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Beginner's half marathon: Elements of training explainedAll the elements of training explained below will be used in the 12-week half marathon training programme. Each week of the programme follows the same 7-day formula. The 7-day pattern
The Elements:Long runThe aim of the long run is to build up your aerobic fitness, efficiency and endurance. Use this session to progressively up your mileage.
This is the focus of your training each week. Every week we will build up the length of the run until you are ready for the big event itself. Because this is the test of your ability to run the race, you should run at the kind of pace you will be running in the race itself. The level of effort should be roughly 6/10 (where 0 is no effort at all and 10 is all-out sprinting). A good way to measure this is to see if you can talk at the same time as you run, if you can, you are running at roughly at the right speed. This is often referred to as "conversational" pace.  Recovery runClears waste products from the muscles and helps legs recover from hard effort and prepares you for the next day of more demanding training.
The recovery run is designed to allow you to recover from the hard effort of the long run while preparing your body for more demanding training the following day. Since it is meant to be a recovery run, the effort involved should only be 5/10, or the kind of pace where you are able to enjoy running without feeling tired. To ensure that this easy paced running does not tire you out, you should only run for 20-40 minutes: the length of time depends on how far into your training schedule you are. Tempo runImproves running pace and efficiency and improves race times, but avoids the fatigue and muscle soreness of long race running.
The goal of tempo running is to improve your running pace, make your running style more efficient and improve your running times. It should avoid the fatigue and soreness of running a long distance. Tempo running is where you run at a hard, but controlled, pace. Physiologically you would be around your anaerobic threshold - the highest effort level at which your body can perform without building up lactic acid. This is the waste product that accumulates in the muscles causing discomfort and fatigue. As such it should be fairly taxing, with an effort level you would describe as "slightly hard", roughly 8/10.
In this type of training try to step your pace up from your long run pace by extending your stride and driving more purposefully with the legs. Continue to try to keep your running relaxed and efficient and breath deeply and rhythmically. This is not intended to be sprinting, but rather just taking up the pace to closer to the level a professional runner would apply to a race condition. The idea is that you should be finishing the session feeling refreshed and invigorated. For this reason, you should not do this for more than 40 minutes continuously. For those new to tempo running, you will need to start off with just four or five minutes of tempo running and should aim to eventually be able to sustain at least 20 minutes at this pace to gain maximum benefits. Get your pace right - if your legs are feeling heavy and you are gasping for breath after only two minutes you are above your threshold and are going too fast. Choose a good, flat well-measured course or well-marked section of your run for this. The table below contains some ideas as to how to progress your tempo running but don't feel you have to be a slave to it. Select sessions that work for you and experiment to discover what you are capable of.
Remember to start each session with 3-5 minutes warm up jogging and if you are stiff stretch further before trying to up the pace. Feel free to reduce or extend the recovery periods as you need them and don't worry if you don't get past five minutes of running at tempo the first time out. You have plenty of running ahead of you to try out more ambitious sessions in the future. Speed workBuilds aerobic capacity, strength and limb speed.
Speed work is basically just what the name says and is the chance for you to push yourself to really increase your pace. This will help you to run strongly and purposefully. In this session you will be crossing over into that anaerobic area but still relying on the aerobic systems of your heart, lungs and circulation to supply most of the energy and clear out the waste products. Remember this is fast running NOT sprinting. It will teach your body to generate energy quickly, co-ordinate rapid limb movement and is designed to build up your aerobic capacity, strength and limb speed. The result will be faster and stronger running. Interval training The optimum distances to run at fast pace are 400 and 200 metres at a time. For it to have its maximum effect, you will need to go for it during these sessions and put in 10/10 effort. But each hard run should be followed by a slow recovery running break of at least the same length before going for it again - hence the name interval training. This will be repeated a number of times but you should always remember to include a steady run of at least a five minutes at the beginning to warm up. A steady run of the same length, along with a good stretch, should be included at the end to ensure that all your waste products are cleared out and the muscles are recovered. Because it can be hard to motivate yourself to put your all into these sessions, some people find it helpful to do their speed work sessions down at their local gym. There you can use the treadmill machine to run a series of speed runs and then drop the pace for your slow running breaks in between quite easily (the interval approach). On a treadmill or on the road you can set your intervals by either time or distance - whichever suits you. Remember your speed training should be tough and a challenge but also fun and varied. This way it should represent a nice change from steady pace slogging. Examples of distance intervals: 6 x 400m - the classic interval session. 12 x 200m - raw speed intervals 4 x 400m/200m - a nice lively one Or timed intervals: Standard intervals 6 minutes warm up, then 6 repetitions of 1 minute hard and 2 minutes easy (18 minutes), followed by 6 minutes cool down = 30 minutes total 5 minutes warm up, then 5 repetitions of 2 minutes hard running and 2 minutes rasy running (20 minutes), followed by 5 minutes cool down = 30 minutes total 10 minutes warm up, then 5 repetitions of 1 minute hard and 1 min easy (10 mins), followed by 5 minutes cool down = 30 minutes total Tempo splits - more complicated as it has a sustained pace bit in the middle. 6 minutes warm up, followed by 3 repetitions of 1 minute hard and 2 minutes easy (9 minutes), then Don't forget your warm ups and cool downs and, if on the treadmill, don't forget a towel as you will certainly sweat.
Hill fartlek You could also try some hill fartlek. Hill fartlek basically involves keeping the pace roughly consistent but varying intensity by changing the gradient up which you are running. This is good recovery and aerobic capacity work, emphasising leg strength a little more than limb speed and is good for variety. Most treadmills have a "hill programme" setting you could try. Ideally about 12 to 24 minutes of hill programme oscillating between 0-1% gradient as a baseline and going up to 4-6% gradient as a start. Intervals should be about 30 seconds to 2 minutes long on the incline and 1-3 minutes long on the flat as recovery. Building the incline up with each interval is fine for a strong runner, but don't go beyond 10% on a treadmill as it places a little too much shock on the ankles and joints. Rest daysDays designed to let your body recover.
If you like, rest days can be just that: days where you do no exercise whatsoever. However, after a few weeks, you might feel fit and confident enough to use one of these days each week to do a little light training. Many people enjoy "cross-training", where they use another exercise to build up other muscles. A couple of good examples are weight training at the gym and swimming at the local pool. The important thing is that these days are meant to be rest days and so you should not engage in high-intensity aerobic workouts or exercise for more than 20 minutes. LinksBeginner's half marathon: 12-week training programme Beginner's 5km fun run section Beginner's half marathon section |
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