Half Marathon Preparation, Overtraining and Renewing A Distance Plan
Dear Coach: I am training for a half-marathon that will take place in three months. I have run one previous half-marathon and would like to take my time down to 1:45. I train by running six miles five to six times per week at a fairly relaxed pace. I am not doing any speed training. What would be a good weekly plan for me to meet my goal?
Sam

Dear Sam: I have several suggestions. First, you need to build up your long run by adding two miles to your long run. Do that for three weeks, and then add a couple more miles in length; do it for three weeks and then add an additional two miles until the race. Getting your long run up to 12 miles will give you additional strength that will help you keep an even pace for the entire race, as your body will be used to running the half-marathon distance. Second, once a week for eight weeks do a 20-minute anaerobic threshold pace run at eighty to eight- five percent effort. This pace should be ten to fifteen seconds slower than your 10K race pace. Finally, starting a month before the race, run three to five miles at an eight minutes per mile pace, your goal pace, to get used to how it feels.

Dear Coach: I am an active runner who is religious about speed work and long runs. My 5K race pace is 7:30. I do my long runs with a group of friends at about 8:30/mile pace which seems hard at times but I keep up with them (it is not as hard for them). I do my 400s in 1:35-1:37. I do my tempo run at 7:45-8:00 mile once a week on hills. I cross train on the day after my long run and try to take a day off per week. I have been consistently getting PRs and want to get my race pace down to 7:00, but recently I have sometimes had trouble sleeping and feel overtired. Everyone tells me I don't rest enough. What do you think?
Cindy

Dear Cindy: You are headed for trouble. Your training schedule will result in some short-term benefits, but, in the long run, you are not getting enough rest or recovery. In addition, you are doing your long runs too hard and your speed work too fast for your current level of fitness. Your long run pace should be about a 9:30 per mile pace, not an 8:30. Because your long run pace is effectively at your half marathon race pace, your body is dragging for the rest of the week. In an ideal world, you would allow 12 to 13 days of recovery after running 12 miles at 8:30 pace. Next, you are doing your 400s much too fast, given your current level of fitness. They should be run in 1:45. Your tempo run should be no faster than 8:00 per mile. First, I recommend that you buy a heart rate monitor to keep you in check to insure that all your runs are at the appropriate effort level. I also suggest that you ask your long run group to slow down, telling them that it is bad for you to be running that hard. Many runners will not have a problem slowing since they know that the purpose of the long run is to build endurance and effective fat burning.

Dear Coach: I just started running again. I used to run when I was in the Marines five years ago. I do four days of aerobic work per week. I want to start running 5Ks and 10Ks, half marathons and marathons. Today (mid-July), I ran a 5K in 22:10. This is the longest I have run in the past 5 years. Can you tell me how to improve my runs? I recently ordered a heart monitor. And do you think it is unsafe and too early for me to run the Chicago Marathon in October?
Rich

Dear Rich: First, let me congratulate you for getting back into running. It is way too early for you to think about a marathon. You need to build a decent aerobic base gradually over time. Perhaps a more realistic goal would be to run the 2003 Chicago marathon. Instead, spend this fall running 5Ks and a couple 10Ks, find a 10-miler or half-marathon in the spring of 2003. If you can successfully race those distances, you should be ready to tackle a fall 2003 marathon. In terms of how to use your heart monitor, I have a number of articles posted on the Washington Running Report Web site, Ask the Coach and the Montgomery County Road Runners Club web page, www.mcrrc.org, to get you started. You might also want to read Precision Heart Rate Training, edited by Edmund Burke, and published by Human Kinetics.

Kirt West is a private coach for motivated adult runners. Questions can be sent to kirtwest@erols.com.