partly at easy pace (i.e 7 miles easy - 5miles steady).

McMillian rates them though, but I doubt that running one or two slower or reducing the distance when they clash with your circuits will harm your training too much. 

What's a steady Run?

Without seeing what this plan entails, it sounds to me as though it is following the age old mistake of making easy runs too fast and subsequently causing faster paced runs to be too slow.

As Phil says, the bulk of your mileage should be between 8-9 min miles or even slower, not banging your head against a brick wall with 7:20/mile as a standard run.

Slow it down to speed it up........

@prf Steady pace is a stamina workout intended to increase lactate treshold.  Like a longer, slightly slower tempo, so definitely not an easy or recovery session. This is what McMillian say about them:

Steady-state runs were once a staple in the training programs of U.S. distance runners but somehow fell out of favor. Runners now seem to have only two speeds, slow and fast - no in-between. But the steady-state run is one of the most beneficial types of workouts especially as you complete your base training and during the initial parts of your Stamina phase (see Lecture 5). The appropriate pace range for steady-state runs is between your 1:15:00 and 2:30:00 race pace. Your heart rate will likely be between 83 and 87% of maximum and the runs should last at least 25 minutes and can go as long as an hour and 15 minutes.

These are pretty tough efforts not because of the pace but because of the duration of running so be prepared to increase your concentration to stay on pace and to take a good recovery day afterwards in order to reap the full benefits. Begin with shorter steady-state runs of 25 minutes at 2:30:00 race pace and build to one hour runs with shorter (25- to 45-minute) steady-state runs at 1:15:00 pace.

Thanks for your replies guys,

I have removed the Monday sessions as they clash with my circuits class and i need to give my body time to recover.

The way my program looks at the moment is Tues-Thursdays consist of a speed session,  a steady 7m/8m and a recovery.

Sat & Sun - anything between 7-18 miles.  (increases as i get further in to the training)

The Garmin plans use the following definition for Steady: Steady - a comfortable, but purposeful, pace. About marathon pace (79-84% MHR).

The next speed up in the plan is the Threshold Run:  Brisk (or Threshold (THR)) - around your target half-marathon pace (87-91% MHR).

I didn't like the balance in the Garmin 1:30 plan and dropped out a few weeks in, rehashed it and came up with somethin that suited me better. There just seemed to be too much steady running to cope with

Lou - I think this is the problem, the terminology implies something completely different to the reality. According to McMillan's definition 'Steady' is around half marathon pace.

Runs at this sort of pace are indeed very beneficial but in no way are standard fare and certainly not to be recommended the day before an intense interval session.

Steady is a very odd label for something which is a hard workout.

For run of the mill type easy runs I wouldnt think the bulk of Phil's mileage is as fast as 7:20 and that is for a 1:12 HM!!

Ooh, actually my average pace for "general" runs this year (130 so far) is 7:19/m, although heart rate average is just 66% max.  But then the fastest marathon runner in the world does the bulk of his running at 8:00m/m, so there's definitely a case for slowing it down in between quality sessions!

Chris - sounds like a good plan.  You can always add in an additional easy run if you find you're recovering better from the weekend long run as you progress.

Lol Just to prove me wrong

But there you go, training for a 1:30 HM by running paces followed by a 1:12 HM runner is a sure recipe for disapppearing up your own exhaust pipe sooner rather than later

Hi guys,

Just thought I would update you on my training.  I have ditched the garmin plan as like many others have said,  too many steady runs and it is getting me to do what I consider silly pacing over long distances.

I went through my runnerworld book I was given for my birthday and found a nice simple plan which I am now enjoying and look forward to each session.

Simple is the way to go.

Thanks for all your advise.