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Sep 2013
11:27am, 17 Sep 2013
2,636 posts
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Autumnleaves
I'd welcome some advice - having done 2 half marathons this year - in March & September, I am looking at a similar pattern next year - so my next Half will be in March next year. My 12 week plan - which will I hope allow me to improve from my most recent time of 1.59.09 - starts at the end of December. My question is how best to train 'in between' - I don't want to feel stale before I've even started, but would like to maintain a good base level of miles. I usually run 4 times a week, with a club session on Tuesday nights being one of those. I found training in between March and June this year a little aimless so I'd like to avoid that this time around.
Thanks!
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Sep 2013
11:53am, 17 Sep 2013
737 posts
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Moleshome
I'll be interested to see the responses to this.
I'm guessing 'improve base' so build up your weekly mileage gently and watch your pace improve for the same perceived effort.
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Sep 2013
12:17pm, 17 Sep 2013
2,045 posts
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Curly45
Sorry tried to reply earlier.
Well done on your time 
I would use the time to train for a 10k or 5k race. Gives you a focus of speed development which you can then use to develop speed endurance as part of half training later on.
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Sep 2013
1:27pm, 17 Sep 2013
26,160 posts
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Nellers
Curly45 beat me to it. Get yourself a good parkrun PB! A bit of variety in your training cycle will do you good both physically and mentally.
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Sep 2013
1:41pm, 17 Sep 2013
5,416 posts
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rf_fozzy
I just run all year round. And race all year round. None of this complicated training plans for me, and bits in between etc.
Keep it simple is my watchword.
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Sep 2013
2:44pm, 17 Sep 2013
252 posts
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Carlos Fandango Jnr
I'm with Fozzy ----->
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Sep 2013
4:16pm, 17 Sep 2013
2,047 posts
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Curly45
I train all year round, but vary my focus in order to work on different facets of my development. No point going stale. The week is a similar shape no matter what, but my sessions and long run vary depending on what I am training for. I also split runs more when not mara training. Horses for courses though, was just a suggestion
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Sep 2013
4:22pm, 17 Sep 2013
5,159 posts
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becca7
My approach is similar to Curly's. When I have a target race coming up I will direct the training at that for about three months. In between times I keep a similar pattern to the training week but do whatever races I feel like. Many of these in between races will just be done to keep things interesting - running somewhere different, rather than proper racing efforts.
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Sep 2013
4:24pm, 17 Sep 2013
5,422 posts
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rf_fozzy
I vary my focus as well - between fell and road and XC and orienteering etc - that's what keeps it fresh for me.
This Autumn is all about going back to the roads - planned marathon training didn't happen for several reasons, but still going to run it and use it as a base for building into a couple of fast 10k attempts, with XC races thrown in for good measure.
Got a few fell races slotted in and around though.
Next Spring, the focus is Orienteering, with plans to do the JK and BOC at Easter and May bank holiday respectively, so will slot in more orienteering races early next year. Got a few fell races I've never done, but want to do, that I can fit in around them.
Then got some ideas about what next Late Summer/Autumn goals are going to be, but it's not finalised yet - probably multi-sport though.
This is a long-winded way of saying that you can focus on one thing, but still keep training and doing other stuff (including races) as and when. I don't quite get the 100% focus on single goal mentality. With so much going on, it sometimes seems a shame to miss out on it all.
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Sep 2013
7:23pm, 17 Sep 2013
2,637 posts
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Autumnleaves
Thanks everyone - sorry to appear to be ignoring you all, it's been a bit of a day! Got a 10k to aim for in a few weeks - and aiming to try some cross-country too so hopefully that will keep things interesting. When I have a few more half maras under my belt I may well ditch the plans, but for now I still find them useful.
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