Training for the Ipswich Half marathon on 30 Aug 09

I don't think I have followed a training schedule for many years. Mainly because it can set you for a fall as unless your time is your own you are likely to miss some sessions. Once you miss a session you then feel you need to play catch up and add in extra runs or longer distances.

However I am going to give this Bruce Tulloh (Runners World) schedule a go as the discipline of set sessions might be just what I need to kick start some improvement in my running times which have been slow and getting slower.

I have adapted slighhty to suit my needs. Firstly I only have 8 weeks so I am 2 weeks short of the 10 week plan suggested by Tulloh. However I do have a good mileage base as I have generally been running 30 miles a week all year.

This plan peaks around 40 miles a week. Not a huge increase in mileage compared to what I am already doing but I have tried to include 2-3 quality sessions each week. The cornerstone being a long run which increases gradually each week.

I don't know the course at Ipswich but I assume there will be hills and I am hopeless at them. Everyone comes past me going up them, though I tend to pass the same people when going down the hill. So I am including some hill training as part of the quality trining sessions.

Now that the West Suffolk Athletics Track has reopened with the track having been relaid I will include a number of interval track sessions.

This said I am sure I will have problems keeping to this schedule - best laid plans an all ......

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total Miles
WEEK 1 Jul 6	6m hill reps	Rest	Warm up, then 16 x 60 secs fast, 60 secs slow Warm down	Rest	10M slow	Warm up, then 4 x 3 mins, with 3-min recovery jogs	7-8M slow	34-35M
WEEK 2 Jul 13	4M easy	6M, fairly fast	Repetitions: 4 x 3 mins fast, with 2-min recoveries	5M easy	Rest	1M jog, then 5M fairly fast, then 1M jog	10M slow	36M
WEEK 3 Jul 20	5M easy, off -road	6M, starting slow, finishing faster	3 x 5 mins fast, with 5-min jog recoveries	5M easy, inc 6 x 150m fast strides	Rest	2M slow, then 1M fast, then 2M slow	10M	36-37M
WEEK 4 Jul 27	5M easy	Rest	5M, inc 16 x 1 min fast, 1 min slow	6M easy	Rest	1M easy, then 4-5M fairly fast, then 1M jog	11M steady	36M
WEEK 5 Aug 3	5M easy, off -road	Rest	8M, fairly fast	4M easy	Rest or 3M jog	4M on grass, inc 6 x 200m strides	11M	35M
WEEK 6 Aug 10	5M easy, off -road	6M steady, inc bursts up hills	3 x 1M (or 3 x 5 mins), with 5-min recoveries	5M easy	Rest	6-7M, inc 10 x 30 secs fast, 30 secs slow	10-12M steady	39-40M
WEEK 7 Aug 17	5M easy	5M, inc 16 x 1 min fast, 1 min slow	Warm up, then 2 x 2M (approx), timed, at threshold pace	5-6M easy	Rest	1M easy, then 4-5M fairly fast, then 1M jog	10M steady	37-38M
WEEK 8 Aug 24	5M easy	6-7M at a comfortable pace	Warm up, then 2M at race pace, then 2M jog	5M easy, inc 6 x 30 secs fast	Rest	3M, in race kit	Ipswich Half Marathon	35M

Anyone else training for a half and can recomend a schedule that worked for them ?