After first 10K race

"Sergio" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all,

Last Sunday I ran my first 10K race after training for a couple of months (started running 30
minutes 3 times a week and now I run 55 minutes). My time was 51:20. I have read somewhere that
one should not try a half-marathon at least until you are well under 50:00 in the 10K.

Why not? It has nothing to do with how fast you can run a 10k, more to do with how much mileage you
do in preparation. Someone who runs a 10k in 51 mins for example, could feasibly run the half
marathon in about 1h 50- 1h 55 mins.

The main thing when preparing for a half is to put the miles in, depending on how much time you
have you want to do at the very least 20 miles per week and one run of 10 miles or more about 4-5
times before the actual half marathon. Even better if you can run the full 13.1m or longer every
other week

Quoted message said:

I think that probably makes sense. From what I read it seems that increasing the mileage in one of
my weekly runs might be a good way to both increase my 10K speed and get ready for a
half-marathon.

Increasing mileage will increase your endurance. Tempo, fartlek & interval training will improve
your speed.

Quoted message said:

I would like to ask you to validate this and also to let me know if you think I should start
running 4 days a week and how important would that be.

Yes, increase your mileage gradually as always. 4 days a week is just about the minimum required to
run a half marathon IMO.

Quoted message said:

I have read somewhere that one should not try a half-marathon at least until you are well under
50:00 in the 10K.

That's [censored]! Mileage is what counts, not how fast you do those miles.

Bill R.

=============> - -- - (_!_)
OO

Agree. Best rule to follow for beginners is don't increase your mileage more than 10% per month.
Your muscles will progress much faster than your connective tissue. So be patient.

Scott

Bill-always hard-Rodgers said:

Quoted message said:

I have read somewhere that one should not try a half-marathon at least until you are well under
50:00 in the 10K.

That's [censored]! Mileage is what counts, not how fast you do those miles.

Bill R.

=============> - -- - (_!_)
OO

In article said:

Hi all,

Last Sunday I ran my first 10K race after training for a couple of months (started running 30
minutes 3 times a week and now I run 55 minutes). My time was 51:20. I have read somewhere that
one should not try a half-marathon at least until you are well under 50:00 in the 10K.

I think that probably makes sense. From what I read it seems that increasing the mileage in one of
my weekly runs might be a good way to both increase my 10K speed and get ready for a
half-marathon.

I would like to ask you to validate this and also to let me know if you think I should start
running 4 days a week and how important would that be.

Thanks in advance,

Sergio

Sergio,

IMO, one doesn't have to reach a certain point in speed before advancing to the marathon. But i do
believe that at least a couple of years of racing (shorter races) and gradually building up distance
in the weekly long run are pretty important things to do to prepare the body for the marathon.

speed is not an issue, though a 7+ hour marathon would just get boring or way beyond what most
people could handle. that's a loooong time on your feet.

agreed that increasing mileage on one run per week is a good start. yeah, shoot for a half marathon
now. after the 10K, that's a good next step. and i think 4 days a week would sure help in your quest
to run a good half marathon, though there may be some folks who have trained on 3 days and done
fine. i always do a minimum of 4 days per week for races of that length.

congrats on the 10K (a pretty decent time on it too) and best of luck in your training!

Cam

Hi Sergio -

Congratulations on finishing your fist 10K with great time! I think your plan sounds good.Gradually
increase the mileage and you will be in good shape to keep the off the injuries. Also if you don't
set any time goals, I think it will be much easier and enjoyable experience for you to run your
first half-marathon.

Good luck. - Satish

"Sergio" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all,

Last Sunday I ran my first 10K race after training for a couple of months (started running 30
minutes 3 times a week and now I run 55 minutes). My time was 51:20. I have read somewhere that
one should not try a half-marathon at least until you are well under 50:00 in the 10K.

I think that probably makes sense. From what I read it seems that increasing the mileage in one of
my weekly runs might be a good way to both increase my 10K speed and get ready for a
half-marathon.

I would like to ask you to validate this and also to let me know if you think I should start
running 4 days a week and how important would that be.

Thanks in advance,

Sergio

Recommendations (take them for what they are worth):

1) I do not use a benchmark for when to move on.
2) Running more will help. Getting more volume and building a base of easy miles for many weeks
(maybe 12) is a good foundation for all endurance training.
3) Remember the half-marathon is more than 2x longer than the 10K.
4) Be patient
5) Be patient
6) I think running 5 days per week is a great goal so running for a few weeks 4 days per week is a
good intermediate step.

"Sergio" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all,

Last Sunday I ran my first 10K race after training for a couple of months (started running 30
minutes 3 times a week and now I run 55 minutes). My time was 51:20. I have read somewhere that
one should not try a half-marathon at least until you are well under 50:00 in the 10K.

I think that probably makes sense. From what I read it seems that increasing the mileage in one of
my weekly runs might be a good way to both increase my 10K speed and get ready for a
half-marathon.

I would like to ask you to validate this and also to let me know if you think I should start
running 4 days a week and how important would that be.

Thanks in advance,

Sergio

ZB said:

Yes, increase your mileage gradually as always. 4 days a week is just about the minimum required
to run a half marathon IMO.

Why? It's really about mileage, not about "days per week" - the way one chooses to distribute the
mileage between the days is really a matter of personal choice. I, for one, run better on 4 days a
week than 5, even if the mileage stays the same - need to consider the need for rest which is
individually different. FWIW, I ran my first HM last year on +/- 4 training days a week and it went
great (1:46).

cheers, nina

In article <[email hidden]>,

nina stoessinger said:

ZB said:

Yes, increase your mileage gradually as always. 4 days a week is just about the minimum required
to run a half marathon IMO.

Why? It's really about mileage, not about "days per week" - the way one chooses to distribute the
mileage between the days is really a matter of personal choice. I, for one, run better on 4 days a
week than 5, even if the mileage stays the same - need to consider the need for rest which is
individually different. FWIW, I ran my first HM last year on +/- 4 training days a week and it
went great (1:46).

cheers, nina

Hey Nina,

So did you sometimes do 3-day training weeks back then? Did you find that those weeks gave the
running muscles more time to rest and heal? It's a funny thing that I am, with only 3 days
(sometimes 2!) of run training per week, currently doing as well as or better than (speed-wise) I
was at my peak last year after nearly a full summer of hard training!

What's up with THAT? I sure won't complain... and I can't wait to see how I am doing come
July/August. Maybe I WILL smash my PR's this year (finally!).

Cam

Duns Scotus <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Agree. Best rule to follow for beginners is don't increase your mileage more than 10% per month.
Your muscles will progress much faster than your connective tissue. So be patient.

Scott

Right now I run around 6.5 miles 3 times a week (Tuesday or Wednesday evening, Friday evening and
Sunday morning).

From what I hear my plan should include making Sunday's run the long one and introducing a fourth
weekly run and all this without increasing my weekly mileage to fast.

Do you think it is a better idea running on Monday-Wednesday-Friday or Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday?
Would it be a good idea to start having an easier run on Monday?

If I increase gradually my new Monday run and make it equal to my other runs in let's say a couple
of months I would be running 26 miles per week (from my current 19.5)

Then I could start increasing the mileage of my Sunday long run and in a couple of months it could
be 10 miles (from 6.5)

So in 4 months I could be doing a 10-mile long run and almost 30 miles per week.

Does it make sense?

Thanks for youh comments,

Sergio.

It all depends on how your body is handling your current mileage. I didn't catch your age either.

I'm more or less in the same boat you are, running a bit more per week. I'm 44 and I don't recover
like I used to, and I'm a fragile runner.

So ... I would stick to the M-W-F scenario (which I am, in fact) and bump up one of the runs
gradually.

When you get to 10 for your longest, perhaps you could throw in an easy recovery run next to one of
your current runs. I'm planning on throwing in a very hard bike ride (3+ hr.) with my racing friends
on Saturday and resting completely on Sunday.

The key is to rest sufficiently after your hard efforts. You have to be able to build up after you
tear down, or you'll death spiral.

Check out the workouts in this list. Also check out some of the sample progressions in the
bookstore. My old Runners Handbook has some great schedules. I'm not sure how good the current
revision is.

Take your time. You've got the rest of your life.

Scott

Sergio said:

Duns Scotus <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Agree. Best rule to follow for beginners is don't increase your mileage more than 10% per month.
Your muscles will progress much faster than your connective tissue. So be patient.

Scott

Right now I run around 6.5 miles 3 times a week (Tuesday or Wednesday evening, Friday evening and
Sunday morning).

From what I hear my plan should include making Sunday's run the long one and introducing a fourth
weekly run and all this without increasing my weekly mileage to fast.

Do you think it is a better idea running on Monday-Wednesday-Friday or Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday?
Would it be a good idea to start having an easier run on Monday?

If I increase gradually my new Monday run and make it equal to my other runs in let's say a couple
of months I would be running 26 miles per week (from my current 19.5)

Then I could start increasing the mileage of my Sunday long run and in a couple of months it could
be 10 miles (from 6.5)

So in 4 months I could be doing a 10-mile long run and almost 30 miles per week.

Does it make sense?

Thanks for youh comments,

Sergio.

Hi Cam,

Quoted message said:

So did you sometimes do 3-day training weeks back then?

Funny, I thought I did, but now that I'm looking through my logs again, all I can find during my
'peak' is 4- and 5-day weeks. I did a few 3-day weeks (ranging from 25 to 31 miles) last fall which
were really, really good - that was when life tended to get in the way. And I do 3-day weeks now,
but of course I'm nowhere near that mileage so that's a silly comparison.

Quoted message said:

Did you find that those weeks gave the running muscles more time to rest and heal?

Wouldn't surprise me. That's definitely what I noticed for 4-day vs. 5-day weeks - 5-day weeks are
really hard on my system, even if they make up not a lot of mileage. What you're saying totally
makes sense to me!

I won't complain, since I prefer doing fewer and longer runs to lots of shorter ones, anyway. 🙂

nina