DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
- Messages
- 10,345
Did the mile time trial today. put an out-grown kids shoe over the speed readout on the screen so i wouldn't be able to see the number and have it get in my head. started it at 6.7 and adjusted as needed with the +/- button. Ran it in 9:18, and I feel like i maybe could have gone a little bit faster (like maybe 9:10? who knows. maybe not.)
I had a feeling you would beat the 9:42 based on the 33 min 5k. This is what I get now:



I dropped the speed down to 4.6 and was able to do another mile without needing to walk at all. Like....it was easy. IMAGINE THAT!![]()

And that 4.6 mph pace (13:03 min/mile) would be your Easy B pace according to the continuous pacing chart. So it's a good sign to see that you find that continuous pace easy as it lines up with the mile time trial test.
That looks completely doable on paper, AND lines up almost perfectly with the half marathon my SIL wants to run for her birthday, with a couple of scheduling issues. We are going to WDW for our [rescheduled] anniversary trip during the last full week of august barring any shut-downs or quarantine/stay-home orders. There will be no running that week. It just won't happen unless the fitness centers are open because I don't relish the idea of running around by myself in FL heat.
So would that be a HM on around 10/18 (12 weeks)?
The August WDW trip (8/24-8/30) would fall on Week 5 of the training plan. So if the race is on 10/18ish, then that's Week 5 on the below.

Having to miss Week 5 and being ready for the HM in Week 12 isn't the worst thing in the world. I would give yourself equal time return to equal time off. So the trip would cover a week, which means it'll take roughly a week of training before you'll feel normal again. So I would skip the Week 6 5k mock race and just do 3 miles easy instead.
The long runs will be a challenge to fit in. That's complete honesty. Nap time is when I try to get all of my "attention-required" chores done, and I would have to put the runs into that time slot unless I did the jogging stroller thing and pushing a baby AND running for 2+ hours seems like it could be a special kind of torture. Who knows though, maybe by then I'll be used to it from the shorter runs? If it ever cools off. Ugh. OH! And we just found out from our neighbor that we have a large black bear in the area. Super.
So how about limiting the long runs to a max of 2 hours then? Would that help? Your LR pace is either 12:30 (continuous) or 13:30 (using run/walk). So a max of 2 hours would be 9.6 miles (continuous) or 8.8 miles (run/walk). I think with the other training days, that's completely reasonable to be able to do the HM at the end of the training plan. I've successfully had LOTS of runners do a max of 14-15 miles and still run a marathon (26.2). The least I had for a runner was 9 miles for a marathon. So there are definitely ways to make it work. The caveat is there is a lot more to the accomplishment of these runners then a very simplistic view of just the length of the long run.
So if you limited the LR to 2 hours, then I'd adjust the above to the following for the weekends:
W1 - 4 mi
W2 - 5 mi
W3 - 4 mi
W4 - 5 mi
W5 - OFF
W6 - 3 miles
W7 - 6 mi
W8 - 7 mi
W9 - 10k mock race
W10 - 8 mi
W11 - 9 mi
W12 - HM race
As for pacing, if you do continuous training, then Tues/Thurs should be around the EA/EB pacing, Sat should be around the LR pace, and Wed "pace" days could be done at HM Tempo (11:05 min/mile). Doing 55 min of HM Tempo is completely reasonable (it's about the max I typically schedule). I'd consider adding a 5-10 min WU before doing the HM Tempo pace.
If you choose to do run/walk instead, then I would suggest doing the Easy/LR pacing for Tues/Thurs/Sat and for Wed "pace" days use the HM Tempo interval suggestion of either 120/30 at 10:10/17:00 or 80/30 at 9:49/17:00. Two different options for those that like the long game or the short sprints.
If you choose to do the mock 10k in Week 9, then one suggestion I would make is not doing the Week 10 five mile pace run as in my opinion it carries a bit of risk that you might not find worth it. Maybe a 2.5 mi easy + 2.5 mi paced run would be safer.
How does all of that sound?