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Speeding up for a half-marathon

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Caterpillar Feb 2013 10:31pm, 22 Feb 2013 7,503 posts	Quote Pin Caterpillar Log some stuff in Fetch training. It has this awesome race time predictor, cleverly scaled up to various distances.
WildeRover Feb 2013 10:53pm, 22 Feb 2013 3,578 posts	Quote Pin WildeRover One school of thinking is that the way to run quicker on longer distances, is to run quicker at shorter distances. Throw in some fartlek training, or mile intervals, or 5k races/race pace alongside your long training. Your long distance times will benefit.
Gobi Feb 2013 11:22pm, 22 Feb 2013 50,416 posts	Quote Pin Gobi 2,06 PB and long runs at 10mm you need to run slower on the long runs to build your aerobic endurance not do more speedwork Welcome
Nellers Feb 2013 11:30pm, 22 Feb 2013 24,206 posts	Quote Pin Nellers You beat me to it, Gobi. You seem pretty quick over the shorter stuff relative to the longer distance times. 2.08 is 9.2* pace or so, right? And you can do your long runs at that pace? How knackered are you at the end of your long runs? How knackered are you for your next few sessions after your long runs? If they are sessions where you are trying for quality training (tempo runs, intervals) then you are limiting your speed by running your long runs too quickly and subsequently your speedwork too slow. Slow down. Sounds daft but slowing your long runs and doing more steady aerobic base building rather than speedwork will build that endurance base that you need to maintain a good pace for the whole 13.1 miles. You've got the speed already. Trust that your speed will stay, more or less, without the need to keep doing more intervals. If your target races are Half marathons then you need the miles in your legs at slower speed so you can maintain the pace to the end. (This might sound daft but from personal experience I did my first half sub-2 hours without doing any speedwork and with all my runs apart from a couple of 10k races at 11 -12 minute miling. I'm not the only one to have had that sort of result from aerobic base and listening to Gobi.)
Ninky Nonk Feb 2013 7:06am, 23 Feb 2013 765 posts	Quote Pin Ninky Nonk Hey. Some good advice here already. To repeat what has already been said. Don't try and set pbs in training - you'll get very tired and injured before too long. Mostly run at a pace you can talk to someone while you run. Running up hills and a few miles running fast occasionally is fun. Run more often. When you run, run a bit further. Build up weekly miles slowly. Stretch. If you are tired - have a rest day. Consistent training should help you improve. And above all - enjoy it!
Gobi Feb 2013 7:46am, 23 Feb 2013 50,417 posts	Quote Pin Gobi Thanks Nellers, I guess years of coaching a good message pays off.
Nellers Feb 2013 7:58am, 23 Feb 2013 24,207 posts	Quote Pin Nellers No Gobi. Thanks you. (Can we stop being polite and get back to insults again now please, mate?;-))
mr d Feb 2013 6:23pm, 24 Feb 2013 486 posts	Quote Pin mr d Great advice from Gobi and Nellers and everone else. If you cycle into work it will help if not cycling on non running days is igreat cross training. I just use a turbo trainer now.
Geprig Feb 2013 6:39pm, 24 Feb 2013 571 posts	Quote Pin Geprig NN I think you managed to sum up everything I've learnt in ten years of running while omitting all my mistakes. You could rip up the last two years of RW training plans and replace it with your post. Good work.
icemaiden Feb 2013 6:43pm, 24 Feb 2013 3,596 posts	Quote Pin icemaiden And don't stress about it. Achieving times is not the be-all and end-all about running, there's some fun and enjoyment to be had along the way.