How to determine your pace prior to a HM

FutureGuy

Hi all,
I'm running the Great Limerick Run HM on 5th May 2018 and I'm well on track with training. Last year, I ran it in 2:03:45. I was with the 2 hour pacer until mile 9 but faded terribly. I was 82kg back then.

I'm now heading into the final month of training for this year and I am weighing 77kg. I can feel the lower weight it in all my runs, shaving a minute of my 5k (22:45) and beating my 10k by 10 minutes (47:43) in March and again last Saturday (47:04). I'm planning to get to about 75kg by end of month through clean eating and mileage.

My problem is that I really do not know what pace I should be aiming to run the race at . I'm running my midweek runs at about 8 min/mile and my SLRs are done at around the 8:30-8:45 min/mile pace. I will say that I am probably 30 sec/mile faster than what I should be running but I'm handling it well.

In my head, I would love to break 1:50:00 (8.23 min/mile), but the calculators I have been using all point towards a 1:45:00 run 8 min/mile)? I'm afraid if I chase this, I might burn out and essentially tire just like I did last year.

Any advice or more accurate ways to gauge what i should be aiming for? Thanks all!

RayCun

What kind of training are you doing? How long are your midweek runs and how many are you doing? How long are your long runs? Are you running any sessions? What was your pace like in your 10ks, steady or gradually slowing?

FutureGuy

RayCun wrote: »

What kind of training are you doing? How long are your midweek runs and how many are you doing? How long are your long runs? Are you running any sessions? What was your pace like in your 10ks, steady or gradually slowing?

Hi Ray, sorry, clearly I have a lot of details missing

What kind of training are you doing? - 5 days per week

Tuesday: 3-4 miles @8 min/mile
Wednesday: Speed (currently 8 x 400 m @7.03)
Thursday: 3-4 miles @8 min/mile (increasing to 5-6 miles in next week)
Friday: Rest
Sat: Rest/Parkrun 5k/3mile (I'm a new dad so sometimes this gets skipped)
Sunday: LSR @ 8:30 min/mile

What was your pace like in your 10ks, steady or gradually slowing?

Adare 10K (25th February) 47:43
Mile 1:7:28
Mile 2: 7:24
Mile 3: 7.22
Mile 4: 7.52
Mile 5: 7.55
Mile 6: 7.55
Final .2: 7:02


Adare 10K (31st March) 47:04
Mile 1:7:17 (lots of downhill, prob went out too fast)
Mile 2: 7:40
Mile 3: 7.52 (lots of uphill)
Mile 4: 7.47
Mile 5: 7.42
Mile 6: 7.37
Final .2: 6:21

ReeReeG

FutureGuy wrote: »

Hi all,
I'm running the Great Limerick Run HM on 5th May 2018 and I'm well on track with training. 

It's on the 6th May - don't turn up a day early

ReeReeG

I ran the half marathon in Mullingar last month, and prior to this my 5/10k times were similar to yours. (23ish for 5k, and 47:xx for 10). Like you, I was initially afraid to aim for much below 1.50 in the half but at the end of the day, what have you got to lose? There will always be another half marathon to try. I ended up aiming for 1.48 and ran a 1.46. I aimed to keep my pace between 8.10 and 8.20, and to be honest I settled into about 8.05 for a lot of it.
Go for it!

skyblue46

If you have adequate training done there is no reason for you to doubt getting much closer to 1:45 than 1:50. I see your 'easy' runs are done at your projected race pace. This could definitely do with slowing down quite a bit. Miles nearer to 10 min pace would be better for you particularly as you increase distance. Doing easy runs all week long at paces within 90 secs of your race pace is just inviting niggles and injuries. Doing them nearly flat out makes it even more likely.

RayCun

for the next month you could do

Tuesday: 5-6 miles @9 min/mile
Wednesday: Tempo 20 minutes at 8 min/mile, 5 minutes easy jog, 20 minutes at 8 min/mile. If that's too easy, do 7.50s
Thursday: 5-6 miles @9 min/mile (increasing to 5-6 miles in next week)
Friday: Rest
Sat: Rest/Parkrun 5k/3mile (I'm a new dad so sometimes this gets skipped)
Sunday: LSR @ 9 min/mile - I don't know how far you are running, but run further

Instead of a specific speed session, do strides at the end of some of your easy runs.
If you are already up to about half marathon distance in your long run, do some intervals/surges at half marathon pace during the run.

On race day, run the first three miles at 8.20. If that feels easy, run the next 3 at 8.10. If that feels manageable, run the next 3 faster. Speed up again at the 10 mile mark.

Cona

+1 on RayCun advice above.

It's good your running 5 days a week but you just need to add a bit more structure in your runs so that you are getting a benefit out of each.

Try to have 2 key sessions per week. This means these sessions are actively helping you get fitter in line with your goals. For your half marathon, the first obvious point is that you don't do any longish runs. You should have a 10-11 mile run in there at some point before the half.

One excellent session I found when training for a half was to run 11 miles: 3 miles warm up, 3 miles at race pace, 1 mile easy, 3 miles race pace, 1 mile cool down. Have one other session in the week focussing on speed along the lines of 2m easy, 5*1k at 5k pace, 1m cool down.
All other days should be easy running, 5-8 miles. If fresh throw in some 100m bursts at the end.

FutureGuy

Cona wrote: »

+1 on RayCun advice above.

It's good your running 5 days a week but you just need to add a bit more structure in your runs so that you are getting a benefit out of each.

Try to have 2 key sessions per week. This means these sessions are actively helping you get fitter in line with your goals. For your half marathon, the first obvious point is that you don't do any longish runs. You should have a 10-11 mile run in there at some point before the half.

One excellent session I found when training for a half was to run 11 miles: 3 miles warm up, 3 miles at race pace, 1 mile easy, 3 miles race pace, 1 mile cool down. Have one other session in the week focussing on speed along the lines of 2m easy, 5*1k at 5k pace, 1m cool down.
All other days should be easy running, 5-8 miles. If fresh throw in some 100m bursts at the end.

Sorry, I’ll edit the first post, yes my LSR is increasing each week. I have a few 8 miles done and I’m out for a 9 on Sunday. Will increase this each week to 12 miles before the race.

FutureGuy

RayCun wrote: »

for the next month you could do

Tuesday: 5-6 miles @9 min/mile
Wednesday: Tempo 20 minutes at 8 min/mile, 5 minutes easy jog, 20 minutes at 8 min/mile. If that's too easy, do 7.50s
Thursday: 5-6 miles @9 min/mile (increasing to 5-6 miles in next week)
Friday: Rest
Sat: Rest/Parkrun 5k/3mile (I'm a new dad so sometimes this gets skipped)
Sunday: LSR @ 9 min/mile - I don't know how far you are running, but run further

Instead of a specific speed session, do strides at the end of some of your easy runs.
If you are already up to about half marathon distance in your long run, do some intervals/surges at half marathon pace during the run.

On race day, run the first three miles at 8.20. If that feels easy, run the next 3 at 8.10. If that feels manageable, run the next 3 faster. Speed up again at the 10 mile mark.

Thanks a million, ok I’ll give that a go. Hilariously, I downloaded the Runner’s word app which gives you a plan based on your previous races and it told me to do the Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday runs all at 9:06 min/mile (like you said) but it was that advice that confused me and sent me here. Strangely, the plan doesn’t tell you what time you are training for.

Anyways, thanks for this. The slower pace will help with the increase in mileage.

Zebra3

OP,

Are you training on a similar course to your half?

When I started out my first race was a half and I came in at 5 mins/km. In my training I was doing 5:08 or so per km on my longer training runs.

I was shocked initially when I finished about how well I’d done but looking back as I got more of an understanding of things the race (the Joe Duffy Clontarf half in November) was incredibly flat compared to what I’d trained on.

That and running with other people for the first time and support along the route helped me in my mind overachieve.

FutureGuy

Zebra3 wrote: »

OP,

Are you training on a similar course to your half?

When I started out my first race was a half and I came in at 5 mins/km. In my training I was doing 5:08 or so per km on my longer training runs.

I was shocked initially when I finished about how well I’d done but looking back as I got more of an understanding of things the race (the Joe Duffy Clontarf half in November) was incredibly flat compared to what I’d trained on.

That and running with other people for the first time and support along the route helped me in my mind overachieve.

I run some of the route at least once a week - did the final 3.5 miles at 8 min/mile as part of my Wednesday run.