Half marathon before marathon

TheRoadRunner

Was just wondering when people would normally run a half marathon before their target marathon?

I'd like to run a half in the lead up to a marathon to give me an idea of a realistic target time in the marathon. However I want enough time to fully recover and train optimally in the last few weeks of training. Ideally I would like the half to be 5-6 weeks before marathon day. That would give me an easy week after it and then at least 3-4 weeks of hard training before a taper week.

Problem is I can only find a half 4 weeks before marathon. Just wondering about other peoples thoughts and experiences.

ger664

I normally do one after my 2nd 20 Miler and before my third, 6-8 weeks out.

RoyMcC

Four weeks is probably ideal. Pre-Edinburgh this year I'm doing one six weeks out (White Horse, Oxfordshire.)

RubyK

I did the Kilkenny Half on the 18th September, before doing DCM on the 25th October. I found it was a good confidence booster for the big day.

ThePiedPiper

I'd be a definite yes for doing this. There's nothing like races to make you push on and give you a really good workout. They're a fantastic opportunity to practice your marathon day preparation regarding food, hydaration, in-race fueling, gear, etc.

However, I wouldn't taper for the half, or even interrupt your training schedule, apart from taking the day off the day after the race. Don't bust yourself so much in the half race that you compromise your training the following week.

When is your target marathon? It should be possible to find a half somewhere in the country 4-8 weeks out from your goal marathon. I wouldn't advise doing any racing less than 4 weeks before a marathon.

Krusty_Clown

Midlands half marathon on the 1st Agust (BH Weekend). That's around 7.5 weeks before your goal marathon. You could then tune up with the Frank Duffy 10 mile in the park on the 20th August (5 weeks before Berlin). If the gap between races isn't large enough, do the half earlier (Achill / Clontarf).

Cork Running's list of races.

dermCu

I'd say no. 4 week is too close. You don't seem like the kind of runner who would want to hold back on a race, especially when you'll be at the peak of your fitness.In any case what's the point in holding back? You wont learn much from it.

The chances are you'll need the guts of a week to properly recover. That's too much to sacrifice in the last 4 weeks.
In this case I think you'd be better off racing too early rather than too late.
Does it have to be a half? A 10 mile or 10k would also be a good indicator and would take less recovery.

audreyp

I know these are recommended before the marathon.

http://dublinmarathon.ie/race_series.php

That's the race series before the marathon:

Irish Runner 5 mile - Sat 16th July
Frank Duffy 10 Mile - Sat 20th Aug
Dublin Half-Marathon - Sat 17th Sept

opus

The Runner's World training program I followed for Berlin last year had two half-marathons along the way, I did one as a run on my own & entered the Clonmel half for the other. There were 8 & 5 weeks out from the marathon itself as far as I remember.

I'm trying a P&D program this year which has no half-marathons in it so can't really say about the wisdom (or not) of including them!

Krusty_Clown

opus wrote: »

I'm trying a P&D program this year which has no half-marathons in it so can't really say about the wisdom (or not) of including them!

P&D does have two races in the schedule though. A 12-15k around 5 weeks out, and a 6-8k around two weeks out (If I remember correctly).

I would usually do the Frank Duffy 10 in the lead up to Berlin, and a 10k time-trial two weeks before the race. There's a long run the day after each of the tune-up races, so it makes for a tough weekend.

village runner

5 weeks for me but wouldnt it be better to do the frank duffy as krusty says and a 10k two weeks out. I might do clonmel myself but its all about location,

In the Woods

Longford have a half at the end of August. I'll probably do that and am doing Berlin as well.

forestgump123

I was just wondering if your half marathon time is an accurate gage in relation to what sorta time you would run a full marathon in? Obviously weather conditions, how you feel on the day etc will play a part but generally speaking do you feel you could roughly predict a marathon time from your half marathon performance?

Krusty_Clown

forestgump123 wrote: »

I was just wondering if your half marathon time is an accurate gage in relation to what sorta time you would run a full marathon in? Obviously weather conditions, how you feel on the day etc will play a part but generally speaking do you feel you could roughly predict a marathon time from your half marathon performance?

It doesn't work for everyone, but Mcmillan has always been bang on the money for me. Needless to say, you have to do the appropriate training for the race distance.

shazkea

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Midlands half marathon on the 1st Agust (BH Weekend). T

Oh hadn't heard of this one - seems to be a new one on the circuit. Anyone know the organisers i.e. will it be well organised?

RacoonQueen

forestgump123 wrote: »

I was just wondering if your half marathon time is an accurate gage in relation to what sorta time you would run a full marathon in? Obviously weather conditions, how you feel on the day etc will play a part but generally speaking do you feel you could roughly predict a marathon time from your half marathon performance?

I'd agree with Krusty on that, I reckon once you've got your long runs done and you PMP miles a half is a good indicator of what you'll run. But what do I know, the two marathons I prepared well for I didn't end up racing. :pac:

4/5 weeks before a goal marathon for me, halves are just short enough to recover relatively quickly from and get back to normal training IMO.

TheRoadRunner

Cheers for all replies.

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Midlands half marathon on the 1st Agust (BH Weekend). That's around 7.5 weeks before your goal marathon. You could then tune up with the Frank Duffy 10 mile in the park on the 20th August (5 weeks before Berlin). If the gap between races isn't large enough, do the half earlier (Achill / Clontarf).

Cork Running's list of races.

Thanks for this KC. List of races is exactly what I need. I spent a couple of hours last night penciling in some potential races. Will have a look at this list to see if I've missed anything.

Currently I'm on the same wavelength as yourself, Frank Duffy 10 followed by BHAA 10k in Firhouse as final tune up race. Will have a look at an earlier half marathon. Would have liked to do Longford but I don't think 4 weeks is far enough out. Midlands half date is perfect but need to check out who is organising it. I could end up murdering somebody if it's legit distance wise etc.

There are loads of other halfs but I do have some constraints due to holidays/work etc but will have another look tonight. I'm definitely doing a half early May to see where I'm at and take it from there.

heffsarmy

The Dundalk half marathon 4thmay , looks like a flat course, it's also mid week which means you could still get ur long run in the weekend
http://www.dundalkhalfmarathon.com/

TheRoadRunner

heffsarmy wrote: »

The Dundalk half marathon 4thmay , looks like a flat course, it's also mid week which means you could still get ur long run in the weekend
http://www.dundalkhalfmarathon.com/

that's the one I penciled in. I really should have put up a list of the races I was planning:D

Mr Slow

forestgump123 wrote: »

I was just wondering if your half marathon time is an accurate gage in relation to what sorta time you would run a full marathon in? Obviously weather conditions, how you feel on the day etc will play a part but generally speaking do you feel you could roughly predict a marathon time from your half marathon performance?

Someone told me 'twice your half time plus a half hour' which was spot on given there were 5 weeks to the marathon.

rainbow kirby

mrslow wrote: »

Someone told me 'twice your half time plus a half hour' which was spot on given there were 5 weeks to the marathon.

That certainly didn't work for me with Barcelona! :pac:

RayCun

Or "twice your time plus 10%"

ThePiedPiper

Ray's probably more on the ball with his twice half marathon time plus 10%, although my recent times are more like twice half marathon + 15%.

Last year, a 1.26 half led to a 3.05 marathon for me = +15%

This year, a 1.23 half led to a 2.58 marathon = +14%

The + half hour would be way off the mark for any marathons I've ever done except one where I had practically no marathon training done and was banjaxed at the end of the race.

The McMillan calculator suggests I under-perform in marathons by 3 or 4 minutes.

TFBubendorfer

mrslow wrote: »

Someone told me 'twice your half time plus a half hour' which was spot on given there were 5 weeks to the marathon.

That does does not work for most runners. A 1:30 HM runner should be significantly faster than 3:30.

And a 3 hours HM "runner" should expect to take longer than than 6:30 for a full.

Midlands Half Marathon

Hi All,

As we noticed some questions popping up about our race in this thread, we thought we should join in to answer where we can. First of all thanks Krusty_Clown for mentioning the race.

shazkea wrote: »

Oh hadn't heard of this one - seems to be a new one on the circuit. Anyone know the organisers i.e. will it be well organised?

Yes we are new on the circuit, but have been planning this since mid-2009. We mainly a group of runners, so our hope is to provide a race that runners will enjoy.

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

Cheers for all replies.



Midlands half date is perfect but need to check out who is organising it. I could end up murdering somebody if it's legit distance wise etc.

Great to see that you like the date, cause we spent a long time thinking what would be most suitable for our location. Regarding the distance, I personally have ran in races where it wasn't properly measured, I didn't turn to murder, but that was probably more to do with lack of energy after the race .....I know how you feel. We have been discussing the route with our AAI certified course measurers, we were hoping to have the course measured back around Christmas, but they want to leave the days get longer so that they can cycle it 4+ times. I hope to announce this soon, and there'll be no other distances on the day.

Best of luck with all your races

DubGreggie

In the real world, where I have a full time job, I'm known for being somewhat unconventional, and supposedly thinking outside the box. Bearing that in mind, I'm going to be running my first marathon in Limerick next Sunday. Sensible me decided the perfect taper would be to run the Cooley Legends Mountain Race last Saturday. Had a great time, I'm just not sure its what the training guides meant by a gentle taper!

I've no idea what that'll do to next week, but I'll be sure to come back and advise.....

Good luck with yours by the way

Greg