Sparrows Half Marathon Training

S

sparrow

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I'm entered in a half marathon Oct 1 in Sacramento that I want to fully train for to beat my time. I have only done one before. My time was 1:54.49. Not shabby, not excellent. Pretty average but good for not training for it and entering spur of the moment. This time I want to actually be prepared. I now know where my weaknesses are and I plan to strengthen them.
My goal time is 1:45 or under. That will mean holding 8:05 min miles for 13.1 miles. My old average was 8:43 a mile. This is a challenging goal.
To do this I plan on keeping the clean diet I have but raising my cals even more. Right now I average 1300 on a good day. Time to step that up. I need to increase my water to at least what it should be, if not more and get good sleep, something I rarely do.
I also plan on adopting a circuit training schedule and ditching my traditional weights mode. I have put on 4 pounds of muscle in 10 weeks and lowered my body fat 3%. I feel bulky and need to keep as much muscle as I can but lean out a little to run. In all reality that means losing a bit of muscle too, which I'm OK with.
For cardio I will alternate days of quailty planned runs with cross training.
here is the plan:

Monday
eliptical 45 min, circuit A

Tuesday
HIIT: 10 min warm up 10 min pace, 1 min 7.5/1 min 6.3 for 20 min, 10 min cool down

Wednesday
Yoga

Thursday
Tempo Run: 1 mi warm up 10 min pace, 3 mi 8:30 pace, 1 mile cool down 10 min pace, circuit B or pilates

Friday
long run 6 mi @ 10 min mile pace

Saturday
Swim workout 3-4000 yds

Sunday
rest

CIRCUIT
Workout 'A' Mondays*
1-3 as a circuit, alternate 4-5 after 1-3 is done
1. overhead lunge
2. mixed grip chin up
3. scorpion
4. stability ball jackknife
5. back extention w/ lower trap. raise

Workout 'B' Thursdays*
1-3 as circuit, alternate 4-5 after 1-3 is done
1. extention leg curl
2. rotational shoulder press
3. stability ball knee drive
4. Alt dumbell row
5. lower body russian twist

*taken from "runners world"

for description.
 
Hmmm interesting workout sparrow, best of luck with it :)
 
Today I got up at 445 AM! That was a major achievement for me :) I hit the gym and did the eliptical for 45 minutes next to this girl who looked like a fitness model. I try hard not to judge people right away, one way or another, but I guess its human nature. I thought "man, she is really intimidating and looks reallys snobby, I bet she knows she looks good and acts better than everyone" turns out my headphones broke so I had to do the 45 without any entertainment :( I know, poor me right? So I got about 15 min into it (with the girl going a thousand miles an hour next to me) when she takes off her headphones and introduces herself. then we get into a full blown conversation about Barbados where she is vacationing starting tomorrow and the reason we're even at the gym. I learned she only looks that way from training hard 12 weeks, cutting out the crap JUST for this vacation. can you imagine? Talk about will power and determination! She looked AWESOME. She said before the 12 weeks she only power walked in neighborhoods. jeesh.
Anyway, she was super sweet and passed my exercise time nicely for me with conversation.

Eliptical level 10 45 min alternate forwards and backwards by 5 minutes
pilates training (circuit A)

The core exercises were HARD I mean really hard. I found it annoying to have to keep going to the 4 corners of the gym to get to all the movements I was supposed to do in the circuit, so I modified it. I also modified the exercises I wasn't sure of but WAS sure that they would make me look like a complete dork trying to figure them out. I may get an exercise ball for my home so I can do them here if I want and figure out the most effective way to do them.
Although hard, I wasn't very satisfied with my strength training after I was done so I did some bis. Maybe I'lll throw in some high rep sets of my normal stuff just to keep current. I just don't want to add much more muscle.
All in all fun morning and I loved getting it out of the way early. I'm looking forward to running tomorrow.
 
Dang y'all, my abs are SO sore. Not just my front abs but my oblique abs are sore! Thats GOOD! I'm seriously not sure I've ever felt sore on the sides before. I feel like my ribs are bruised! All from the ball. crazy.

Today I got to the gym at 5:30 am. I'm on a roll! I did the tread:

1 mi@ 6.0 warm up (10 min mile pace)
3 mi @ 7.0 (8:30 mile pace)
1 mi @ 6.0 cool down (10 min mile pace)

It wasn't exactly easy but it wasn't terrible. I haven't run that far or fast for a while. Plus early AM is hard to get used to...and sore abs to run its hard to ...and....and....and :D now I'm just making a lot of lame excuses :) I had a good time. bring it on!
 
I just got a stability ball, and it's a whole different way of working out I'm finding. Well worth the investment I think.
 
I have one of those balls...the big ones you can sit on right? lol, my kids play with it in the pool. Maybe I should start using for what it's intended :p

Looking good sparrow!
 
Yup that'd be it - I needed an exercise for home to replace the hamstring curls I was doing at the gym on a machine. The asst mgr came up with hip lifts with heels on the ball. I tried a few and decided this is going to take a while for me to get the hang of, but it'll be worth it.
 
totally stingo I do one called the jackknife where calves are on the ball and you're in push up position. raise your hips in a jackknife position as the ball travels to your ankles. stay there a few seconds and lower your hips to be in line with your shoulders again in push up position. Do 3 sets of 10 and you'll be hurtin. I think I'll be getting a ball myself.
 
Its looking good sparrow, glad you are getting good core training in there as its very vital to running and balance. You seem to have your training pretty well planned out. Your alternating longer tougher days with shorter and allowing good rest time. Towards the end you may want to have 2 days a week (but only that) for a long run. Also if you know where your run is going to take place try and trek out there once or twice to get a feel and make sure to train some on inclines. Its a running rule of thumb that it takes about 14 days for muscle strength and adaption so make sure your longest run is at least 14 days prior to your Marathon. Conective tissue can take even longer than that so its why the rest after training is so important.

I got tons of good running endurance info specfic for different styles/lengths of marathons. For a Half Marathon you really want to intergrate Hill training and distance increase. 40-45 miles per week is max for training for Half Marathons. Your VO2 max plays a big part as well in your overall endurance/oxygen intake. So at a point your tuesday HIIT training could be kind of altered to a VO2 max training. While really close to HIIT the difference is you are basically trying to hit your highest point (about 95%) and stay there for a matter of 3-5 mins. Of course it can take a build up to reach this and once you hit 5 mins it should be done no longer than that. Do this 2-3times in one session allow short breaks and each time lowers your %. For example...

warm up/stretch
3-5 mins 90-95%
2 mins cool down
3-5 mins 85-90%
2 mins cool down
3-5 mins 80-85%
5 mins cool down

Now this is a very taxing workout so enter into it gently, and monitor your results well. However pulling this off right and increasing your VO2 will do amazing things for your oxygen intake during runs. I have a long time marathon runner friend and they do this workout once a week. I tagged along once...I almost threw up in my shoe ha.
 
Today I was dead tired waking up. I'm really concerned about overtraining since i am prone to it so I decided to take the day off...at least the good part of the day. I doubt I'll get to the gym because my daughter is having a slumber party after my day of being "supergirl" at church...but if I can, I will. its a cross train or rest day option today anyway. no big deal.
 
my alarm didn't go off this morning :( I was very sad...so after I do my little skit at church I hope to escape between then and when I have to get my kids.
I'm anxious to do my HIIT today, its going to feel great...more later
 
10 min 6.0 warm up

3 min 7.5
3 min 6.3
alternate for 3 times

5 min recovery

2 min 8.0
3 min 6.5
alternate for 3 times

10 min cool down
58 minutes

pilates excercises
 
Gym AM
7 min run (but them my ponytail holder snapped so it was hard to run with hair flinging in my face!)
38 minutes eliptical level 10
leg press

I'll swim 45-60 min later today with pull paddles to get some good arm workout
 
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