The half marathon is a tricky distance. Go off too fast and you’ll burn out; go off too slow and you’ll arrive at the finish ruing the fact you didn’t push harder sooner. Here’s how to run it:
■ Mile 1. Get quickly in to your target race pace. Be confident.
■ Miles 2-5. Settle in to your running groove. Keep the pace on track (if anything, it’s OK to be slightly up on pace here). Simmer and just tick the miles off.
■ Miles 6-8. Now it’s time to focus.
It’s easy for your mind to wander here. Control these miles. Be disciplined and stay on track.
■ Miles 9-11. This is the most important part of your race. Dig deep and keep going. Staying on pace in these three miles can make or break your PB.
■ Miles 12-13. The last two miles, you’ll need to trust the training you’ve done and push your physical and mental boundaries to deliver your PB. At this point, it’s your psychological strength that needs to match your physical preparation.
3 PB-busting sessions
■ Tempo runs: these are sustained-pace efforts (30-60mins) completed at around 75% of maximum effort. It’s this intensity that is likely to be close to half-marathon race pace.
– Try it: 10 minutes easy – 45 minutes at tempo – 10 minutes easy
■ Threshold runs: a step up from tempo runs, these runs are completed at ‘controlled discomfort’. Threshold runs are done at 80% effort level. If you can speak with effortless flow, you’re not running fast enough. Equally, if you’re gasping for every breath you’re over-cooking it. Threshold runs can be structured as a single sustained effort or as an interval session.
– Try it: 10 minutes easy – 4 x 8 minutes at threshold pace with
2 minutes recovery – 10 minutes easy
■ Speed endurance intervals: these are workouts with periods of higher intensity running (85%+) interspersed with periods of rest/recovery to ensure the quality of the effort is maintained.
– Try it: 10 minutes easy – 6 x 3 minutes fast with 3 minutes recovery – 10 minutes easy
