4 Tactics To Prepare for Half Marathon and Half Ironman Racing, While Staying Healthy and Enjoying Pain Free Running

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It’s been 22 weeks since my return to running (chart above)

I’ll walk you through my data and give you some benchmarks to consider with regard to your own training.

My 7-week average is 23km per week (chart below)

I’m tolerating 3 hours per day on my loading days and managed a broken Half Ironman over a weekend in November.

The two areas where I have been most conservative:

  1. Intensity – nearly everything is easy/steady (30-60 beats below max heart rate). I wasn’t tolerating my sprints/bounding so dropped them.
  2. Duration – my longest main set is 12km/7.5M

Right now, the longest I could see myself racing is ~5 miles / ~8 km

I’m not going to race => why take a risk of screwing up my progression.

The “just stay healthy” plan has been working.

Four things have kept me healthy

1// No back-to-back runs

  • With the exception of my Broken Half Ironman Workout (Sat AM / Sun PM runs), I have avoided running on back to back days
  • I let soreness be my guide, if I need more recovery then I take it

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2// Eccentric (Pre)Hab

The program I put together for my posterior chain was fun to do.

Unfortunately, it didn’t deliver the results I wanted – a pain free increase in run load.

So I changed the plan.

Simple plan – get eccentric load into the areas troubling me

  • Two Exercises (Prone Leg Curl, Seated Calf Raise)
  • Two Sets of 10 reps per side, each exercise
  • The moment pattern is “Up with Two, Down with One”
  • Full range of motion
  • When I go to the pool (non-running day) I do the exercises.
  • It takes 12 minutes, done 2-3x per week.
  • Relief happened from the FIRST session.
  • It’s not necessary to progress the weight.

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3// Habit of Daily Mobility

Since my first run, I have scored 150/154 (days) with my mobility habit.

It works.

It is simple.

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4// Build Stamina on the Bike

Since July, I’ve been riding ~8 hours per week

With my 5:2 loading, the 8 hours breaks down as 4 rides a week of 3/2/2/1 hours duration.

Cycling has benefits for runners:

  • I can train duration without impact stress – faster recovery from ‘long’ sessions
  • I have an “easy” zone on the bike – I’m only starting to develop this ability with my running
  • I can keep training when I’m recovering from a run session

Extend duration, low-end intensity control and greater total endurance load

What does this mean in practice?

  • Since July, I have completed more than 50 bike workouts >=2 hours
  • Compared to my longest running main set => 60 minutes, done once

I can prepare myself for a race that’s much longer than my current run workouts.

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Linked Resources

  1. A Return to Pain-Free Running
  2. The Serious Athlete’s Guide To Building A Training Week
  3. Bomber Calves & Hamstring Protocol
  4. A Swedish Approach to Athletic Excellence
  5. Supplemental Videos on My YouTube Channel
  6. I create my charts and track load over at Training Peaks