Race Plan - Peter Noyes Surf City Half Marathon
Here is my race plan for my upcoming half marathon. My biggest question at this point is nutrition day before and morning of. Should I do what I do for HIM? Or is that overkill? Most of this plan is taken straight from the wiki.
Surf City Half Marathon Race Plan
I am on the get faster plan leading up to the race and it will serve as my vdot test going into my HIM and then IM season. The 'A' goal for this race is complete the half marathon within 1.5 vdot points of my 5K test, which would be 1:29:15. At this point my best training run is 11.36 miles at a 7:02 average pace (80 minute run). That training run felt great and I was holding a 6:50 pace for the last 4 miles (a bit faster than Zone2, whoops!).
Vdot test from 6 weeks ago = 52-53 (a 19:03 5k so almost 53)
Target HMP (taken from 53 - 1.5 vdot) = 6:49
First 3 miles
M1 + 15' = 7:04
M2 + 10' = 6:59
M3 + 5' = 6:54
Next 7 miles
6:49
Last 3 miles
Best effort
If feeling good -15" = 6:34
If it feels like threshold try to keep 6:49
If feeling great crush it
Last 1 mile
Empty bank account
Notes:
Hill at mile 4, (75 foot climb over half mile) should I adjust my pace at all over that?
Warmup:
20 minute jog
Nutrition:
Follow the HIM protocol?
2 Naked juices when I wake up and a coffee
Sip vitalyte until 90 minutes before
Sip water up until race
Gel with water 15 minutes before race
During race:
Alternate water and vitalyte at the aid stations. Coach P was pretty down on vitalyte but I have never run with a hydration belt. I ordered a can of vitalyte and I used it on a 12.6 mile 80 degree training run and I didn’t explode, so I think I should be ok.
Shot block every 15 minutes (from aid station), I used these on that long training run as well.
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Comments
Hill? 75' in a half mile doesn't sound like much of a hill.... more like an incline. I'd try to stay on pace but pay attention to RPE and/or HR and let those inform your efforts.
Day before just make sure you're well hydrated and dont overload at supper. Having a clean gut is a huge plus for well paced hard effort.
Best of luck for those other things you can't control.
I would keep the nutrition really quite simple. You don't need anywhere near the amount of calories as in a triathlon. This is a 90 minute run. If it were me, it would be a gel just before the start, and a gel at around mile 5 or so.
Depending on the temperature, you will probably want to skip many of the aid stations. I would go with water only and even then probably take from only 1 or 2 of the aid stations. If it's hot, then 3 or 4. But really, this is a 90' workout for someone at your speed, you don't need to be drinking water every 10 minutes. You certainly didn't on your recent 11-miler, why would this be so different?
Up hills, keep your RPE constant and accept a pace reduction. Don't get out of sorts if you're not hitting your pace on the hills.
Regarding goal pace, I suggest you adjust it to be faster. If you're doing an 11-miler at 13 sec/mi slower than your goal pace and are running the last 4 of that at target HMP then I suspect your target HMP is too low. If your 5k VDOT is 53 why are you adjusting it?? As a slight aside, honestly, it really confuses me when people around here say you need to start subtracting points off your VDOT for longer distances. That is bogus. The whole VDOT concept is that you are able to predict performance at different distances. Now if you aren't trained for those different distances then it's a different story…no, you cannot run a marathon on 5k training and expect to perform at your 5k VDOT's implied performance. you SHOULD be able to do a marathon training plan and perform to something similar to that VDOT. For example, I ran a half-marathon at a VDOT just under 54 last spring (on OS training plan, nothing special). Then I did a proper marathon training program and ran a marathon at VDOT 54.3 in October. A month later I ran a half marathon at virtually the exact same 54.3 VDOT. Now some people have better long distance than short distance physiology, so this is certainly not perfect. But it works pretty well. For runs in the triathlon context then yes, there should be adjustments. But this is not a triathlon run, you appear to be trained well for the HM distance, and the above description of your 11-miler certainly seems to imply a higher level of performance. So do not let the VDOT or any adjustment factors hold you back. Let 'er rip.
One other thing. The HM distance is forgiving in that if you go out too hard any implosion should not be spectacular. Mostly because it is a short enough distance that you can cover a lot of ground running "too fast" and by the time you implode there isn't much ground left to cover at a slower pace. You can run a full third of the race at 30 seconds per mile slower than you want and only lose a bit over 2 minutes. For most guys running the race at a 6:40 pace, 7:10 is like jogging…it's hard to imagine running slower than that and if you were, it has to mean you ran the first 8 miles really, really fast.
If I sound a bit overboard on the whole goal-pace issue please read my race report from a half-marathon last March which is a lesson in mis-estimating your goal-pace: http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/11073/Default.aspx
Best of luck and let us know how it goes!
Matt
General thoughts on HM pacing (others may have heard me preach this before, sorry)
Great feedback. Have fun Peter! Crush it!
Re the pacing, I am still a fan of easing into the run. The half marathon distance is long enough, and at your vDOT your HMP is close enough to your TP that just 10" faster per mile by mistake has you doing a threshold effort at the front end of a 90 minute run. Not ideal.
I won't take away from what Matt or anyone else has said, but in my experience, including a sub-1:20 half marathon at 180lbs, is that early exuberance will still cost you. Case in point, I usually am passing people in a half marathon from Mile 4 on...so while you might not blow up, you won't run to your full potential. That said, if you trained specifially FOR a Half Marathon, following a Half Marathon Plan, tons of running, minimal cycling, etc, then yes, I would expect you to run that bad boy wire to wire. But most of use who are "doing a half at the end of the OS" bring a lot more baggage to the table than this focused, mainly run-oriented person.
More importantly, this "smaller" race is a chance to put proper pacing and strategy to the test...a milestone en route to getting you to follow our other race day strategies (a selfish coach reason, but a solid one nonetheless).
Excited to hear how you do...make sure you get all your watches and hrm synchronized so we can see how you do!
What shoes to wear?
I have a pair of racing flats (New Balance MRC 1600) that I have only worn a few times and raced a 5k in. My normal shoes are Brooks Pure Cadence 2. I basically save 6 total oz of shoe by using the racing flats which by some estimates might make me 2% more efficient. Should I risk it and run the race in the flats? Or at this point should I just go with my tried and true training shoes?
I train in the running equivalent of boots -- Asics GT-2000's with Superfeet inserts. These suckers are so supportive it's nuts. When I raced last year I used Addidas Adizero 2.0 shoes. I only ever used them in races. I ran my first half marathon in them having bought them 2 days before. I was fine during the race and man did they ever feel light!! For the 3 days after the race I had all sorts of soreness in my ankle muscles becuas emy feet weren't used to such unsupportive shoes. But during the race I was absolutely fine. Then before the Chicago Marathon (my first marathon) I agonized as to if I should "risk it" by wearing them again. I did, and again I was absolutely fine during the race.
http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/14532/Default.aspx