Helping runners master their training and nutrition so that they can go further, run faster and smash their running goals

Category: Training

Sometimes the best runs happen when you least expect it

I’m sure lots of you have been in the same boat this week. Checking and checking to see if your target race is being postponed or cancelled. It doesn’t half sap the motivation. I canned two runs already this week and half arsed another couple.

Today Boston marathon was postponed. I’ve been looking forward to it since I qualified for it 18 months ago. I knew it was coming. I nearly didn’t bother with my tempo today. But I did. And it was awesome. It took me by surprise.

Sometimes the best runs happen when you least expect it.

The race is just the culmination of the process and if we can’t enjoy the process then we’ll spend a lot of time being unhappy. Sure it is incredibly disappointing but sometimes there are more important things in life.

This weekend get out and run. Enjoy being able to run. Let everything else take a back seat for a little while and remember why we love the process. Remember what running means to you. There will be other races but they’re for another day. Enjoy today.

Love/hate relationship with the half marathon

The half marathon is my favourite distance. Long enough to be a great physical challenge to aim for but not so long that training for it need take over your life. It is short enough that you can run at a decent pace without carrying lots of supplies while not so short that you feel you are running out of control with every step.

Some of my best races have been half marathons. It’s as close to the fabled runners’ high that I have experienced. You are running at a pace which feels tough on the one hand yet you feel you can keep it going almost indefinitely.

Your body is working hard but your mind is only switched on enough to check your pace is consistent. Miles have passed in half marathons where I couldn’t recall a thing and almost felt trance-like, so focused on maintaining form, cadence, effort and pace.

I have also had good races where external factors have been able to penetrate the trance. I have run half marathons with spectacular coastal or mountainous scenery and ones with great support or out and back routes where you pass many other runners.

External factors are really important to help you along when you are struggling but it is also great to enjoy them when things are going well too.

However, get the half marathon wrong and it can be a soul destroying experience. Let me reframe my opening statements:

A half marathon is long enough that you must do a decent amount of training to be able to complete it well. It is too long to run at your fastest pace. You have to know where the line is to be able to regulate your pace correctly for a half marathon.

I’ve made a lot of mistakes and run some pretty horrific half marathons. I was so under trained for my first half marathon that my brother had to drag me round the last 4 miles listening to me whingeing ‘I can’t do this!’. We finished 11 minutes slower than I did for the next half I actually trained properly for.

In 2019 I ran a fairly flat half marathon 6 weeks after running a half marathon PB on a similar course. I started far too fast, neglecting the fact that since the last half I had run London marathon and not really recovered properly and my training had been reduced for taper either side of it.

After 2 miles at 5k pace the damage was done. The last 11 miles seemed like the longest, toughest miles I’d ever run, though in truth they should have been relatively easy. By the end I was running a minute a mile slower than my London marathon pace and finished 6 minutes slower than 6 weeks earlier.

You can definitely avoid the woeful runs I’ve had throughout the years. Obviously having strength in the legs and some decent long runs in the bag is essential. Base training of strength and conditioning sessions combined with some hill runs can build up your strength.

This phase should precede your half marathon training. During the plan your long run will increase gradually over each week. I recommend building up to at least the same elapsed time you plan to run on the day. 11 miles at easy pace should take you the same time as a half at race pace.

In the more advanced half plans we go up to 16 miles. With proper fuelling beforehand this should be over before any ‘wall’ you may encounter in marathon training and races. You may still feel you need energy boosts for a half marathon, especially if you are running 2 hours plus, but unlike marathons, it isn’t as critical. One less thing to think about makes things easier.

If you are new to half marathons then ensuring you can complete the distance should be your main focus. If you have run a few and are looking to improve then you may want to focus more on speed but never forget your long runs are still key.

The short intervals are great for increasing raw speed and improving your 5k time. If your 5k time is improving then it is very likely that your half marathon time will improve too if the rest of your training is going well.

However, the tempo or progression runs are my favourite for the half marathon. Typically you will run 3 to 6 miles in the middle at half marathon pace. If you can hold this pace then it’s a great indicator that you’re on the right track for the race.

Technically, this pace is slightly below ‘lactate threshold’ pace. This is the pace at which the body can clear out lactate faster than it is produced in the muscles. Once you go over this pace you will fatigue very quickly – which is what happened to me in my ordeal in 2019.

My biggest tip is to understand and be honest about exactly what shape you are in when you take on a half marathon. This can work both ways. In the past I have been overly optimistic of what I could achieve leading to some spectacular blow-ups.

However, sometimes when the training has gone well, you have to back yourself to maintain a pace during the race that you’ve only held for 5 miles in training. You have to remember that the race is a culmination of all the different parts of training coming together combined with the freshness of rest and the adrenaline of race day.

When you get it right the half marathon can make you feel almost invincible.

Recipe for improving your 5/10k times

Small improvements in your training can lead to minutes off your 5/10k times. You’re already making the effort to go out for runs during the week so you’re 90% of the way there. The last 10% ingredient is variety.

Weekly Ingredients

1 x long run at ‘easy’ pace for endurance

1 x interval session at ‘target pace’ for speed

1 x tempo run with middle half at ‘threshold pace’ for stamina (speed over distance)

1 x medium run (with hills if possible) at ‘steady pace’

or

1 x hill repeats session for strength

Preparation of pace

The key here is that every session is different and builds a different dimension to your training. You will notice that the pace of each session is different. This is important because you at least get some training at target pace but don’t burn yourself out going too fast. There are lots of terms for different paces but here is how I like to think of different paces:

  • Target Pace – This is how fast you will run in your race.
  • Threshold Pace – 10% slower than target pace
  • Steady Pace – 20% slower than target pace
  • Easy Pace – 30% slower than target pace

You can play around with these values as it is not an exact science but another way to think of it is how you feel when running at these paces:

  • Target Pace – No talking – fully focused on running. Pretty close to your max. A.K.A. ‘Silent Pace’
  • Threshold Pace – You can utter a few words but not much. Still challenging. A.K.A. ’20 Questions Pace’ (i.e. you can only answer yes or no)
  • Steady Pace – You’re able to have a conversation but you won’t want to talk the entire time. A.K.A. ‘How do you do? Pace’
  • Easy Pace – You’re able to chat throughout the run. A.K.A. ‘Conversational Pace’.

Preparation of distance

Another varying factor is distance. For 5k and 10k, it is possible and advantageous to train above the target distance. The long run builds up strength and also psychologically gives a boost of knowing you can run further. Again, there is no exact science but changing km to miles gives an idea of a suitable distance for a long run. i.e. 5 miles for 5k training and 10 miles for 10k training. This is less advisable for longer distances, especially marathons as the fatigue it produces outweighs the benefits.

The interval sessions build up speed over short distances. This allows you to practice the speed you need to run at but allowing your body to recover in between. The jog recovery should be even slower than easy pace, literally just to keep moving.

Typical sessions are:

  • 6 x 3 minutes with 90 seconds jog recovery
  • 8 x 2 minutes with 1 minute jog recovery
  • Pyramid (1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1) minute intervals with half time recovery

The tempo run is an important ingredient. The distance can be in and around your target distance but a typical session is split as follows:

  • First mile at steady or easy pace
  • Middle 1 to 5 miles at threshold pace
  • Last mile at steady or easy pace

Preparation of terrain

The medium run can be any distance up to your target distance but will be more beneficial if it involves hills. Or instead, you can do hill repeats which involves running up a hill for 60 to 90 seconds and walk or slow jog back down. You can start with just 6 and build up to 16 and this will improve strength. Most races will have some hills in them and if not, running on the flat will be much easier after training on hills.

Result

By varying your pace, terrain and distance through your training program you will develop speed, strength and stamina. A lot of people only focus on distance; by incorporating all three, you will see your 5k and 10k times drop by minutes.

 

How I broke my 5k 20 minute barrier

I started doing the parkrun in 2012 and soon got down to low 20s. However, I hovered just above 20 minutes for several months before finally cracking it. Then I let up and I couldn’t break it again for nearly 3 years. It started to build up as a mental as well as a physical barrier.

I started to wonder whether it had been a fluke on the day, or if getting older was a contributing factor. I saw other people improving and breaking 20 and I didn’t know why I couldn’t do it.

At the start of 2016 I broke 20 minutes another 3 times in 2 months. The last couple felt much more controlled rather than a frantic dash at the start followed by trying not to die.

Most of us have targets, if not to compete with others then at least to better ourselves. Sometimes we might feel like the target is unrealistic and either we get frustrated or worse still, give up.

However, most of the time, our targets are absolutely achievable, but we set ourselves up for disappointment because we don’t do what is required to get there.

Sometimes we don’t know what we need to do, so we blindly prepare and hope for the best. Other times we do know what we should do, but we don’t do it and just hope for inspiration on the day.

I fell into bad habits for months, even years and more recently I’ve been much more structured in my training. I know that by making a few adjustments, you can become more confident, reduce your times and smash your targets.

Avoid ‘Groundhog day’ training

I imagine most people have either seen or heard of the film ‘Groundhog Day’. In the film, Bill Murray wakes up every day to find it is the same day as yesterday.

I used to do the same 5 mile route from work most days (at considerably slower than target 5k pace) and then wonder why my 5k time didn’t improve. However, by changing the types of run or session I was doing, my times started coming down again.

You’ll also hear lots of advice saying – “You must do at least X miles a week”. But you could say – “I’m going to do 50 miles every week” – and then you break it down into 7 miles every day doing the same route and the same pace.

That isn’t going to make you any faster over 5k and worse still, you may get bored and give up on it completely.

I typically now do 4 sessions a week incorporating:

  •      One longer run at a slower pace to build up stamina
  •      One session of speedwork where you will run bits of it at around 5k pace
  •      One tempo run where a good chunk of your run will be slightly slower than 5k pace
  •      One session or run incorporating hills to build up strength

However, even by doing just 2 or 3 of these a week, you will start to see some improvement. If you’re putting in the effort to go for a run anyway you may as well put the extra bit of effort into planning different types of runs or sessions so you get the maximum benefit.

The importance of rest

For some people including me, this is absolutely no problem. I love days when I’m not running, but mainly because I know I’m putting in hard work the rest of the time. For some people though, this is incredibly difficult.

It is easy to think that more running equals better training but if you overdo it then you won’t be able to perform at your best. Your quality of training will reduce and ultimately you may get injured or give up.

You must rest! And if you pick up an injury it is even more important to rest before aggravating it more. Here are the golden rules of rest:

  •      At least one non-running day a week (I prefer two)
  •      If you think you may be injured, rest up rather than running and see how you feel the next day
  •      Don’t try to cram in extra training sessions to make up for ones missed. Accept that you missed it and move on.
  •      Don’t go for your PB every week. This is especially important if you’re a parkrunner. Once a month gives you plenty of opportunity for a PB but means you’re fresh enough to have the best chance of actually doing it.

One word of warning: It is perfectly fine to take time off for injury or other life interventions but if these span more than a few weeks, you need to make an active plan to get back to training. After three weeks, not training will become the norm so you have to reform the habit of training.

I stopped running altogether for a whole year around the birth of our first child and consequently added 4 minutes to my 5k time, which I had to work to get back off when I restarted training.

Plan your race

Your training is going great and you’re getting some valuable rest in too. However, the wheels can still fall off in the race itself.

Here is my original thought plan for doing a 5k:

  1.     Start – “run as fast as possible”
  2.     1 minute in – “feel wrecked, try not to die”
  3.     X minutes later – “finished and alive, just – I am never doing that again”
  4.     X + 10 minutes later – “what I didn’t get a PB? When’s the next one?”
  5.     Next week – repeat steps 1-4

Can you see what I did wrong? Actually, most of the plan isn’t as crazy as it sounds. I did actually do my first couple of sub 20s by going out as fast as I could and trying to maintain it. But it wasn’t a very enjoyable experience. The crazy bit is just repeating it again and again, especially if it didn’t work or wasn’t very enjoyable.

But at least it was a kind of a plan and better than the following:

  1.     Start – “oh I’m running a 5k race today – what time am I going for? What pace does that mean I need to run? How far is 5k anyway? Oh I forgot my watch. I’ll just follow these guys, they look like they know what they’re doing.”

Now let’s not sugar coat it, if you do a PB, there is probably going to be some point during the race that you’ll have to dig deep and get through a physical or mental barrier. There are lots of ways to do this, but you don’t want to be trying to make basic decisions during the race. Here are some things to think about before the race:

  •      How many laps are there in the course?
  •      Are there any hills? If so, where?
  •      Break the race down into separate km or miles. Are you going to run the same pace throughout or start faster or slower than your overall target pace?
  •      Where are you going to hold back and where are you going to push on? Are you going to see how you feel or have an idea before you start?
  •      How close to the front should you start? Think about number of people, relative pace and whether the race is chip timed.

That’s quite a lot of information you already have to be able to make some decisions before the race. For example, if you know there is a big downhill at the start and a big uphill at the end then it’s probably unrealistic to say you will start slower and finish faster.

Pacing yourself during a race is crucial because it can be easy to get carried away following people who are much faster than you and burn yourself out too quickly. I’ve done this several times and not enjoyed the race at all.

Alternatively, it is possible to be too cautious and run too slowly at the start and have too much to make up at the end. Pacing is easier with a GPS watch but you can still do it with a normal stopwatch as long as there are km or mile markers on the course.

I work in miles. Here is a comparison of my mile times for my first sub 20 in 2012 and a more comfortable sub 20 in 2016:

2012: 6:11, 6:27, 6:40, 0:39 = 19:57

2016: 6:28, 6:28, 6:15, 0:35 = 19:46

Firstly, it shows there is more than one way to try and beat your PB and different approaches might work better for different people. I thought the only way I could beat 20 was to run as fast as possible at the start but as you can see from the times above, that adversely affected the time I could run towards the end.

In the second example, I didn’t run as fast at any stage of the race but took 11 seconds off the original time.

I much prefer my latter approach of having enough left after the first two miles to attack the last mile. To me, it feels better to finish stronger. It also says to me that I could be slightly less cautious in the first two miles because I’m able to run faster in the last mile.

There are lots of different options so see what works for you. But know beforehand what you need to do.

Finally, I said before that it is not a good idea to go for a PB every week for rest and recovery reasons. I love parkrun, which is a free 5k timed run every week, because it gives you a chance to test out these pacing strategies.

However, I found that I would regularly “go for a PB” and then halfway round talk myself out of it. I’d say things like “I’m not feeling it today” and “I can have another crack at it next week”.

By restricting yourself to one PB attempt a month, not only do you give your training a chance to kick in and make a difference but you take it more seriously and give it all you’ve got because if you don’t get it, you’ll have to wait another month.

There are lots of ways to improve your 5k time and you will be surprised at how much small changes in training and race preparation can help.

However, rest is just important – after all if it is a PB you are looking for you will need to give everything on the day to get it. Try these techniques starting today and see your times fall within weeks.

 

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