Newbie runner question

[HootDad]

Hi all,

I am training for my first half marathon (I have been tracking my progress here) and I have a question. I have been reading up, listening to podcasts, etc. and have gotten a good feel for how I should approach training but there is one essential bit I am missing. Everyone says "build up slowly" - but build up to what? What should be my goal for training in terms of distance? In other words, what distance should my last training run before the half marathon be? The full 13 miles? That seems unlikely but 10 miles? 11? 12? Any thoughts and/or experience would be helpful. And by the way - loving the advice on this forum!

 

[johde]

That's a bit of a tough question with some differences of opinions. Most beginner plans peak with a 10 mile long slow run. Jeff Galloway on the other hand builds his plans clear up to 13-14 miles. That being said, most beginners plans have the goal of allowing you to finish in an upright position. In my mind, ideally you want to have at least a couple of runs in the 10 mile range before race day.

For my first 2 half marathon, I used John Bingham's and Jenny Hadfield "Marathoning for Mortals" plan. The first time I did the walk plan and the second time I did the walk/run plan. In both cases, I started several weeks early to allow for unexpected cut back weeks or repeating weeks. For my first half marathon things went well and I added a 9 mile long run in the jump between 8 and 10 as well as did 2 10 mile runs (along with extra cut back weeks). The second time through I did something similar with the walk/run plan although I adjusted the recomended ratios based on my abilities. That plan is 14 weeks long and you have by my calculations 23 weeks until the race. With your current long runs, you could start with week 4 (4 mile long run) and repeat every week twice until race day. Although you would probably want to adjust the locations of the cut back weeks repeating the last several weeks in pairs. That would get you to 2 10 milers before race day.

A similar plan although already figured out would be to the the beginner plan in Jeff Galloways "Half Marathon: You can do it" It's a 38 week plan but you could probably jump in somewhere around weeks 6-9. It builds mileage fairly slowly and peaks at 14 miles. If you followed this plan Once you got to 10 miles in week 25 you could decide on how to finish up either repeating 10 miles an extra time or 2 or building up to 12-13 miles before tapering.

The Run Disney website also has a plan by Jeff Galloway but it's 17 weeks long and builds up the mileage more quickly.

Using hindsight, I'm thinking the middle of the beginner plan in Jeff's Galloway's Book "Half Marathon:You can do it" is the better beginner plan. It's the longest, but it builds up the miles the most gradually. And the old edition of the book is under $5.00 on amazon or you can get the basics of the plan looking at the preview.

 

[HootDad]

That being said, most beginners plans have the goal of allowing you to finish in an upright position.

Ha! Good goal!

Using hindsight, I'm thinking the middle of the beginner plan in Jeff's Galloway's Book "Half Marathon:You can do it" is the better beginner plan. It's the longest, but it builds up the miles the most gradually. And the old edition of the book is under $5.00 on amazon or you can get the basics of the plan looking at the preview.

Awesome advice, thanks! I will check it out.

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

I am very much a follower of the MARATHONING FOR MORTALS plan. I also do not feel that one must complete the distance in training in order to complete the distance in the event unless you are planning to place in the top finishers.

I think the comment about the need to "build up slowly" refers to the idea that most new participants go out too much too fast and that is pretty much going to guarantee an injury. Building up a base slowly will allow you many things a few examples: to get a feel for what your body is able to do, allow for proper healing as you go, and keep things fun along the way.

There are sites that will give you a guage of your expected finish time would be based upon some distances you can currently manage. I have found these to be fairly accurate. You can look at for that information and determine your event goal.

Also, building up includes cross training/stretching and should definitely be part of your training routine. The balance of cross training will depend on your timing for your event. For example, my formal training for Goofy (20 week program) begins the end of this month.

That does not mean prior to the 20 weeks that one is sitting around doing nothing. This time is used to continue distance training but not as heavy concentration is to do more on overall muscle strength, yoga/stretching, Pilates for core work. This allows for being better prepared when the focus is on more running with less cross training.

There are many programs out there to review with many similarities. Some programs are pretty aggressive and others are a bit easier yet will allow for a successful healthy completion of an event.

There are many seasoned event participants on the Events/Competition side of WISH who would have some good comments to add. If there are not many more replies on this side, I may transfer this topic to that sied.

Happy training and find the fun!

 

[johde]

I am very much a follower of the MARATHONING FOR MORTALS plan. I also do not feel that one must complete the distance in training in order to complete the distance in the event unless you are planning to place in the top finishers.

I would agree with you, that if your goal is to complete the distance, you don't need to complete the distance in training. That being said, I've found advantages to over distance training in being able to improve my finish time. The last couple of training cycles, I've used 3 different Jeff Galloway "goal time" plans as the basis for training. The last 2 half marathons as well as my current half marathon plan peak at 15 miles (14 + warmup and cooldown). Coming into those races, I've felt better trained than my first couple of races, and potentially be able to push the pace. So, I would say, if you're planning on going all out, planning to win or not, those longer training runs can be valuable.

In my first half marathon, my first 10 mile walk went horribly, I'm glad I had a second one before the race. That one went much better, at the end of that walk, I knew I could finish. After the first 10 miler I was wondering what I had gotten myself into.

Jeff Galloway's beginner plan I mentioned is very similar to "Marathoning for Mortal" especially in the middle of the plan. The biggest difference is that it adds 1/2 a mile to the long run in the beginning a mile at the end, instead of a mile per long run in the beginning and 2 miles at the end.

 

[HootDad]

I would agree with you, that if your goal is to complete the distance, you don't need to complete the distance in training. That being said, I've found advantages to over distance training in being able to improve my finish time.

I am definitely not terribly interested in my time - so long as I am saved the embarrassment of being "swept up" for being too slow!

 

[HootDad]

I just bought the Galloway book on my Nook. The other is not available on my Nook, I think I'll order it on Amazon. Thanks!