Training in days up to half-marathon on 2/19/06



J

JamesG

Guest
Hello,
I wanted to get the expert opinions of those out there regarding
training in the days leading up to a half-marathon race. I am 6 ft and
weigh 195 lbs; I run at around a 9 minute/mile pace and have worked up
to running 11 miles yesterday. I am a little sore today but feel
pretty good. I have been doing one long run a week in addition to my
other weight training and excercise and usually do another medium
distance run in the middle of the week also.
I was planning on doing another 12 mile run next weekend (7 or 8 days
before the race) and then just doing some moderate or light training
during the week leading up to the race and would then rest and eat a
lot of healthy food on Friday and Saturday before the race on Sunday.
Does this sound like a good plan to y'all? I have had another runner
say that they would not do a run that distance only a week before the
race. In my experience 7 or 8 days has always been a long enough
recovery time for other athletic feats.
Does anyone have any other tips for the race, the longest distance I
have ran in my life was the 11 miles yesterday.

Thank you in advance,
James
 
JamesG wrote:
> I was planning on doing another 12 mile run next weekend (7 or 8 days
> before the race) and then just doing some moderate or light training
> during the week leading up to the race and would then rest and eat a
> lot of healthy food on Friday and Saturday before the race on Sunday.
> Does this sound like a good plan to y'all?


I vote, see how you feel by next weekend. If you feel up to running 12
a week after running your previous high of 11, I'd say go ahead and do
it, and you'll probably feel up for the 13.1 the next week.

You don't need to eat "a lot" of food to fuel up though. In fact the
last thing you want is to feel extra heavy. If you follow some
low-carb diet, do make sure to get at least some kind of balance. But
eating a normal amount should be fine. You don't need to stuff
yourself for a marathon, let alone a half.


> Does anyone have any other tips for the race, the longest distance I
> have ran in my life was the 11 miles yesterday.


Have you run other races, of any length? Is your goal to finish the
half marathon, or do you have a time goal - and if so, how does that
relate to the pace of your long runs like your 11 miler?
 
Charlie,
I have run 5 mile races and ran track in high school (400m and 800m).
I am 31 now. My goal is to run the race at around my normal pace for
the whole race. So my goals for the race are to finish with a good
pace for me, running around a 9 minute/mile pace the whole race would
be good (a 2hr or less finish). When I ran the 11 miler yesterday I
felt good until I felt like I ran a bit out of gas at the 9 mile mark
and my legs felt heavy on the last two miles. I feel like I could have
gutted out another two miles though. I am hoping that drinking a bit
of gatorade during the race will help this. I ran 1.5 miles today at
lunch and felt okay.
I guess I might have misled a bit on saying a lot of food. I eat
pretty healthy and I will be eating a good amount of grains, fruits,
vegetables, and lean meats on these days. I do eat a lot though since
I burn a lot of calories through my workouts. At 195 lbs, I always
feel heavy when I run compared to when I was in high school at 160lbs
and below. Most of the weight is from weightlifting though so I am not
looking to lose much weight.
I appreciate your advice.
Thank you,
James
 
>11 miler yesterday I felt good until I felt like I ran a bit out of gas at the 9 mile mark and my legs felt heavy on the last two miles.

sounds like you are bonking (lack of glycogen & Na). you might want
to consider popping a Gel at 40 Min & 80 Min into a 1/2M race.
Practice before hand and condition your body first....check out the
below article.
http://www.runwashington.com/features/fueling.html
 
JamesG wrote:
> Hello,
> I wanted to get the expert opinions of those out there regarding
> training in the days leading up to a half-marathon race. I am 6 ft and
> weigh 195 lbs; I run at around a 9 minute/mile pace and have worked up
> to running 11 miles yesterday. I am a little sore today but feel
> pretty good. I have been doing one long run a week in addition to my
> other weight training and excercise and usually do another medium
> distance run in the middle of the week also.
> I was planning on doing another 12 mile run next weekend (7 or 8 days
> before the race) and then just doing some moderate or light training
> during the week leading up to the race and would then rest and eat a
> lot of healthy food on Friday and Saturday before the race on Sunday.
> Does this sound like a good plan to y'all? I have had another runner
> say that they would not do a run that distance only a week before the
> race. In my experience 7 or 8 days has always been a long enough
> recovery time for other athletic feats.
> Does anyone have any other tips for the race, the longest distance I
> have ran in my life was the 11 miles yesterday.
>
> Thank you in advance,
> James


My somewhat similar, though much slower, story is at:
http://deeplanguage.blogspot.com/

I did my last long run 12 days before my half marathon, and I thought
that much recovery time did me some good. Did my last 3 mile run five
days before the race. I swam the next three days (masters swim
practice) and then took one day completely off. Several other people on
my swim team doing the race took two days completely off.

Pam
 
I appreciate the comments. I decided on a 8.2 mile run yesterday (7
days before the race) and I ran a quicker pace than I will probably do
for the half-marathon. I ran around 8.6 minute/mile and I did a
negative split (my last 4.1miles was in 35 minutes) so I was happy
about running the second 4.1 miles stronger. I am feeling excited and
good about the upcoming race. I went and bought that gel energy stuff
to use during the race. I will run a little today and will be doing
martial arts training until Wednesday or Thursday. The training is
around 2 hours of hard cardio work but alot is from punching drills too
so my legs don't get too tired during training. Friday and Saturday
will be total rest and relaxation watching the Olympics.
Pam congratulations on your race and reaching your goal time.

Thank you,
James
 
On 13 Feb 2006 07:12:27 -0800, "JamesG" <[email protected]> wrote:

> I will run a little today and will be doing
>martial arts training until Wednesday or Thursday.


If you were doing martial arts with me, you'd be running allright. You
*****.
 
JamesG wrote:
> I went and bought that gel energy stuff
> to use during the race.


If you haven't already, test the stuff *before* race day. Some people
thrive on gels, but some find them unpalatable (euphemism).

Good luck!

Dot

--
Just wing it, it's an adventure; don't think about strategy.
~Julie Udchachon, in reference to the upcoming Susitna 2006
 
Dot wrote:
> Some people thrive on gels, but some find them unpalatable
> (euphemism).


My, Dot, I think you just became a strong contender for a "most
delicate phrasing by a hearty Alaskan" award. :)

OP: I emphatically second what Dot said. You do *not* want to find out
in a race that a gel has brutalized your guts.

Also - not all gels, nor runners' digestive tracts, are created equal.
I've tried at least half a dozen different brands, and found I disagree
rather violently with a couple, handle a few others better but they
taste nasty - very oversweet and artificial - and only really like
CarbBoom. Your mileage will probably vary. But I ain't kidding about
the taste - the apple tastes exactly like fast food apple pie filling,
the orange-vanilla is "creamsicle", etc.
 
Charlie Pendejo wrote:

> Dot wrote:
>
>>Some people thrive on gels, but some find them unpalatable
>>(euphemism).

>
>
> My, Dot, I think you just became a strong contender for a "most
> delicate phrasing by a hearty Alaskan" award. :)


Let's just say, from my young and really dumb (now I'm just dumb) days,
I had bought two gels (GU) since it seemed like the "in" thing to use on
my 1st race - a winter tri. I tasted part of one in the kitchen (and
threw out the remainder of it) and couldn't drink enough water that it
needed (to dilute carbs) plus to wash the taste out of my mouth. The
other still sits in my cupboard - although not sure why I don't just
throw it out. One of those things - first impressions and *all* gels got
a bad reputation in my mind. Seriously, though, they'd be such a pain to
use, esp. in colder temperatures (Oct-Apr), although lurking in ski
forums, apparently some are more fluid than others. (I survived the race
on Gatorade, believe it or not, since that was the only thing in grocery
store - and maybe something solid (powerbar?) before the swim. My logs
weren't that detailed back then to remember what I ate, if anything.)

James' post just sounded like something I did.

Dot

--
Just wing it, it's an adventure; don't think about strategy.
~Julie Udchachon, in reference to the upcoming Susitna 2006
 
"If you haven't already, test the stuff *before* race day"

No Kidding! In fact at this late stage, I would just forget
about gels and fancy stuff. Put some candy that you
like (smarties, gummi bears...) in your waist pouch
and that'll be plenty. It's only a half. Just do it.
....thehick