Time between Events

[dthogue]

I am a beginning runner - working on the C25K program right now, but when I'm fininshed I want to start a 1/2 Marathon training program to run my first 1/2 in July.

My question is how far apart do you typically schedule between marathons. The 1/2 I really want to run is in October - if that too close together, too far apart, or is that ok? If I do a 19 week training program for July, what training schedule would I follow for the October race.

My ultimate goal is the WDW 1/2 in January - so I would have the same question on how to train between October and November.

Thanks for helping this new runner figure it all out.

Tammy

 

[cewait]

Good questions.

First, the time between marathons and half marathons varies by effort in the event and your expectations for the event (i.e. is it an “A” race one that means everything or a “B” race – one that could really be a training run effort wise). A general rule of thumb is that one should only run lightly one day for every day of a race. So for an “A” half you really need two weeks post race before seriously training for the next event. I generally do not apply this recovery rule for “B” or training races.

Now specifically to your question…

Get out a calendar and put your three half marathons on the calendar. Work backwards from the race day adding your training plan onto the calendar. Given your 19 week plan you will find that you will not have enough time between races for the full plan. For the calendar, simply restart your training plan at the week that intersects a couple weeks post race. Or in other words… take a week off post race then restart the training program at the week you would be on in your training plan.

Now here’s the rub. You will lose a lot of endurance by following this exactly. I assume that you will be starting back with a 2-4 mile long run and that may (more likely will) not be challenging enough. There are two options. Look for a shorter training plan that you can adopt. Many plans are in the 12 week range. The other alternative if you like your current plan is to run a base type plan post race alternating between 3 and 6 mile runs on the weekend until you start to intersect your current training plan. Saying it another way, alternate 3-6 mile runs until your plan hits a 6-7 mile run then follow the plan back up.

 

[princesslvr]

thanks so much for asking this question--I was trying to figure out how to do this too.

 

[stitchfan18]

I'm only going to have a 5 week break between the Princess 1/2 marathon, and my next 1/2 marathon here at home. Although the Princess isn't a training run for me, I'm not running it to race, so I plan on a much quicker recovery time. After my second 1/2 in April, I have 2 months before my next one. I personally like having them a little closer because I had to completely start from scratch on my training for the princess since my last 1/2 was in November and princess training didn't start until January.

 

[Disfan11]

Call me crazy - I've decided to run 2 half marathons in the same month.
San Diego Rock & Roll on 6/5.
Seattle Rock & Roll on 6/25.
Hopefully my body will be able to deal with it!
Anyone have suggestions on what distances of runs I should do in between?

 

[cewait]

Call me crazy - I've decided to run 2 half marathons in the same month.
San Diego Rock & Roll on 6/5.
Seattle Rock & Roll on 6/25.
Hopefully my body will be able to deal with it!
Anyone have suggestions on what distances of runs I should do in between?

not really crazy. Prepare well for the first and then let your body guide your running between the two events. Gut check would have you with a 3-6 mile run followed by a 5-9 mile run.

 

[stampingoddess]

I'm apparently another crazy racer. This past fall I did 4 half marathons in an 8 week period. This year I'm doing a half marathon a month and two of those (April/May) are on the same weekend (Saturday/Sunday)

Now that being said, not all of them are done for time. Some are training runs with a goal to PR at one or two of them. In the fall, 2 of them were done for time, with the last one shooting for, and achieving a new PR.

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

You've been given great info and I don't have any to add. You will figure out what your body will tolerate. Be careful to not push yourself where you will cause yourself injury.

You can do it. Find the fun!

 

[verticalchaos]

Yeah... I ended up getting into the NYC Half which is March 20 ~ so that gave me 9 weeks between that and the Disney Half from January.

I talked with Coach Jenny (as in co-author of Marathoning for Mortals) whose plan I'd followed for Disney. She told me to take the three weeks of recovery in the plan I was already on (and by the way, the week after doesn't count - especially for new runners) and then jump back into the training plan where I would be, maybe adding a mile or two onto my long runs. So far it seems to be working.

My big challenge will be the Disneyland and Wine and Dine which are within a month of each other. At the beginning of May I'll re-start the half training plan, again, adding a mile or two onto the long runs. After the Wine and Dine, I'll do the recovery plan and jump into the marathon plan where it would be.

We'll see how it works.

 

[dthogue]

Good questions.

First, the time between marathons and half marathons varies by effort in the event and your expectations for the event (i.e. is it an “A” race one that means everything or a “B” race – one that could really be a training run effort wise). A general rule of thumb is that one should only run lightly one day for every day of a race. So for an “A” half you really need two weeks post race before seriously training for the next event. I generally do not apply this recovery rule for “B” or training races.

Now specifically to your question…

Get out a calendar and put your three half marathons on the calendar. Work backwards from the race day adding your training plan onto the calendar. Given your 19 week plan you will find that you will not have enough time between races for the full plan. For the calendar, simply restart your training plan at the week that intersects a couple weeks post race. Or in other words… take a week off post race then restart the training program at the week you would be on in your training plan.

Now here’s the rub. You will lose a lot of endurance by following this exactly. I assume that you will be starting back with a 2-4 mile long run and that may (more likely will) not be challenging enough. There are two options. Look for a shorter training plan that you can adopt. Many plans are in the 12 week range. The other alternative if you like your current plan is to run a base type plan post race alternating between 3 and 6 mile runs on the weekend until you start to intersect your current training plan. Saying it another way, alternate 3-6 mile runs until your plan hits a 6-7 mile run then follow the plan back up.

Thank you for the information - it was very helpful - I have a plan mapped out on the calendar - we'll see how it goes!

Tammy