Training Plan and more on Time Goals

More on my next time goal.

AND the training plan I'll be using to prepare for my 5th half marathon.

1. In my previous training plan research, I came across some stuff by Jeff Galloway, including running a "magic mile" and then calculating realistic race time goals off of this mile time.  Under the heading of "Improvement Possibilities," he writes:

It is fine to choose a time goal for the goal race which is faster than predicted by the Magic Mile. As they do the speed training, the long runs and the Magic Miles, they should improve. For prediction purposes, as they take this  "leap " to a goal, we suggest no more than a 3-5% improvement in a 3 month training program.

Using this math, and my 5/22 half marathon time of 2:15:32, a 3-5% improvement would mean:
~135.5 minutes x .03 = 4.07  --- > 135.5 - 4.1 = 131.4 minutes = 2:11:24
~135.5 minutes x .05 = 6.77  --- > 135.5 - 6.8 = 128.7 minutes = 2:08:42

Note: After typing this whole thing up, I understand that I did not calculate the 3-5% improvement on the predicted half marathon time based on a Magic Mile -- but instead on my most recent half time.  I'm just rollin' with that.

2.  At Runner's World Smart Coach (used for my first 2 half marathons), you enter a recent time and plug in a bunch of details for your training plan and they tell you a time goal.  Here's what Smart Coach said:
Recent Half Marathon Time: 2:15:32
Initial Weekly Distance: 16-21 miles
Training Intensity: Moderate
Training Program Length: 13 weeks
Goal Time: 2:10:08
(Involves 2 easy runs, an alternating speedwork/tempo run, and long run each week)

Changing the above plan to Hard Training Intensity, that Goal race time becomes 2:07:55.
(Involves 2-3 easy runs, an alternating speedwork/tempo run, and a long run each week)

Anyway, I think I decided to shoot for a time goal of 2:08-2:09.  That will be 6-7 minutes off my May half marathon time of 2:15:32, and 10-11 minutes off my April half marathon time of 2:18:55.


Here's the plan I decided on for a September Half:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednes.	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	miles ran
6/20-26	2mi    +arms	2mi		1E/2F/1E  +core	bike	8 mi	Rest  5.5mi hike	17
6/27-7/3	1E/2T/1E  +arms	5 mi PRO	bike   +core	10 mi    mid  2P	away	away	core	20
7/4-10	10k?  or   11 mi	bike  +arms	1E/4T/1E  +core	1E/3H/1E	away	away	core	17 or 22
7/11-17	12 mi  mid 4P	arms	1E/4F/1E	bike  +core	1E/3T/1E	away	away	23
7/18-24	3-5E	bike  +arms	core	1E/2F/1E		10 mi		17-19
7/25-31	1E/3T/1E  +arms	away	away	6 PRO	bike   +core	13 mi		24
8/1-7	1E/5T/1E	bike  +arms	core	1E/5H/1E		14  mi  mid 4P		28
8/8-14	1E/4T/1E	bike  +arms	core	1E/3F/1E		13 mi		24
8/15-21	3-5E	bike  +arms	core	5mi PRO		10 mi		17-20
8/22-28	bike  +arms	1E/4T/1E	core	1E/5H/1E		15 mi  mid 5P		23
8/29-9/4	bike  +arms	1E/5T/1E	core	1E/4F/1E		12 mi		25
9/5-9/11	1E/5T/1E	1E/3H/1E	core	10 mi  mid 4P	away	away	away	22
9/12-9/17	8 mi	arms	1E/3F/1E	core	1E/2P/1E	--REST--	! HALF !	17

The plan is based off of a 3 day/week running plan from Women's Running (January/February 2011) shared with me by Heather.

(I would like to add that I just realized Heather was spot on in her suggestion of how much I should try to improve my time by in the 6ish weeks between my April and May half marathons....she said shave :15 seconds off my April pace, which would have meant a 2:15:35 half marathon in May...I ran a 2:15:32 half).

The full plan was too long to type out in full detail, but here's what the letters stand for:
E = Easy
F = Fartlek
H = Hills
P = Pace
PRO = Progression
T = Tempo

I'll elaborate on the details of each week's runs when I recap that week of training.


Here are some pace ranges of interest. To me, anyway.

	2:07	2:08	2:09	2:10
Race Pace	9:42	9:47	9:51	9:56
Tempo	9:18-9:42	9:22-9:47	9:27-9:51	9:31-9:56
Easy  Run	10:44-11:14	10:49-11:19	10:54-11:24	10:58-11:28
Long Run	10:44-11:44	10:49-11:49	10:54-11:54	10:58-11:58

In addition to the 3 target runs a week, I will be aiming to:

• bike once a week 
• or spinning if/when I renew my gym membership
• do at least one day of arm work (including arms/shoulders/chest)
• do at least one day of core work (crunches/planks/lower back stuff/etc) - 
• if/when I renew my gym membership, thinking about  trying pilates

I should have no problem getting in one day of core work a week though, as I am signing up for the #FitBlog 3000 in 35 Ab Challenge which runs from July 1 - August 5.