29 replies to this topic

[yondi]

If my goal for 2009 was to run 3 half marathons would it be better to space them out over the year or run them close together like 3 consecutive months?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks YONDI

[VelociRaptor]

I did 2 this year, fairly spaced out. Not sure how one each month for 3 months would go, alot depends on how much running you have already done.

So a lot will depend on how far you long runs are now. If you are already doing 15km runs with ease then one every month should be okay. Just make sure you have an easy week after the run. Also try and get in plenty of massage either self or from a professional.

Before I did my first half, I was doing regular 20km runs with ease.

I am still fairly in-experienced though so I can't offer any disclaimers or what not.

[yondi]

Thanks Carmen and VelociRaptor. I think I agree with you but I just wanted to checkout what others thought. A rest between them is best.

This year the C2S was my longest run(I have only been running since April). Over the summer I am concentrating on 3 runs/week including 10k ish long run on the weekend. I just thought it'd be good to become comfortable with running that distance before moving on to bigger distances.

I have not decided on which particular ones to do as yet. There are many to choose from.

Spread out I could do: March Hill to Hunter Newcastle (has a new Half this year)
June Macleay river half marathon
October World masters games half

Or something like that.

YONDI

[yondi]

Yes thats it Carmen.The Herald Hill to Harbour 10km and next year half marathon too. Yes it will be interesting to see the course. It's not up on the website yet.

YONDI

[ican]

Hi Yondi

The time frame you have is fine. Get your long run up to 25k each week (gradually) and your recovery won't be difficult at all. The harder you put into each race the longer it takes to recover but generally 2-10 days and you're back into it. Will look forward to your progress.

Cheers
ICAN

[yondi]

Thanks ican

[Running Angel]

ican, on Nov 7 2008, 06:52 PM, said:

Hi Yondi

The time frame you have is fine. Get your long run up to 25k each week (gradually) and your recovery won't be difficult at all. The harder you put into each race the longer it takes to recover but generally 2-10 days and you're back into it. Will look forward to your progress.

Cheers
ICAN

I agree the time frame is perfect, although I don't think it's necessary to be regulary running 25k as a long run when training for a half marathon, especially for your first few. You just risk overtraining and getting injured. Just my opinion though, everyone is different. I would aim to try and get up to doing regular 2 hour runs rather than focusing on distance

[walshy2]

Yondi,

I think spacing them out is smart and I agree with Running Angel that 25k long runs is not necessary.
Build up the long runs in the 6 - 8 weeks prior by 10% per week and depending on what your goals are I think if you get it up to 17 -18km you will be fine. try to incorporate some faster shorter runs also
I recall my 1st half I did do a long run of 22km, but more for the psychological benefit of knowing I would do the distance than any physical benefit.
I did my 1st half in 88.46 and was really pleased

rgds
walshy

[Gadfly]

Hi Yondi,

I'm reading this thread with interest as I have similar goals for next year. I'm planning on the Hunter Valley half in July and 1 either side of that - maybe Canberra half in May and Blackmores on Sept. Or maybe Bathurst or Orange half earlier than May - not sure. I had wondered about ideal spacing between them, so thank you for posting the question.

What does the Hill to Hunter look like? hilly??? I thought maybe a flat one to start, but not really wanting to wait until Canberra if I can do one elsewhere (and being selfish here, was also after one that you got a medal afterwards - the all important thing for my 1st ever half). Good luck with your training.

[shortarse]

Looking at your acheivement of your 2008 goals I would say you could do them on 3 consecutive days! Maybe not quite, but it would seem that you have a pretty good base from which to train. Obviously they shouldn't be really close together but 1 month in between should be plenty. I did 3 this year in June, August and September.

shortarse

[Running Angel]

Gadfly, on Nov 7 2008, 09:18 PM, said:

Hi Yondi,

I'm reading this thread with interest as I have similar goals for next year. I'm planning on the Hunter Valley half in July and 1 either side of that - maybe Canberra half in May and Blackmores on Sept. Or maybe Bathurst or Orange half earlier than May - not sure. I had wondered about ideal spacing between them, so thank you for posting the question.

What does the Hill to Hunter look like? hilly??? I thought maybe a flat one to start, but not really wanting to wait until Canberra if I can do one elsewhere (and being selfish here, was also after one that you got a medal afterwards - the all important thing for my 1st ever half). Good luck with your training.

Hi Gadfly

I'm thinking of Hill to Hunter this year, I'm assuming it will be pretty hilly. For your first half I would steer cleer of Orange also, I did this one last year and it's definitely hilly! How about SMH in May? A couple of hills but nothing too taxing and you have the benefit of being able to train on the course round the CBD? I think Bathurst is also reasonably flat but not having done that one I'm not certain.

Good luck with whatever you decide

[yondi]

Quote

I'm reading this thread with interest as I have similar goals for next year. I'm planning on the Hunter Valley half in July and 1 either side of that - maybe Canberra half in May and Blackmores on Sept. Or maybe Bathurst or Orange half earlier than May - not sure. I had wondered about ideal spacing between them, so thank you for posting the question.

What does the Hill to Hunter look like? hilly??? I thought maybe a flat one to start, but not really wanting to wait until Canberra if I can do one elsewhere (and being selfish here, was also after one that you got a medal afterwards - the all important thing for my 1st ever half). Good luck with your training. smile.gif

I'm Not sure if the Hill to Harbour half marathon is hilly. i am eagrly waiting for them to put the course on the website.The 10k definitely has a big hill.
I may have to change the Macleay River one(which I think is pretty flat) for the SMH as my boyfriend is not too keen to travel up there.
Anyway the planning is almost as much fun as the running.Good luck with your training and who knows might see you at one of the half marathons.

Quote

I did my 1st half in 88.46 and was really pleased

rgds
walshy

Good job Walshy2. If I could come anywhere near that I would be stoked.

YONDI

[Gadfly]

Running Angel, on Nov 8 2008, 01:37 PM, said:

Hi Gadfly

I'm thinking of Hill to Hunter this year, I'm assuming it will be pretty hilly. For your first half I would steer cleer of Orange also, I did this one last year and it's definitely hilly! How about SMH in May? A couple of hills but nothing too taxing and you have the benefit of being able to train on the course round the CBD? I think Bathurst is also reasonably flat but not having done that one I'm not certain.

Good luck with whatever you decide

Thanks for the tips Running Angel - yes, I was a little worried about Orange - we were there on the long weekend and there were some long tough looking hills around. Isn't the SMH hilly though? worried about the cutoff time too......I don't think it's going to be a fast one for me. But.....the financial benefit of not doing too much travelling would be good...and doing one on 'home turf' would be nice.

Sorry about the thread hijack Yondi....

[Gadfly]

yondi, on Nov 8 2008, 05:21 PM, said:

Good luck with your training and who knows might see you at one of the half marathons.

Might see you at the SMH ......... Have fun and look forward to hearing how you are going in training.

[Running Angel]

Gadfly, on Nov 8 2008, 10:58 PM, said:

Thanks for the tips Running Angel - yes, I was a little worried about Orange - we were there on the long weekend and there were some long tough looking hills around. Isn't the SMH hilly though? worried about the cutoff time too......I don't think it's going to be a fast one for me. But.....the financial benefit of not doing too much travelling would be good...and doing one on 'home turf' would be nice.

Sorry about the thread hijack Yondi....

Hi Gadfly

Orange is definitely hilly, although they have a 10k also which I did this year if you still fancied going up there. SMH does have a couple of hills but the rest of it isn't too bad, although I do see your point about the cut off, maybe you don't want that pressure for your first one. Also thinking about it I'm pretty sure that this year SMH was the same weekend as the Canberra half, in which case you may aswell stick with that one if it's an easier course - I've not done it before though so not sure. The one thing SMH will have going for it is plenty of CR support, and you have 6 months to train for it so I'm sure you could make the cut off time.

[Gadfly]

Running Angel, I'm thinking that if I can go from non runner to 13km in about 9 months for Vanuatu, then I should be able to train for the SMH half in 6 months and make the cut off time - I just have to learn to love hills (or at least not to hate them!). .....just have to convince myself now

Edited by Gadfly, 10 November 2008 - 08:09 PM.

[MissPinkyInSydney]

I love a good goal Yondi! 3 HM's for 2009 is definitely do-able. I did 5 HM's in about 13 months in Aug 07, Sep 07, May 08, Aug 08 & Sep 08. I must quantify that I "run to finish" though and I average around 2hrs 15 for a half.

I would probably recommend spacing them out, rather than doing them all at once. The reason being that your legs will probably recover better this way and will be fresher on race day. Despite being a slower runner, I still find I push myself a little harder in events than in training so it's a good idea to give the legs a rest from "racing". By spacing them out a bit, you will also be more likely to see an improvement in your times (provided you keep on training) and it will also mean that your goal can go year round.....forcing you to maintain fitness.

I pulled up very sore after my first 2 HM's and could hardly walk for a few days afterwards but now I don't suffer from this muscle pain anymore and have a much quicker recovery....I guess my body is used to this distance now??

In training for my first half, I ran the full distance a couple of times so I was mentally assured I would finish but now I only go up to about 18K's in training. I don't think you really need to do the full distance in training.....the "rush" of the day will get you through a few extra K's.

Good luck with it!!! I LOVE HM's.....a challenging distance but great "fun"!

(SMH Half cut-off is about 75mins for 11K's I think?? Took me about 3 minutes to get across the start line last year so you really need to be running at 6.5 min pace or better to make it. It does have a few hills but nothing at all like the City to Surf.)

[Rudolf]

if the no-hill half is desired, that there is plenty option around MEL, perhaps the Willi festival by SC,
the Geelong along the river, Yarra boulevards halfs are also said to be fast, Traralgon,...

[Running Angel]

Gadfly, on Nov 10 2008, 09:08 PM, said:

Running Angel, I'm thinking that if I can go from non runner to 13km in about 9 months for Vanuatu, then I should be able to train for the SMH half in 6 months and make the cut off time - I just have to learn to love hills (or at least not to hate them!). .....just have to convince myself now

SMH half really isn't that hilly Gadfly, you can check out the course beforehand and see for yourself. Although admittedly the 2 main hills do feel a bit harder on the second lap, but by then you have already made the halfway cut off!

[CantPaceIt]

I'd space them out. I don't know about others but in my very limited experience after a major event I experience an overwhelming mental fatigue usually followed by the flu. It takes a while to pick myself up.

As for which ones to do? I reckon where you feel confortable with is more important than the difficulty of the course. Things to think about are :

1. Do I prefer running with a larger crowd or just a few people?
2. Am I comfortable running in a place I'm not familiar with or have never visited?
3. Will transport to and from the event be difficult?
4. Would I prefer an out and back course?

The SMH half does have hills but this is mitigated by runners never being more than a few kms from the start/finish wherever they may be on the course. Personally I found this a great benefit.

CPI

[yondi]

Thanks for all the input everyone.


5 HM's is a fantastic achievement MPIS.

I run just under 6min/k but if I'm setting a goal time I usually multiply the distance by 6.So I should be able to get under the cutoff of 75mins in the SMH. So My goal for my first HM would be 2hours and 6 mins.That's in theory anyway. But I've got to start somewhere.

I am looking forward to stepping up my training to achieve my goal.
I'll start increasing my km's in January giving myself about 3 months to work up to the first half- Hill to harbour in Newcastle.

YONDI

[loubee]

Yondi, I'm watching this with great interest as I'm also planning on 3 or 4 half marathons for 2009. My problem is the half marathons are all quite close together Darlington April, Great Ocean Road 23k May, Perth Half marathon June and either City to Surf half marathon Aug or Fremantle half marathon Sept and I would love to return to Melbourne in Oct for the half again.

Darlington and GOR are both pretty hilly so I could use Darlington as a warm up to GOR then hopefully coast Perth because it's be nice and flat. Living in the west we don't have alot of choice when it comes to runs so spacing it out isn't always an option. Will target a couple and take the others easy.

I'm hoping to hit sub 1:45 before I make the marathon commitment

[Brick]

Depends if you are racing or just running the half Marathons?
If you are racing then one every month will be very hard on the body.
I find it takes me long to recover from a fast Half or Full Marathon than it does from an 100Km/100M race.

If you are just running them for fun and not after PBs one month is fine it will just be another training day with lots of friends around.

Brick

[julz83]

ive been popping in here for a read every now and again, im another one who wants to do my first half next year and there are 3 potential ones that i have my eye on. id like to maybe do all 3, or at least 2/3. shall see how the training goes.
good luck yondi on your goals!

[yondi]

Thanks Julz.

Good luck to you and Loubee with your goals too.

I think I'd be happy just running them not necessarily racing Brick. I sure would like at least one PB though. Does the first HM count as a PB as it's the first?

[loubee]

Quote

I think I'd be happy just running them not necessarily racing Brick. I sure would like at least one PB though. Does the first HM count as a PB as it's the first?

Absolutely does count, have to start somewhere. I'm hoping to take at least 10 mins off my one and only half PB . This was only 5 months after birth of #3 so I still had/have some k's to drop as well as needing to strengthen up, cardio good but little strength.

Brick, if I enter the first 3 I would probably aim to race Darlington, enjoy GOR and depending on legs race Perth in June.

[Brick]

yondi, on Nov 12 2008, 06:59 PM, said:

Thanks Julz.

Good luck to you and Loubee with your goals too.

I think I'd be happy just running them not necessarily racing Brick. I sure would like at least one PB though. Does the first HM count as a PB as it's the first?

Certainly does and be proud of it what ever it happens to be.
Every person can not finish a Half Marathon.

loubee, on Nov 12 2008, 09:23 PM, said:

Absolutely does count, have to start somewhere. I'm hoping to take at least 10 mins off my one and only half PB . This was only 5 months after birth of #3 so I still had/have some k's to drop as well as needing to strengthen up, cardio good but little strength.

Brick, if I enter the first 3 I would probably aim to race Darlington, enjoy GOR and depending on legs race Perth in June.

If they are in that order and have a few months between the two Halfs you race go for it.

[mjail]

I too am aiming to do 3 half marathons in 2009 as I am hoping to run a marathon before I hit 40 in 2011.
I plan to run the Darlington (April), Perth (June) and Fremantle (Sept).

I have only one half under my belt and am keen to race my halfs if my recovery is good. If not, I would still attempt to run just to finish the race.