Right one for the runners: I’m running the Windsor Half in Sept, done it a few times now and usually finish in 2hrs.

I’ve never trained for it though using what little fitness from cycling and sheer stubbornness to get me round.

A few bods from work are doing it this year so just rocking up on the day isn’t going to cut it and I need to train. (if I want to keep up)

As a test I ran 7km last night in 45mins and was okay(ish)

Using that as a base I need a training plan that will get me round in 1:30 – 1:45 time

Using that as a base I need a training plan that will get me round in 1:30 – 1:45 time

Getting down to 1.30 might be a bit of a leap, but getting to 1.45 is definitely possible without a “plan”. 1.30 is around 7-minute miles which is a huge difference from the 8.30 – 9.00 minute miles you’re running at the moment.

For me, it was a case of just getting out there and running; the more you run, the easier it gets. The easier it gets the more you run, and you just get faster. Consider joining a local running club where they take different groups out on various mile paces (don’t be too ambitious at first). Then do a long run on Sundays…building up to half marathon distance.

A GPS watch (simple ones are available cheaply these days) is a good buy – enabling you to pace yourself. You should be running a constant pace from beginning to end. I found that I always belted out really fast miles at the start of a run, and was then beaten up for the second half.

Don’t worry too much about trainer choice – just use what you have now and then when you’re running properly, maybe go for something a bit nicer.

A good rule of thumb I have found is that the weekly distance you put in should be 1 X the race distance to complete and 3 X to compete.

So look at ramping up your weekly distance by 3 to 5 miles a week until you are at about 30 miles. Don’t worry about speed, infact go slower than you think, if you don’t get ‘out of breath’ thats not an issue. Once you have the stamina to do the weekly miles, add some speedwork, perhaps 4 X 800m at 6 min mile pace over a 5 mile run once a week. You could also turn one of the other midweek runs into a tempo run, c7 min miles.

The longest run you should aim for in the two weeks before the race should be 11 miles.

IME that should get you down to sub 1:45 pretty easily

As above, build mileage slowly and aim to run around 5 times per week. Introduce a long run at some point and when you have adapted to all that add intervals as djglover above says. These will make all the differenc.

Hi. I use to run, done half in 1hour 17.
What you need to do to improve is speed work and hill sessions. They give you the speed. No good doing just runs each day. You also need to make sure you do a long run once a week at a fairly slow comfortable pace and do about 15 miles as that is giving you the distance or you could do abit more.
Mon 6m steady
Tues hill session- a hill not megga steep but maybe around 300/400meters long. Fast up very slow down or walk. In a group is easier.
Weds 6-10 slow recovery pace
Thurs speed work. 10x200m, 6x800m, 5x1mile.
Fri recovery run
Sat rest
Sun long slow run.
Obviously you can ditch one of the other slow runs and maybe do something else.
Training with speedwork etc is better within a group, slowest going first on hill at 30 sec intervals, fastest last and hopefully all finish pretty much together.
It is hard work but it is the speedwork that makes you faster.
Hope this helps?
😀

And yes you could do a race on the weekend inplace of speedwork. 10km would be good as they are fast.

I did the GNR in 1.46 (no mean feat given the volume of other runners and the inability to actually run at some points especially in the first couple of miles).

I did it by simply doing a 4 mile (hilly) circuit. Depending on time available I just ran it 3 or 4 times a week and did the circuit once, twice or three times. Given my 12 mile times on the hilly training runs (as opposed to a relatively flat GNR) I reckon I could have done a 1.30 without traffic.

Ohh and find a training run that normally has other runners on it and aim to catch them to stop you from settling into jogging rhythms.

I’m with nicky on this, but you’ll get a huge range of views.
It sounds stupid, but to run faster you have to run faster. One way to do this is short, fast runs.
I know a lot of people will disagree, but just running long distances MAY not work for you. It didn’t work for me, and I’ve still managed to do some fairly good times for 1/2 M.

It sounds stupid, but to run faster you have to run faster.

Doesnt sound stupid at all 😀 makes perfect sense. Running has to be specific.

Problem is I’m also fat.. (5″10 and 15stone)

Like the look of Nicky’s plan but looks hard to fit into my current life. Hard but not impossible.

All of the above. Mix it up. Sorry to poop, but I’d be very surprised if you get anywhere near 1h30 in 2 or 3 months. Don’t beat yourself up about it.

Get some distance in for sure, but push yourself on shorter stuff. You need to get out of breath and shock your body into improving. Make your easy runs easy and your hard runs hard. It’s dead easy to settle into a ‘just going for a run’ pace for all your training. Avoid that.

Stay the right side of injured, eh?!

Yes, just take it easy.
If short, fast runs start giving you a problem, do slower longer. It’s more important to finish (I guess).
All the advise above is good, it’s up to you to find what works best.

It is better to do 2 good quality runs a week and a long slow run than to run everyday at the same pace. Your body/lungs get use to that so no improvement. Same as dieting you start off losing weight and then it stops. The body needs reminders to get it kicked started,
I use to run with guys who ran for UK and speed work is the most important thing along side the long slow run. The speed work has to change weekly to. You can fit other runs in around the important ones but won’t need to work hard.
You mustn’t how ever do more than you can manage, but 4 times a week is good. Try the speed work it will help loads and like I said better with others around. And recovery runs need to be done around 2mins a miles slower than normal race pace. If you don’t rest your muscles they won’t recover either.
Hope this helps. 😀

The plan was similar to what I use to do. But like I said 3 important runs and you do whatever else you can. With the 3 runs you have the distance and then some speed. The speed sessions will end up being in the region of 6 to 10 miles anyway because of a good warm up and down.
I reckon on 30/40 miles a week you can do around 1.30. Obviously that depends on age as well and how fit you are before starting a programme.
If you do more than you can handle you risk injury to.
If you need any advice just ask happy to help. 😀

Whilst I agree with Nicky that 3 key workouts (2 speed and 1 long easy run) a week will get you to the place you want to be, I’d be wary as a novice runner. I’ve been caught out 3 times by injury in the last 4 years due to ramping up the speedwork too quickly.

Since the last time it happened, 4 months ago, I have totally dropped speedwork in favour of hills and since I made a recovery 10 weeks ago or so, I’ve managed to build up a really good base running hills and long run. Done OK in a race on this basis too.

So I’d say build the base before adding faster runs, just IME of couse

Save time by doing what I did for a half marathon – just turn up without bothering with any of this “training” or “running” nonsense beforehand. Just be prepared for a deal of agony and to be unable to walk for about a week afterwards, oh yes and an incredibly slow time!

Note – meant tongue-in-cheek before anyone takes me too seriously.

IME long runs hurt my muscles and tendons way way more than short intervals.

I vote for nicky.

djglover – Member
Whilst I agree with Nicky that 3 key workouts (2 speed and 1 long easy run) a week will get you to the place you want to be, I’d be wary as a novice runner. I’ve been caught out 3 times by injury in the last 4 years due to ramping up the speedwork too quickly.

I’d also add that perhaps 5 runs a week is too much to start with.

Training for a marathin last year, my enthusiasm got too much for me and 5 runs a week gave me a groin strain which I didn’t recover from until after the marathon.

I did mention don’t do more than you can handle just the 3 main runs a week. If your comfortable with more fine do. And you don’t kill yourself on speedwork. You only need to run a little faster than race pace, otherwise it won’t work you get tired and injured.

Can’t believe nobody has mentioned cross training.

When I was running more than I do now, i did about 1 1/2 hours of running targeted cross training per week. Honestly made me feel like I had 4 wheel drive during the running phases.

Not sure I still have the plans, but really easy things like squats and lunges. Anything that worked either the legs or core stability.

Having said all that, you still need to get the miles in.