My Forum

tricialitt wrote (see)

Depends how hard you find the 10 miler, if it is quite straight forward, then getting 2x 12 milers, rather than 2x 10 mile might be an advantage.

 

Okay I'll consider that, thank you... I think I agree with you really as I have now completed three 8 mile runs and I felt each was easier than the last (though I haven't attempted to increase my pace on them, I just wanted to complete one completely comfortably which I now have).  I have quite an easy week this week which I've been looking forward to, though in 2 weeks time I will be running my first 10 miler so I'm going to psych myself up for that during the lead up to it!  

Bex Hill wrote (see)

Maybe even insert a week of your own device. two mid length runs, one at race pace and one at training pace, maybe some HIIT or is it HITT? I fancy a go at that. That way you won't et fed up if you repeat a week. Just a thought.

 

You should do some HIIT (high intensity interval training) Bex Hill, it's a real nice change from long distance, and I certainly prefer it to tempo running (though tempo running is essential as far as I can tell, at least the east Africans think so and if there's anybody to go by, it's them!).  I do HIIT once a week, but instead of sprinting in the intervals which I don't like as I feel I'm more likely to twist an ankle or something, I run up a gradient at a tempo pace and then run back down at an easy pace.

Crimson wrote (see)

I have a similar problem 6 weeks through a 12 week training plan for HM but event is 8 weeks away.

My current thinking is that I am going to continue as I am and not think about repeating weeks until nearer the time. That way I feel I have some slack built in for illness and or injury.

This will be my first HM and I know psychologically I will feel better if I have completed the whole training programme so wouldn't want to repeat weeks then get injured/ill and not be able to complete whol thing.

C

I'm at exactly the same point as you Crimson, good luck with your HM!  Which training plan are you using and how are you finding it?  My concern with completing the whole program is that my training involves a half taper and then a full taper week in weeks 11 and 12 which I wouldn't want to repeat, is yours not the same?

Thanks all for your input.

I'm currently working at the BUPA beginners half marathon training schedule (http://www.bupa.co.uk/running/training/training-programmes/beginner-half-marathon/).

I'm at the end of week 6 (8 miles) and have 6 weeks to go, but my race isn't for another 8 weeks so I need to extend my training by two weeks.  Which two weeks do you feel I should repeat?  I feel weeks 7 and 8 may be best as one is a long run and one quite a short run but not too short, wheras if I were to do weeks 9 and 10, one would be very short and one very long.

Thanks for your help

First of all, thank you for taking the time to give me such a well thought out and comprehensive reply.  I figured that a marathon time would be longer than double; at the moment I am running 10 miles at a pace which will get me around a half marathon in 1 hr 55-59 minutes, and so figure that to extend the distance by 3 miles and maintain that pace in 2 months is doable.  I then realise that I will be slower over the marathon distance, and so I guess I'd be looking, like you say, to shave around 20 minutes off of my theoretical marathon time, but would have 5 months to do so which seems like a fair amount of time to me.

I've been following the BUPA training programme for a beginner's half marathon which takes 12 weeks, it incorporates an easy / recovery run, a tempo run, a speed run and a long run each week.  It seems to be that my easy run is around 1/4 or so of my mileage each week so that's a good thing to know, thank you.  

I'm basing my "race pace" on two 10km "races" (local running club organised weekly events) in which I ran at around 8:30-8:40 per mile.  I've not taken part in any large scale events though, but am hoping to squeeze a 10km in before the HM.  How do you know your race pace?  Surely it is somewhere slightly above your long distance run but also below your tempo run pace?  Are you a regular HM / marathon runner yourself?  Whats your programme like?  I'm relatively new and am enjoying learning about the fundamentals of the sport.