Sub 1:25 Waterford Half

jfh

Hi All,
After much proscrastining I’ve decided to join the training logs. No more waiting for the "right moment" or the start of 2011. It’s time to act NOW!
So the goal is a sub 1:25 half marathon in 2 months 11 days in Waterford.
i ran the Cliffs of Moher in 1:27 last week and my 10km PB for is 38:40 so Macmillan predicts with the right training, i’m knocking on the door of a sub 1:25.
I would welcome any suggestions about training etc as most of what I’ve learned I’ve got from fellow boards members. This is my first year of focused running as opposed to just going out for a leisurely jog. I mainly run on my own and bought a 405 to keep me motivated and to log my runs. I will need to train at least 5 days & at least 35 miles per week. If anyone has a sub 1:25 half training plan, please let me know.
wish me luck!

jfh

to kick of my training, first run since cliffs of moher last saturday, i ran 7.25 miles yesterday evening, 1 mile slow, 1 mile fast alternating this for 7 miles, so 4 miles slow & 3 fast.
fast miles sub 6:10
slow miles 8:30

RayCun

good luck with the training

kennyb3

Best of luck.

The nost obvious thing to do would be post up a standard weeks training. Things like your long run distance would be useful. You prob dont need to change much to make up 2 mins in 2 months

Brianderunner

I'm doing the same race, aiming for 1'28, so my training should be close to yours. After DCM there is 6 weeks and after an easy week i will do the following;

1 Tempo run, at half marathon pace, 2 mls w/u and w/d (At 8-8'30 pace) with 4 mls continuous at tempo pace. Extend this to 5, 6 and 7 mls as you go but reduce as you get closer to the race.

1 long run, anywhere between 14 and 18 mls, again between 8 and 8'30 pace.

1 or 2 recovery runs, nice and slow, no longer than 4 mls. try to do a few strides after these runs.

1 general aerobic run, 6-8 mls at 7'40- 8'00 pace.

1 interval session. Anywhere between 5 x 600m @5k pace to 4 x 1 mls @10k pace all with 2 mins jog recovery. Substitute this with an easy run if you're not feeling great.

Don't do back to back hard days (an easy long run is considered hard too) and try to take at least one day full rest. Best of luck.

I am doing this training based on my own experience (what works for me) and from several running books and magazines. Don't take it as gospel.

jfh

hi kennyb, my long runs have been up to 16 miles, that was a once of a few weeks back, mostly do 10/11 miles every sunday. will try to up that to 12/13 for the next few weeks. going to start in earnest on saturday and will post my expected runs for the week and then tyr to follow.

jfh

hi brianderunner, thanks for the advise, i'm the same went off and bought advanced marathoning and jack daniels book and use bits and pieces out of other resources, self taught! i saw the aerobic run on peoples logs, how is that worked out?
you're doing 4 decent days running and recovery runs between am i right?

asimonov

hey jfh - good luck with the log and the training. That was a good run at the cliffs to finish at 87' - how did you find the last few miles? I don't think you have much to do except build on what you have. Its all about consistency and getting used to running at HM pace on tired legs. Best of luck.

Brianderunner

jfh wrote: »

i saw the aerobic run on peoples logs, how is that worked out?
you're doing 4 decent days running and recovery runs between am i right?

Aerobic running for me is between 70 - 80% of my max heart rate. Based on your times i reckon thats 7'35-7'40 pace for you.

3 or 4 days decent running yeah, its tough to get an LT run and an interval session in the one week.

jfh

hi asimonov, i got up to you at about the 3 mile mark, my start was slow and stayed with you till the top of the hill after we got out of the turn off for the cliffs. pushed on, the last few miles were down hill so think it evened out.
nice event if a little pricey.

kennyb3

jfh wrote: »

hi kennyb, my long runs have been up to 16 miles, that was a once of a few weeks back, mostly do 10/11 miles every sunday. will try to up that to 12/13 for the next few weeks. going to start in earnest on saturday and will post my expected runs for the week and then tyr to follow.

Sounds to me like you know what to do already. Id defo be getting the long run up to 13-15 miles week in week out, just nice and easy. As asimonov said you ve not really that much extra to do just build a little more.

jfh

thanks kennyb, i've to drop my time by 2 1/2 minutes in ten weeks, know the cliffs was a tough enough half so it's do-able.

jfh

went out for a run, had 7 miles in mind, was in a good rhythm & such a great evening, i kept going.
distance:9.83 miles
time:1:10:58
Avg Pace:7:13

jfh

took part in a 6000 metres cross country so long run postponed. new to this but found it enjoyable.
distance 3:77 miles on the Garmin
avg pace 5:57
time 22:27 min

jfh

Monday : circuit training, first time doing this, trying to improve strength.
Tuesday : 7 miles steady, few hills. 1/4 mile warm down.
Avg Pace for 7 steady miles : 6:38
Total Time : 48:53

Seres

hey jfh , seen your posts round the boards a bit , glad to see your logging now , all the best , will be keepin an eye on your training as im hoping to do my first half in waterford if a injury improves

jfh

thanks Seres, your gave me some good advice for the sub 40. it worked!
hopefully you'll make a full recovery soon and be back on track for waterford, loads of time!

Seres

jfh wrote: »

thanks Seres, your gave me some good advice for the sub 40. it worked!
hopefully you'll make a full recovery soon and be back on track for waterford, loads of time!

cant believe that ! and now your goin sub 1:25 for half on back of 38:30 for 10km , what did you do with that advice , i think i need it back now :rolleyes:

jfh

wednesday : circuit training
Thursday : did a track session on my own, difficult to keep pace going hard.
8* 600m with 2 min recovery.
avg pace for the intervals was 3:21

jfh

friday 8th, legs sore today after intervals last night, decided not to run as i was doing manual work all evening, changed my mind after watching first 20 min of ireland game, went for a recovery run of 2.77 miles, figured it was beter than nothing.

jfh

anyone know how to insert a word table into a post. know some of ye runners use a table to show weekly synopsis of runs and it looks neat.
should be able to do this but can't:(

RayCun

jfh wrote: »

anyone know how to insert a word table into a post. know some of ye runners use a table to show weekly synopsis of runs and it looks neat.
should be able to do this but can't:(

Easy solution - quote a post that has a table, copy it into your post, replace the bits you want to replace

jfh

thanks raycun, should have thought of that, attempted it now but abandoned it after it was taking longer than my recovery run!
will try again at home

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
3rd Oct Sunday|3.77|05:57|cross country|first cross country event|9
5th Oct Tuesday|7.27|06:43|||9
7th Oct Thursday|4.24||interval session|8* 600 2 min rest rec(5:17, 5:24, 5:33, 5:21, 5:27, 5:18, 5:34, 5:26) on my own|9
8th Oct Friday|2.77|08:17|Recovery|figured something was better than nothing|9
9th Oct Saturday|9|06:43||7:31, 6:57, 6:37, 6:29, 6:33, 6:30, 6:43, 6:34, 6:31|9

total miles 27:05
2 evenings circuit training, going to drop these to bring up milage, time is difficult to find.

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
11-10-10|10.23|7:49|long run| beautiful evening|8
12-10-10|||||8
13-10-10|||||8
14-10-10|||||8
15-10-10|||||8
16-10-10|||||8
17-10-10|||||8

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
11-10-10|10.23|7:49|long run| beautiful evening|8
12-10-10|5.8|1 mile warm up, session, 1mile warm-down |interval session|4*3min 2 min rec(5:18,5:06,5:08,5:12)then 4 *80sec 1 min rec(4:41,4:43,4:43,4:38)|8
13-10-10|||||8
14-10-10|||||8
15-10-10|||||8
16-10-10|||||8
17-10-10|||||8

jfh

jfh wrote: »

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
11-10-10|10.23|7:49|long run| beautiful evening|8
12-10-10|5.8| |interval session with 1 mile warm-up & 1 mile warm down|4*3min 2 min rec(5:18,5:06,5:08,5:12)then 4 *80sec 1 min rec(4:41,4:43,4:43,4:38)|8
13-10-10|2.05|8:10|recovery run on grass|some good hills|8
14-10-10|9|6:45|1 mile warm-up, 7 mile @ PHMP,1 mile warm down|splits(7:58,6:35,6:27,6:24,6:27,6:19,6:27,6:20,7:45|8
15-10-10|5.45|7.57|easy run|like a good summers evening|8
16-10-10|||||8
17-10-10|||||8

wed;the recovery run was done on grass & def more difficult than on road, not used to grass running. hope to strengthen up legs.
thurs;hopefully my planned half marathon pace will be 6:28 to get a sub 1:25, so used this run to get used to running at that pace.

jfh

jfh wrote: »

wed;the recovery run was done on grass & def more difficult than on road, not used to grass running. hope to strengthen up legs.
thurs;hopefully my planned half marathon pace will be 6:28 to get a sub 1:25, so used this run to get used to running at that pace.

jfh wrote: »

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
11-10-10|10.23|7:49|long run| beautiful evening|8
12-10-10|5.8||1 mile w-up, interval session, 1mile w-dwn |4*3min 2 min rec(5:18,5:06,5:08,5:12)then 4*80sec 1 min rec(4:41,4:43,4:43,4:38)|8
13-10-10|2.05|8:10|recovery run on grass|some good hills|8
14-10-10|9|6:45|1 mile warm-up, 7 mile @ PHMP,1 mile warm down|splits(7:58,6:35,6:27,6:24,6:27,6:19,6:27,6:20,7:45)|8
15-10-10|5.45|7:57|easy run|like a good summers evening|8
16-10-10|7.75||hill repeats|6*90 sec,6*60sec,4*45,2*25sec avg pace 6:30 ish|8
17-10-10|10|7:33|long run|nice & cool|8

had worked hard all day & in no mood for long run, found the hill repeat work out in running mag & decided to give it a go. hill's are my weakness. really felt this.

Wk 1|Wk 2|Wk 3|Wk 4|Wk 5|Wk 6|Wk 7|Wk 8
23.28|50.29|||

upped the milage, first time ever over 50!

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
18-10-10|||rest||7
19-10-10|5||1mile wrm-up,intervals,1.8mile wrm-dwn|3*2min 2 min rec then 4 *80sec 1 min rec|7
20-10-10|||||7
21-10-10|||||7
22-10-10|||||7
23-10-10|||||7
24-10-10|||||7

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
18-10-10|||rest||7
19-10-10|5||1mile wrm-up,intervals,1.8mile wrm-dwn|3*2min 2 min rec then 4 *80sec 1 min rec|7
20-10-10|||||7
21-10-10|10.20|7:10|1 mile wrm-up, med tempo,1 mile dw|beautiful evening, easy enough run|7
22-10-10|||||7
23-10-10|||||7
24-10-10|||||7


7 mile medium tempo @ 6:45- 7:00 per mile

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
18-10-10|||rest||7
19-10-10|5||1mile wrm-up,intervals,1.8mile wrm-dwn|3*2min 2 min rec then 4 *80sec 1 min rec|7
20-10-10|||||7
21-10-10|10.20|7:10|1 mile wrm-up, med tempo,1 mile dw|beautiful evening, easy enough run|7
22-10-10|11.5|7:42|rolling hills||7
23-10-10|||||7
24-10-10|||||7


set of to do 7 miles of hills @ 7-7:10 mile pace, felt good so kept going to make it 11.5 miles,last few miles were all over 8:30 though, knee was starting to get sore again.

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
18-10-10|||rest||7
19-10-10|5||1mile wrm-up,intervals,1.8mile wrm-dwn|3*2min 2 min rec then 4 *80sec 1 min rec|7
20-10-10|||||7
21-10-10|10.20|7:10|1 mile wrm-up, med tempo,1 mile dw|beautiful evening, easy enough run|7
22-10-10|11.5|7:42|rolling hills||7
23-10-10|9|7:18|3 * 10 min tempo pace||7
24-10-10|||||7

found this run in a magazine,decided to give it a go.
2 mile warm-up, then 3 * 10 min tempo pace(splits were 6:21,6:23,6:27) with 3 min jog recoveries, 1.5 mile cool down.
found the last one very difficult as it was hilly.

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
18-10-10|||rest||7
19-10-10|5||1mile wrm-up,intervals,1.8mile wrm-dwn|3*2min 2 min rec then 4 *80sec 1 min rec|7
20-10-10|||||7
21-10-10|10.20|7:10|1 mile wrm-up, med tempo,1 mile dw|beautiful evening, easy enough run|7
22-10-10|11.5|7:42|rolling hills||7
23-10-10|9|7:18|3 * 10 min tempo pace||7
24-10-10|4.7|7:27||chilly evening|7

ran from crosshaven to carrigaline, beautiful run but turned very cold & dark for last mile. didn't get a chance to go for a long run

jfh

Wk 1|Wk 2|Wk 3|Wk 4|Wk 5|Wk 6|Wk 7|Wk 8
23.28|50.29|40.4||

5 days running was all i could fit in this week, hectic week and felt the effects of last week. 40 is more managable & probably my max with time restraints.

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
25-10-10|4|7:43|recovery|on grass with hills|6
26-10-10|||||6
27-10-10|||||6
28-10-10|||||6
29-10-10|||||6
30-10-10|||||6
31-10-10|||||6

marathon day and felt a run was in order, just to keep the miles up, went for 4.
lot of physical work before this so 4 was as much as i could do. felt good after it, nice easy pace on grass.

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
25-10-10|4|7:43|recovery|on grass with hills|6
26-10-10|7.4||tempo & intervals|nice run, had everything|6
27-10-10|3.93|8:09|easy run||6
28-10-10|||||6
29-10-10|||||6
30-10-10|||||6
31-10-10|||||6

picked a training run from running fitness magazine, it's a toughie!
1 mile warm-up(8:05), then 15 min tempo pace(6:20), 3 min rest recovery, then 4 * 3 min(5:49,5:57,5:54,6:22) 3 min rest, then meant to be 15 tempo again, reasoned with myself(quiet easily done!) that 1 mile might be more beneficial as i was a mile from home so one more mile @ 6:25 pace and half mile cool down.

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
25-10-10|4|7:43|recovery|on grass with hills|6
26-10-10|7.4||tempo & intervals|nice run, had everything|6
27-10-10|3.93|8:09|easy run||6
28-10-10|10|7:05||very windy tough few miles|6
29-10-10|||||6
30-10-10|||||6
31-10-10|||||6

one mile warm-up at 8:02 pace, then 8 at 7:05 pace, first 5 were challenging, strong wind & few hills to contend with, found the last 5 much easier. 1 warm down at 7:45 pace.

Seres

Training seems to be goin well , how you finding it ?

jfh

hi seres, i'm finding that by using these logs, i'm more motivated, which is good. i'm taking bits & pieces from training schedules, just to mix it up.
how's you injury progressing, any running lately?

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
25-10-10|4|7:43|recovery|on grass with hills|6
26-10-10|7.4||tempo & intervals|nice run, had everything|6
27-10-10|3.93|8:09|easy run||6
28-10-10|10|7:05||very windy tough few miles|6
29-10-10|7.90|7:30|aerobic run followed by 4 *45 sec hills|very mixed weatherwise|6
30-10-10|||||6
31-10-10|||||6

jaytobe

jfh, good to see you are really going for it....there is another post here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055993907&page=6

jfh

hi jaytobe, yeah i'm keeping an eye on that thread also, your a declared runner for the half yourself?

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
25-10-10|4|7:43|recovery|on grass with hills|6
26-10-10|7.4||tempo & intervals|nice run, had everything|6
27-10-10|3.93|8:09|easy run||6
28-10-10|10|7:05||very windy tough few miles|6
29-10-10|7.90|7:30|aerobic run followed by 4 *45 sec hills|very mixed weatherwise|6
30-10-10|7||4 miles on road, 3 on trails|beautiful morning for a run|6
31-10-10|||||6

time was of the essence today so went early & was in no mood for a hard run so took it handy and used a trail with hills, only 2 miles sub 7, rest were all over the place.

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
25-10-10|4|7:43|recovery|on grass with hills|6
26-10-10|7.4||tempo & intervals|nice run, had everything|6
27-10-10|3.93|8:09|easy run||6
28-10-10|10|7:05||very windy tough few miles|6
29-10-10|7.90|7:30|aerobic run followed by 4 *45 sec hills|very mixed weatherwise|6
30-10-10|7||4 miles on road, 3 on trails|beautiful morning for a run|6
31-10-10|14.16|7:27|long progression run|perfect conditions|6

set of to do a 13 mile progression run, first 3 miles at 8 mile pace, next 4 at 7:30 pace, then 2 at 7:00, then tried 3 at 6:30 which is planned race pace, could only sustain this pace for 1 mile, final splits 6:57, 7:22,7:16,8:29.
really felt this, need more long runs before i start these progression runs. plan to get up to 15 miles so i feel comfortable with 13.1

jfh

Wk 1|Wk 2|Wk 3|Wk 4|Wk 5|Wk 6|Wk 7|Wk 8
23.28|50.29|40.4|54.39|

planned to do 45ish but ran for the 7 days, did few recovery days to bring me over the 50, felt easier than the previous week which was only 40. probably lower intensity runs.
find it's better if i go for a run everyday, than take a days rest.

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
1-11-10|4|7:05|threadmill set to 3 incline|miserable evening|5
2-11-10|||||5
3-11-10|||||5
4-11-10|||||5
5-11-10|||||5
6-11-10|||||5
7-11-10|||||5

short of time & wanted to get a run in, should have run this slower as a recovery but i had 30 min & decided to run 4 miles, 1 minure cooldown & very brief streching, legs were sore after yesterdays long run.
happy to have the option of threadmill run on a miserable dark evening

cwgatling

jfh wrote: »

set of to do a 13 mile progression run, first 3 miles at 8 mile pace, next 4 at 7:30 pace, then 2 at 7:00, then tried 3 at 6:30 which is planned race pace, could only sustain this pace for 1 mile, final splits 6:57, 7:22,7:16,8:29.
really felt this, need more long runs before i start these progression runs. plan to get up to 15 miles so i feel comfortable with 13.1

Nice idea for a run. Definitely going to try one or two of these.

jfh

cwgatling, that's another run suggested in the running fitness magazine article they had on half marathon training. it's tough, think i'll leave it for a another week before i attempt it again.

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
1-11-10|4|7:05|threadmill set to 3 incline|miserable evening|5
2-11-10|5.86||6 * 3 min interval session|challenging evening & tired|5
3-11-10|||||5
4-11-10|||||5
5-11-10|||||5
6-11-10|||||5
7-11-10|||||5

1 mile warm up, then 6*3 min with 1.5 min rec, splits as follows
(5:29,5:34,5:27,5:26,5:29,5:23) with 1.6 mile warm down.
felt sore & tired starting these & took the first 3 before i settled into it.
mondays recovery run was too fast!

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
1-11-10|4|7:05|threadmill set to 3 incline|miserable evening|5
2-11-10|5.86||6 * 3 min interval session|challenging evening & tired|5
3-11-10|||||5
4-11-10|12||tempo session on threadmill||5
5-11-10|||||5
6-11-10|||||5
7-11-10|||||5

2 miles warm-up, then 4 miles @ 6:23, 1 mile recovery, 4 miles @ 6:23,lastly 1 mile warm down. tough session, don't think i would have ran this outdoors.

jfh

Date|Miles|Ave pace|Type|Remarks|Weeks to Go
1-11-10|4|7:05|threadmill set to 3 incline|miserable evening|5
2-11-10|5.86||6 * 3 min interval session|challenging evening & tired|5
3-11-10|||||5
4-11-10|12||tempo session on threadmill||5
5-11-10|4|9:45||recovery run(really slow)|5
6-11-10|7|7:21||hangover run|5
7-11-10|||||5

no time for a long run on sunday,