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Beginner runner here, I just did a couch to half marathon over the last 5 months. I successfully finished the half a couple weeks ago but it was sloooow and kicked my butt. I think the couch program had me running a little too much and I was running into injuries towards the end.
I want to keep the momentum going and do another half marathon in April to try and get a faster time. Does anyone have any good recommendations for a beginner’s half plan? Secondly, does anyone have any plans they use for keeping/improving my base fitness before I start training for my second?
Thanks in advance!
I don’t like training plan, especially the ones for 4 months when you are new to the distance, it’s always too tight in timing and hard on the body.
Try to keep consistent, learn to enjoy those medium runs at low intensity, focus on the cardio. When it’s effortless, you will see how fast it is to add easy mileage.
Been running since September. I spent money on good running shoes. I run .65 miles, walk .35 and keep alternating for about 5k. Still getting bad shin splints. Any exercises I can do without altering my running cadence?
Fist you have to stop long enough to actually heal, then you can try to restart again and build slower, also you don’t say how frequently you are running but as a beginner it shouldn’t be more than 3 days a week and they should be non-consecutive days
Yikes. M-F off on weekends
See if you can find some compression socks that may help with the shin splints. Not sure how it works after you already have them but I started to feel some in one leg got knee compression band and it’s been fine.
Is there a reason to no alter the cadence?
Well, I don’t want to lose progress or hamper it. I mean if there’s a significant reason to alter it I will.
for me my cadence was around 155-160 and caused them for me last year. going to physical therapy they helped me get my cadence up to around 170 (although it usually is a couple short of 170) and since then i havent had any issues. id look into it
In determining my max heart rate (and the corresponding zones), is there any reason I should not just use the maximum heart rate that my watch has captured in the last, say, six months? I have hit the mid-180s a few times during short periods of running very hard, peaking at 188. But I’m 51, and the usual subtraction formulas would yield a lower MHR. It’s possible that I left a little on table on those hard runs and my real MHR is a bit higher, but I know it’s at least 188. Does this make sense?
When you are stuck trying to decide between several different races which method of random selection do you turn to?
Which location my spouse would want to spend time in
I am looking for the best weather. Checking weather underground for historical data and average temps and dew point.
Which has the most scenic course?
Which has the cheapest hotel room with free breakfast and a bathtub?
Define scenic? Right now I’m debating next fall’s marathon (I know I’m planning super far out it’s what I do) so currently I’m thinking between duke city, twin cities, Richmond (VA), Detroit, Baltimore and Steamtown for next fall. Twin and duke I would have to fly to but I have friends that live there so I might be able to wrangle free lodging not sure about lodging for the rest though, but I’m not closed to considering other fall marathons for next year.
Having done a marathon where I had to travel, I would not recommend it unless it’s a bucket list type race. Sleeping in a hotel is poor sleep to me so recovery sucks. And it’s expensive on top of that.
I almost never struggle with sleeping in a hotel, and I’ve already worked the costs into my budget as long as I stay away from the stupid expensive ones like Disney, so none of those are factors to me , plus doing a race in every state challenge means that those are gonna happen.
Duke City is a cool one. The weather in ABQ in the fall is about as perfect as it gets for running, but the altitude is a bitch if you’re not ready for it. Parts of this city are higher than Denver.
With that one I would fly out a week early to acclimate and would definitely depend on my friend being willing to put up with me visiting for an entire week to save cost, but I’m a sign up early person and I feel if I ask them now they will probably say something about it being too far away to know yet so it would be a gamble on the lodging costs.
I live in Baltimore and obviously love it but I think other races on your list are more scenic. I don’t know the course but Richmond as a city is sooo cute and certainly worth a visit.
Baltimore is a 50-50 risk of being HECKIN’ HOT. And cool if you live here, but not scenic.
I hear Steamtown is pretty.
Have you thought about Wineglass? Haven’t run it, hear great things about the course and organization.
I do have that flagged as a NY option but for some reason it’s not on my radar for next year.
I do 100% have to do steamtown as my PA race because of my namesake (I promise to sing to song to everyone as I roll down the hill) plus my partner does like trains so we can visit the historic park.
The nice thing with Baltimore is I could take the train there, no driving or flying! And I would get a crab medal to go with my lobster claw medal from this year.
If you come to Baltimore I will come cheer for ya!
I will certainly let you know if I choose that one! Also if I do I will require some coffee and croissant recommendations!
Ditto about Baltimore. I have no croissant recommendations but I can point you to some really good duck fat fries.
If you want to double-up on crab medals, you can do King Crab. Frederick+Baltimore 10+Baltimore Running Festival.
Frederick could get you the squirrel medal for the Nut Job Challenge too! More animal medals!
I was considering the Chessie Challenge, but that’s Baltimore and Ocean City both in October. Not sure I could do marathons that close together.
But then you have to do B10 and potentially die in the heat.
One day I will go back and get revenge on that race because I really like the course.
Potential for best post race party, which is how I’ve raced in Las Vegas 3 times (and probably a 4th next year)
Wait people do things other than drink coffee then collapse in a shower then take a nap after races?
What are some really stupid things that I could waste my time and energy worrying about during my taper this week?
That little twinge in your ankle you’ve literally never noticed until now. Bonus points if you catastrophize and imagine it getting worse until race day and blowing up your entire race.
Oh no that’s the sensible thing I’m worrying about already (just got out of PT. It’ll come fine by Saturday.) I need dumb shit to worry about so I don’t come up with anything else realistic.
You could worry about the race being cancelled because of an invasion by the combined forces of Andorra and Nauru.
Thank you, you understood the assignment.
Is it possible to carbo load too much? How much garlic is appropriate to put on your garlic bread
Three weeks ago, I signed up for a race with seven weeks to go and was planning to follow couch to 5k. Starting and stopping was too hard for me to track so I just decided to run as much as I can each day (with rest days). I can run three miles in about thirty minutes now, but just found out I actually signed up for five miles instead of 5k! Should I go back and try harder on the couch to 5k plan for a more methodical build-up or just try to add distance each week for the next four weeks?
You can totally do this! Do 3.5 next week, 4 the following, 4.5 after that. Have fun!
Thank you, I’ll make that my new plan!
what makes an article of clothing a base layer? it is just that you layer things on top or does it have other qualities that make it more appropriate as a base layer?
It’s usually breathable and wicks away moisture. That’s about it for me
I think it’s just that it can be layered with other things, generally are very plain (no designs as it’ll normally be under other things) and it’ll be a soft sweat wicking material as well
So, smart (or stupid) me decided to try daily suggestions from my Fenix 7 for a full Marathon somewhere in March next year.
I have a few half marathons under my belt with the fastest in 1.58. now Garmin has me running for 6 days a week in a slow tempo. About 7.50 per km. I have no problem keeping this up, except for tired legs but hey, i can push through good enough. No tempo trainings so far (im 1,5 month in)
Now i dont wear the watch at night, because it gets itchy, so no sleep info.
Is it still a good program from Garmin? Or am i stupid for following the daily suggestions?
Best way to answer this is look at the mileage you’re doing and compare it to a conventional marathon plan. If it’s more or less the same then it’s probably a decent plan.
For the month november up until now i ran about 120km. Every run i finish Garmin asks how it went and it changes the program. Every interval training had been postponed.
Today i ran for 57 minutes, tomorrow it wants me to run for 57 minutes, Thursday for 1 hour and 10 minutes interval (which would be my first), Friday 1 hour and 12 minutes and Saturday 1 hour and 43 minutes.
It keeps upping the milage while slowing down the tempo.
I can give more info if needed. Btw i have never ran so much before. I usually trained 3 times a week but at a much higher heart rate.
Lots of slow running >>>>> less, but faster running, especially as a beginner. On that front at least, your Garmin is right.
It sounds like it’s funneling you toward ~6 hours of running per week, which is (IMO) definitely kind of the north end of what a lot of “beginner” runners could pull off. If it feels like it’s too much volume, just drop the times down slightly, but keep your pace easy + slow.
It’s worth noting, though, that Garmin’s Z2 calculations for Heart Rate tend to be SUPER low, and you can likely ignore them. Shit like “Z2 is <130 bpm,” which, like, for a lot of people, ALL runs will always be above 120 BPM. So don’t put too much credence in HR ranges as measured by your Garmin — “Garmin Zone 3” is Strava Zone 2.
I followed the suggestions for a 5k and I was so much slower after. At some point you need speed work and it was doing the same thing to me “longer and longer slow runs at a barely jogging pace”.
I know a decent amount of people treat winter as their off season, choosing to do maintenance runs as opposed to rigorous training, perhaps moving indoors to do treadmill work as opposed to braving the elements, etc. I’m curious if anyone out there does the opposite and treats the SUMMER as their off season, putting in their heaviest work in the colder months of the year. As someone who is very anti-warm weather, I think this is the plan I want to go with–keep it light and don’t engage in any running after 9AM from May to September, but go all out with long runs, speed work, etc when Mother Nature isn’t actively trying to burn me alive. Thoughts?
Also on the topic, can anyone point me in the direction towards some late winter/early spring half marathons and marathons I can sign up for someday? I’m not running those distances yet, but it’d be a nice goal to get to in 2025.
I hate summer too, but I do appreciate when the weather cools off and all the fitness gains hit you at once. Unfortunately, with a two marathon/year schedule, I kinda have to do both summer and winter training. Mostly, I’m just too lazy to build my base back up after an off season and prefer to keep it relatively high.
I’m planning to do this starting this coming year. I trained for my first marathon in a Maryland summer and I do not recommend. I was so. hot. all. the. time. for several months. Next summer, I’m planning to focus on biking and swimming, and save long runs/marathoning for the winter and spring.
For races: I’m a fan of the rock and roll half in DC in March. There’s also Shamrock in Virginia Beach in mid-March (has both a half and a full option) and SLC in Utah, which also has both a half and a full. I’m planning to run the rock and roll half again in 2024, followed by SLC in April. No clue how the elevation will impact me in slc, but we’ll see!
A while ago I was in a streak of running Boston and had to train in the snow, cold, and ice each year. Since stopping I’ve gone back to summer training and I don’t think I enjoy it as much. I had a terrible time with the humidity this past summer and came close to heat exhaustion a few times. I’d rather run and skate ski a lot through the winter and bike/swim/hike thru the summer.
I was debating if I wanted to sign up for the DC rock n roll. One of my best friend’s is in Alexandria, so I figured I could make a nice 3 day weekend out of it. I’m glad to see it’s recommended. This will be my race to keep me trained and going through the winter when I don’t want to get outside and run.
I think it depends on where you live. I live down south and it’s 40 degrees now and perfect running weather. Summers are hot and not fun if you don’t get out early. But if I lived in Minnesota I would say the opposite
People take seasons off?
I have a friend who absolutely will not run in the winter. He loves the heat. As in, he’ll go for runs at noon in the middle of the summer. He just won’t run in the winter and will do other things.
Your friend is built different. More power to him because I could never!
Yeah, more power to him. I’m with you. If I can’t get out the door before the sun’s up in the summer, I ain’t running outside. I actually (unintentionally) took most of this summer off and just strength trained and occasionally did some treadmill runs. I lost aerobic fitness, but I feel stronger and like my body can withstand more now. Just have to work up to where I was when I stopped in the spring.
I have no experience with this, but I feel like if you wanted to cut back in the summer, you could maintain your cardiovascular gains by doing other aerobic exercise, like swimming, biking, hiking (although that’s also hot), or exercise in others ways that you enjoy and might not get to do when you’re running more.
I love winter running and can’t fathom the idea of a winter off season unless you live somewhere that’s covered in ice all winter! I still run throughout the summer, but I suffer immensely and will never ever sign up for a summer race.
I like to search runningintheusa.com to find races. There are several of various distances near me in December-March!
One of my buddies does this, the last few years he’s run a spring marathon and some shorter races then takes the summer off to do longer thru hiking and more casual running when at home
Honestly it seems like a healthier relationship to running than I have stacking race after race after race, and he’s slightly faster than me so it seems like it works!
Austin Half and Full is around that time, so is the Disney World Half and Full which is really fun if you even remotely like Disney.
I have kind of fallen into doing summer and winter as maintenance. I think my racing days are kind of over though so there’s that. I have tried to stick with running hard during the summer but the 100+ temps just kill me (literally sometimes). During the winter there is snow and ice on the ground (we got 8" of snow this past Sat) so that is not the best time to be working hard either. I’m re-thinking what I’m doing and I think I will be spending the summer/winter in the gym doing strength work. Running is gonna get dialed down to 3-4x a week. Probably no more than 4 miles or so during the week and no more than 8-10 miles on the weekend.
every year i only run from okt-april 3-4times/week mai-sept you can find me on tennis courts or on rivers kayaking 5-6times/week. 0 runs in 5months
It me.
I don’t handle heat well. I would rather run through the winter for a spring race and mess around in the woods in the summer. Come late August and early September I’m eager to get back to intense training for a late fall race.
I did this growing up in a place with winter. Unfortunately it meant my summer training was not good enough for my cross country season ;)
Depends where you live. My sister lives in a semi topical place so you just described her running schedule, I live in Canada so while I still Run a good volume in the winter it’s simply harder to maintain the volume only running outdoors.
Half fanatics has a list (although not a complete one) of half marathons going on all year round. There is also runners world, which has a pretty extensive list of half’s.
Oh neat! Thanks for the info!
I don’t really train hard enough at any point to have an “off season”, but being in Texas, I enjoy running in the Winter so much more than Summer.
I have a half marathon in 2 weeks. I did 10 miles about 3 weeks ago but have only done up to 7 miles since. I am not trying to PR, just trying to finish it. I have run halfs before but it’s been 2 years since the last one. What do I do as a long run this week? Do I run a 10-miler this week and then do the half next week?
Yes, if you have one long run left before your halfmarathon, I would run 9-10 miles for it
Hi, I’m going to start running when my new shoes get here and as a complete beginner I have to ask, does it matter entirely if I decide to do run 65% walk 35% or run straight 100% in a shorter distance? This is because I’m looking to do it early in the morning before work meaning I won’t have too much time? Thanks a lot any tips appreciated
At the beginner distances run walking isn’t going to add that much time, I would recommend just starting with a couch to 5k plan
I’m running 30 mi/wk and have a half marathon coming up in a couple of weeks. I just hit my first 9mi run and plan on hitting an 11mi run exactly a week before the race. What’s a good de-load for that week? I was thinking 2mi/day and maybe a 5mi day about 4 days before and resting the 2 days before the race.
TIA!
Couple comments above has a good half training plan with a de-load week. 4 miles, 3 miles, 2 easy miles before race day.
I’m in marathon training - is it normal to feel absolutely drained after long runs? I did a half marathon weekend before last pretty quickly and was completely out of gas at the end. Last weekend I did 18 slow, with gels along the way, and was dead on my feet when done. I might have been able to force in two more painful miles, but eight? Don’t think I had it in me. I have two more long runs ( 19 & 20) with some 12-14 milers mixed in. Is this normal? Or normal-ish?
100% normal, it’s amazing what a good taper and carbo load will get you through for those extra race day miles.
Yeah, it’s residual load from weeks of training. I bonked pretty hard on my second to last long run, felt miserable my whole taper, and set a 30 minute PR last time. It’s very normal.
I’ve only run one marathon, but something I read while I was in training that helped me get through the long runs is that those are where the changes to your body really happens. Getting in the miles throughout the week is important, but it’s those long, exhausting runs once a week that really trigger the changes that increase your endurance for a longer distance the next time. I think it’s the exhaustion that tells your body to make the changes it needs to so you’re less exhausted the next time. I’d remind myself of this at mile 18 of a 19 mile training run when I felt terrible and wanted to walk the last mile. “This is where the changes happen. Keep going.”
How can I stay calm/sane during a treadmill tempo run?
I’m in my first quarter of training for another HM. My boyfriend is a much more seasoned runner and is helping me write a training plan. Tomorrow, he has me running my first tempo run (I’ve been doing interval speed workouts for the last few weeks). I’m to do a mile warmup, 3 mile tempo at 9:20 pace (or thereabouts - “comfortably hard,” he said), then 2 miles easy to finish out 6.
I’m almost as nervous as when I ran my first 20 minute block during C25K three years ago. Speed work intimidates me, and I’m worried I’m going to fall apart during the tempo bit.
Y’all got tips on how to survive tempos?
I mean, I would do it outside, but I just despise treadmills in general.
Biggest mistake is starting out too hard and gassing yourself. Set the appropriate pace early and find your rhythm. It’ll feel too easy for a bit, but the pain will come. Just settle into a good cadence and breathing rhythm and try to enjoy the work. It feels amazing when you’re done.
UPDATE: I did not die. But I also did not start out at 9:20 pace. I started at 9:40 and finished out the 3 mile tempo at 9:05 pace. It’s not impressive, but I did it. And I can keep improving.
Thank you for your advice.
How many alarms do I need to set to make sure I’m up in time to sign up for Javelina?
1 every minute until you’re awake an hour beforehand.