Half Marathon Training Schedule

Completed the Half Marathon

scully11 — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 03:44:03 +0000

No idea whether this is a good time, but I finished at 1 hour, 59 minutes and 58 seconds.

I saw the clock at 100 meters out, there was 16 seconds to go until the 2 hour mark. So a sprint was needed. Sure am a little sore now though, but thoroughly worth it.

Don’t Forget to Drink Enough Water

scully11 — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 18:51:43 +0000

Because you are not doing as many miles during your
taper period that you are not drinking as much water
as you were when you were training to your full
potential.

The impact this has is that your body does not
remain as hydrated as it should be. Having your
body fully hydrated will improve your marathon
performance and reduce your chances of hitting
the wall in the later stages of your marathon race.

It is for this reason that you should remain
conscious of fully hydrating your body during the
taper period even if you don’t feel the need to
drink as much water as you previously did.

Ideally you should aim to drink at least 8 glasses
of water during the taper period in order to keep
your body fully hydrated and therefore in peak
physical condition for your marathon race.

I am off to prepare for the run on Sunday. I will post after the run.

Mental Preparation

scully11 — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:02:57 +0000

You should aim to make your longer Sunday training
sessions to simulate your race as exactly as
possible.

By this, you should pretend that your longer training
session is your actual marathon race. That means
you should have a large carbohydrate meal the night
before your marathon and have an early night.
You should get up early on the morning of your
longer training session and have the exact meal and
preparation you would do for the actual race day.
Do everything exactly as you would for your race day,
even pretending to attach your numbers to your singlet
before you head out the door.

Mentally rehearsing like this will decrease your
nerves on the actual race day because you are
following the exact steps in your training. When it
comes to race day then you will know exactly what
you are meant to do because you have simulated it
so many times during your preparation.

Value of a Heart Rate Monitor

scully11 — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 03:23:24 +0000

If you have access to a heart rate monitor you
should keep your heart rate to between 60%-70% of
your maximum heart rate. That way you are allowing
your body to push to it’s limits whilst at the same
time allowing your body enough room to recover.

Today was my last 7 mile run before Sunday. One thing that I have noticed is that I am almost always in a good mood. Whether this is because of the running I don’t know, but I will look into any research done on the subjext and see if there is any anecdotal evidence.

Mini-Marathon expected to be early sell-out

scully11 — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 03:46:32 +0000

You can register for this at www.500festival.com . Hey it’s sold out for the last 6 years, so it’s gotta be good.

The atmosphere at large runs is fantastic, and you are pretty much guaranteed of not coming last.

WTHR – Indianapolis News and Weather – Mini-Marathon expected to be early sell-out

Indianapolis – Organizers of the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon expect the race to be an early sell-out. Around 26,000 people are already registered for the May 3, 2008 half-marathon. That’s 75 percent of the 35,000-strong field.So far runners and walkers have registered from 48 states and 7 countries. The 32nd running of the nation’s largest half-marathon is scheduled for Saturday, May 3, 2008 at 7:30 a.m. in downtown Indianapolis.

Condition your body for the run

scully11 — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:14:50 +0000

The idea behind training for a marathon is to
condition your muscles and body to be ready for
the race. This includes decreasing your resting
heart rate and conditioning your muscles and
respiratory system to function in the most efficient
manner possible.

To do this you should schedule your training sessions
to allow your body to push to it’s limits whilst at
the same time allowing it enough recovery time
between sessions.

I finally got to 7 miles (11.2km) today, rest day tomorrow, man it was a little tough at times.

Tapering the training close to run day

scully11 — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 02:57:50 +0000

The goal of your marathon training program should
be to increase your weekly mileage to around 35-45
miles per week at around 3-4 weeks before your
marathon. The reason for getting to this level is
so that you can then implement a tapering period
into your training so that you will be in peak
physical condition for race day.

I managed to do 6.5 (10.4 km) miles today. The old body still feels ok after all that, looking forward to 7 miles.

Keeping your feet in good order

scully11 — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:39:05 +0000

To remain injury free over time you will also need
to replace your marathon training shoes at regular
intervals as the protective cushioning and support
will deteriorate.

The best way to do this is to keep a log of how
many miles you have covered in your new shoes.
The aim is to replace your shoes approximately
every 300-500 miles to make sure the cushioning and
support does not deteriorate too much and so that
you remain injury free.

I am off to run 6 (9.6 km) miles, talk again tomorrow.

Half marathon training schedule, day 11

scully11 — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:57:57 +0000

Today was a 5.5 mile (8.8 km) run. One thing has become quite evident, I need good inner soles. As the distances increase, the need to get your feet the most comfortable is paramount.

One thing that makes the whole thing a whole lot more enjoyable is my ipod nano. If you are not running with a group then this is a great motivator. I also catch up on some important podcasts at the same time.

Katie Holmes Completes NYC Marathon

scully11 — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:57:45 +0000

Katie Holmes Completes NYC Marathon | Hollyscoop

Congratulations to Katie Holmes who completed her first marathon in an impressive five and a half hours.