Training for a half marathon is about much more than gradually running further each weekend. To prepare well for 21.1 kilometres, you need to develop your aerobic fitness, build the durability to keep running as fatigue accumulates, introduce the right quality training at the right time, recover properly, practise your fuelling and pacing, and arrive…
Short hill repetitions are a simple but highly effective way to introduce harder running into a half marathon training programme. They develop qualities that will support the longer threshold, tempo and race-specific sessions that come later in your preparation. This week’s Coach Ray’s Workout of the Week is 10x 1min Hill Rep Runs. After a…
Another busy weekend of half marathon racing is behind us, with some genuinely impressive performances from Dunedin to Auckland. This week we’ve got a particularly quick battle at the front of the Dunedin Half Marathon, a woman taking the overall victory at Run Auckland’s Millwater Half Marathon, and a fantastic marathon debut from one of…
You can have the fitness. You can have the perfect pacing strategy. You can arrive at the start line rested, confident and ready to run your best half marathon. But if your stomach doesn’t tolerate the fuel you’re putting into it, your race can unravel surprisingly quickly. Nausea, bloating, stomach cramps or an urgent search…
Strength training has become almost a default recommendation for runners. Spend a few minutes looking through running content online and you’ll see runners squatting, deadlifting, lunging and jumping, accompanied by claims that strength training will make you faster, improve your running economy and prevent injuries. There are good reasons for runners to strength train. But…
As a half marathon approaches, training needs to become increasingly specific to the demands of race day. The aerobic fitness, running strength and threshold fitness developed earlier in the build-up now need to be converted into the ability to sustain the intensity required for the half marathon itself. This week’s Coach Ray’s Workout of the…
It was another busy weekend of half marathon racing around New Zealand, with runners taking on everything from the trails around Kinloch to the roads of Auckland’s North Shore. We’ve got three sets of results to work through this week, including a new course record at the North Shore Half Marathon. There is also some…
It sounds logical. You’ve got a goal time for your half marathon. You know the average pace you need to run. You’re feeling fantastic over the opening few kilometres, so you decide to run a little faster. Maybe you can put a minute or two “in the bank”. Then, if you slow down later in…
You have done the long runs. You have completed the tempo sessions, built your endurance and accumulated weeks or months of consistent training. Now, with your half marathon getting close, it can be tempting to think there is still time to squeeze in one more big session. There isn’t. One of the most important parts…
Threshold training plays an important role in half marathon preparation because it develops your ability to sustain a strong running intensity without allowing fatigue to accumulate so rapidly that your pace falls apart. This week’s Coach Ray’s Workout of the Week is 3×8min Threshold Runs. After warming up, you’ll complete three eight-minute efforts at Level…